All About UAE's Lunar Mission

Last month, the UAE made history after the country’s Hope Probe entered the Red Planet’s orbit making it the first Arab country to do so. Now, the UAE is working on completing the design of ‘Rashid’, an Emirati-made lunar rover named after the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the builder of modern Dubai.

.@CNN: Set to launch in 2024, the Emirates Lunar Mission aims to travel to a part of the moon that has never been reached by a rover. The exact landing site has not yet been revealed, but the objective is to better understand how lunar dust and rocks vary across the moon. pic.twitter.com/3bXQ1zCBNk

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 31, 2021

‘Rashid’ will have the distinction of the being the smallest and lightest rover to have landed on the moon at a height of 70cm (2.3ft) and weighing approximately 10kg (22 pound) with its payload. Rashid’s length is 50cm while width is 50cm.

The Dubai Media Office (DMO) tweeted on Wednesday: “As the #UAE celebrates the achievement of the @HopeMarsMission probe, a group of Emirati scientists is already engaged in another historic feat: building a lunar rover. The vehicle will be another regional first — & it is smaller than any rover to have landed on the moon.”

This will also be a first in the Arab world and the UAE will history as the fourth country to land on the moon after the U.S., Soviet Union, and China.

Image Source: Twitter

This article was previously published on UAE Moments.To see the original article, click here