UAE postpones Rashid rover launch by a day
The Arab world’s first mission to the Moon has been postponed due to technical reasons. It is now scheduled to take place on Thursday, December 1, at 12.37pm GST with the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the UAE’s Rashid rover.
The Emirati-built rover will be stored inside Japanese lunar exploration company ispace’s Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, which will transport the vessel to the Moon’s surface.
Weighing 10kg, the rover was built by a small team of Emiratis at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai.
The four-wheel vehicle will spend one lunar day on the Moon’s surface to study its geology and dust. It is expected to capture thousands of images of its surroundings with high-resolution cameras.
It is a historic mission for the UAE, Japan and private industry, with ispace on track to become the first company to carry out a commercial cargo mission to the Moon.
