The base, called Mars Dune Alpha, is designed to simulate the challenges that will be faced by the first people on the actual planet
The UAE’s Rashid Rover to the Moon will land on the lunar surface on April 25.
This comes according to a senior official who was speaking at the 17th International Conference on Space Operations (SpaceOps 2023) in Dubai on Monday.
Salmen Al Marri, Director General of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, said, “We are on the way to the Moon as we speak. We have chartered about 1.6 million kilometres and now we are looping back in a Japanese lander hoping to land on April 25.”
Named after the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, former Ruler of Dubai, the UAE-made Rashid Rover - the first lunar spacecraft built by an Arab country - was in the lander that launched on December 11, 2022, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. Since being deployed from the rocket, the lander has travelled approximately 1.376 million-kilometres into deep space, becoming the farthest privately-funded, commercially operating spacecraft to travel into space.
Recently, ispace, inc., a global lunar exploration company, released an interim success report and announced that its HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander has travelled to its farthest point from Earth into deep space.
“So, if you look at what's happening in terms of exploring the Moon, regarding Artemis, and getting humans back to the Moon, we're interested. We're interested in robotic explorations there. We're interested in learning with the international community about the Moon and then shifting to Mars. This can be done through a collaborative approach and jointly with a global community and in line with what the community is doing. If you look at the Rashid Rover… this is the UAE and France coming together,” said Al Marri.
The French space agency has supplied two cameras to the rover. One is placed on top for panoramic images of the robot's surroundings. The other one is a rear camera that would capture images as the lander throws up regolith behind it.
Al Marri underlined that the UAE’s lunar mission helps pave the way for a mission to Mars with Emirati astronauts.
He adds, “There's a 50 per cent chance these missions (won't) succeed. But we don't always try easy things. So, those types of projects are what we envisage towards Mars 2117. Doing this step- by-step and growing these projects, doing it collaboratively, and hopefully as humanity, we get to Mars. Our leadership in 2017 put this vision of a 100-year plan. It’s basically a roadmap. It's not saying that in 100 years we will do this or that. But to do anything you need to have an idea, a big idea. Then there are five-year plans that the UAE puts forward to achieve its objectives to get as close to it as possible. So, we look at global exploration and what's happening on a global scale.”
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