Amna Al Ketbi (Dubai)
In the coming months, the Japanese commercial space launch company, iSpace, will install radiators, insulating layers, solar panels, landing gear and deployment mechanisms on the landing craft that will carry the explorer Rashid to the landing site, and will provide payload delivery services and equipment for the Emirates Moon Exploration Project.
Ispace, under an agreement with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, is the strategic partner of the center when launching the project, which is considered the first of its kind in the Arab world. After the integration and testing process, the model will be shipped to the integration facility for the landing craft in Japan. Explorer Rashid was flown to the moon aboard ispace’s lander during Mission 1 this year, as part of its commercial program known as HAKUTO-R.
The explorer Rashid will also be equipped with a lander, telecommunications and energy during the approaching phase of the moon. It will also carry 7 payloads from space agencies and private companies, including a robot on the moon produced by the Japanese Space Agency, 360-degree cameras for the Canadian company Canadensys Aerospace, and an artificial intelligence flight computer from by another Canadian organization, Mission Control Services.
The engineering model of Explorer Rashid underwent many basic and important experiments to test the endurance capabilities and the work of the thermal systems and the structure of the explorer in difficult space and launch environments.
Thermal tests were also carried out in the laboratories of the French Space Agency in Toulouse, as part of the cooperation agreement recently concluded between the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center and the French Space Agency. Also, the Explorer Rashid’s chassis underwent simulated launch environment tests at the Airbus laboratories in Toulouse as well. As for the motion tests, they are a continuous process periodically and take place in a room located in the Mohammed bin Rashid Center, which simulates the environment of the moon’s surface called “Moon Yard”.
It is expected that Explorer Rashid will send at least 1,000 images, including landing on the surface of the moon, the first surface images, night images of the Earth, thermal, and subjective images, as well as sending navigation data that includes flight time and surface terrain data on the lunar surface, inertial measurement unit data, and temperatures. , and energy consumption.
The project is an essential part of the UAE’s space exploration strategy, which aims to build new capabilities and knowledge capabilities, inspire future generations to enter the field of space science and research, and enhance opportunities for international cooperation and partnerships in the field of space exploration. After carrying out this mission, the UAE will join the list of countries that have succeeded in sending Exploration missions to the Moon, after the United States, Russia and China.