UAE to launch moon mission in 2022, alongside Japan's ispace
The team designing the rover is working out of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFAn attendee poses as he arrives to an event to mark Hope Probe's entering the orbit of Mars, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 9, 2021.(photo credit: CHRISTOPHER PIKE/REUTERS)
The UAE will work with Japanese space company ispace to fashion a rover that will be sent to the moon in 2022, ispace announced Wednesday, according to CNN.The team designing the rover is working out of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai.ispace will be sending the UAE rocket out on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket mission, according to the report. The rover will attempt to explore parts of the moon not previously reached.Adnan AlRais, MBRSC's Mars 2117 program manager, told CNN that the UAE intended for a moon mission in 2024, but the facility saw an opening to launch earlier.The rover, named after Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the former Emir of Dubai, will look to learn about moon dust, soil and other objects found in space.MBRSC's Mars 2117, as the name presents, has a plan for a Mars settlement by 2117. The rover mission is intended to be a foundation to this eventual endeavor.In February, the United Arab Emirates' first mission to Mars reached the red planet and entered orbit after a seven-month, 494 million km journey, allowing it to start sending data about the Martian atmosphere and climate.This made the UAE the fifth space agency to reach the planet. The Mars program is part of the UAE's efforts to develop its scientific and technological capabilities and reduce its reliance on oil.The Emirates Mars Mission, which has cost around $200 million, launched the Hope Probe from a Japanese space center. It aims to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere for the first time, studying daily and seasonal changes.The UAE first announced plans for the mission in 2014 and launched a National Space Programme in 2017 to develop local expertise. Its population of 9.4 million, most of whom are foreign workers, lacks the scientific and industrial base of the big spacefaring nations.
Hazza al-Mansouri became the first Emirati in space in 2019 when he flew to the International Space Station.To develop and build the Hope Probe, Emiratis and Dubai's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center worked with US educational institutions.Reuters contributed to this report.
