Rashid Rover then jump to the moon; The UAE Rashid Rover’s lunar mission completes a month in space

Dubai: The journey of the UAE Rashid rover moon mission has completed one month. The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) said the spacecraft had traveled 13.4 lakh kilometres.

Rashid, the first Arab-made lunar rover, was launched on December 11 from the Cape Canaveral Space Center in Florida, USA.

The Emirates Lunar Mission team communicated with the rover for 220 minutes after launch. The team completed health assessments and maintenance checks of the rover and its subsystems and equipment. The vehicle was powered on for 10 minutes every day for two weeks after launch. The team currently communicates with the rover once a week.

The team will communicate with the rover for an additional 150 minutes during the four-month cruise period. After launch, Rashid activated the rover’s subsystems 17 times. These were powered on for 10 minutes for the first two weeks. It is currently run once a week for 10 minutes.

The team is preparing for the stage and surface operations which include the rover’s entry into lunar orbit, followed by descent to the lunar surface and landing. The rover is expected to land on the surface of the moon by the end of April. Prior to this, MBRSC will conduct 12 simulated mission exercises at the ground station for surface operations.

MBRSC aims to conduct a number of scientific experiments on the lunar surface using the Rashid rover. Its results are expected to lead to qualitative developments in the fields of science, communication technologies and robotics.