Amna Al Ketbi (Dubai)
The UAE recorded a new historical achievement after the launch of the Emirates mission to the moon through the explorer Rashid, as it was developed by a team of Emirati engineers, experts and researchers at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center, and the design and construction was carried out with 100% national efforts.
Dr. Mohammed Al Zaabi, Director of the Ground Station and Operations of the Explorer Rashid at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center, revealed: The Explorer Rashid was successfully launched to the Moon from Complex No. 40 of the Cape Canaveral Space Base in the US state of Florida, and the first signal was received from the Earth station in Japan, explaining that The first signal will be received from the explorer, Rashid, from the ground station in Al Khawaneej, next Wednesday, at 4 am.
He added that the scientific operations team for the Emirates mission to explore the moon, “Explorer Rashid”, consists of 9 specialists, cooperating with 8 scientific bodies that include international academies and universities, indicating that the mission information will be provided and archived in the European and American space agencies to provide it to researchers and specialists around the world.
Al Zaabi indicated that the “Explorer Rashid” will be controlled through the ground control station at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, and commands for the mission will be sent and received through a national team, indicating that during the mission period, the Emirati explorer will roam the surface of the moon, moving to new locations never before. It has been studied before, as it will capture rare data and images, and then send it to the ground control station at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, and therefore the data and images that it will provide will be modern, new and of high value.
He stressed that after the completion of the “Explorer Rashid” mission and the collection and analysis of scientific data, it will be deposited according to an archived system for comprehensive information about the moon in the European and American space agencies, in order to facilitate access to it by researchers, scholars and scientists, especially since rare data and images will be provided, and new sites will be studied and conducted. Tests are the first of their kind.
And he indicated that the duration of sending commands to the explorer does not exceed 3 seconds, and therefore the control and management of operations will be directly to control the movement of the explorer and its movement in different places and with a variety of terrains so that there is a richness in the information that will be provided through the images taken of the surface of the moon, indicating that they are in this regard They carried out a set of tests on the “Explorer Rashid” in the UAE desert during the last period, including experiments with mobility systems, kinetic devices and communications, in order to ensure the effectiveness of his performance and his ability to carry out the tasks assigned to him.
He stated that the explorer will work by relying on solar energy panels, especially since the UAE mission to explore the moon takes “one lunar day”, which is equivalent to 14 days on the planet, and therefore the extension of the mission will depend on the efficiency of the solar panels, especially since it will go through a period of sleep during the night. In which temperatures reach 173 degrees Celsius, which may affect the efficiency of the explorer’s batteries, pointing out that they are looking to increase the duration of the mission for another lunar day, according to the developments and developments of the mission and to meet the challenges that envelop this celestial body.
Engineer Abdullah Al-Shehhi, responsible for the mechanical systems in the project, said that many tests were carried out on the explorer Rashid to ensure the efficiency of its devices before its launch yesterday, including vibration and thermal vacuum tests, which is a series of final checks to ensure its ability to withstand the harsh environment that it will be exposed to. It has, and keeps pace with the great challenges related to the difficult environment on the moon, especially since the moon is characterized by a harsher environment than that of Mars, while the temperature on it reaches minus 173 degrees Celsius, and the explorer is ready to overcome and overcome these challenges.
Engineer Reem Al-Muhaisni, thermal systems official in the UAE project to explore the moon, said: The UAE mission to explore the moon is a great and important opportunity to gain expertise and enhance the efficiency of the exceptional and advanced Emirati expertise in building space robots, especially as it stems from scientific goals, foremost of which is the development of robotics technologies for spacecraft systems. Exploration and testing of technical devices and equipment that are being tested for the first time, related to robots, communications, mobility and navigation, with the aim of determining the efficiency of their work in the harsh lunar environment, while this will help to test the capabilities of the Emirates before launching on manned exploratory missions to Mars.
She added: The mission of the explorer Rashid is also to study a point that has not been explored before on the surface of the moon, indicating that the explorer Rashid represents a practical addition and a great scientific value to the scientific community interested in outer space.
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