The UAE, which already has a scientific satellite orbiting Mars, also wants to examine the moon. Its rover, called Rashid after Dubai’s royal family, weighs just 22 pounds (10 kilogrammes) and will function on the surface for around 10 days like everything else on the mission.
According to Emirates project manager Hamad AlMarzooqi, landing on a previously uncharted region of the moon would produce “new and highly important” scientific data. Furthermore, the lunar surface provides “an perfect platform” for testing new technology that might be employed for future human journeys to Mars.
In addition, the rover symbolises “a pioneering national endeavour in the space sector and a historic moment that, if successful, would be the first Emirati and Arab mission to land on the surface of the moon,” he added in a statement after liftoff.
The lander also carries an orange-sized sphere from the Japanese Space Agency, which will change into a wheeled robot on the moon. A solid-state battery from a Japanese spark plug firm, a flight computer with artificial intelligence from an Ottawa, Ontario, company for recognising geologic characteristics observed by the UAE rover, and 360-degree cameras from a Toronto-area company is also flying.
A tiny NASA laser experiment hitched a ride on the rocket and is now on its way to the moon to look for ice in the perpetually shadowed craters of the lunar south pole.
