The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided it will launch a fresh Moon mission after it was believed that a spacecraft carrying the UAE’s Rashid lunar rover crashed during an attempted lunar landing.
The Hakuto-R lander’s loss was highly likely, according to the Japanese business iSpace, which had hoped to complete the first private enterprise’s Moon landing.
Just before the craft was supposed to touch down on Tuesday, communication was lost.
Rashid 2 would now be launched by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, according to UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.
The statement was made when Sheikh Mohammed paid a visit to the facility and met with the Emirati team in charge of the space program.
Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, emphasized how crucial it was for the UAE to continue with its plans to explore new space frontiers. He said that despite failing to successfully land the Rashid rover on the Moon, the country had “kept our aspirations high.”
He told state news agency WAM: “Emiratis have proved their ability to develop advanced space projects and rapidly create a vibrant national space sector.
“The UAE built a space sector from scratch in just 10 years. The Rashid rover mission was driven by the country’s ambitious vision for space exploration.”
Any space mission carries a high amount of danger, but risk can be managed in a systematic and scientific way, according to Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al-Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and the head of the Dubai Executive Council.
“Under the directives and guidance of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, we have announced the launch of the Rashid 2 project, a new Emirati attempt to reach the Moon.”
Rashid 2 is the second lunar rover to be launched from the UAE Space Center after its success in building the world’s smallest rover and sending the first lunar rover from an Arab nation.
The Rashid rover, which was attached to Tokyo-based iSpace’s Hakuto-R lander, was launched by a SpaceX rocket on December 11.
On the Emirati lunar mission scientific program, the MBRSC collaborated with ten foreign organizations and four UAE-based ones. Around 40 scientists and researchers were also involved in the development of the key equipment for the Rashid rover.
The little rover is about 10 kilograms in weight, 80 centimeters high, 53.5 centimeters long, and over 54 centimeters wide.
