The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center confirmed that the launch date for the Emirates Lunar Exploration Project, the first Emirati mission to the surface of the moon, will take place on November 28, at 3:46 am EST, 12:46 pm UAE time. However, the date and time are still subject to change due to any changes that may occur in the weather or any other circumstances.
This announcement comes after confirming the landing site of the explorer Rashid, in the Atlas crater, located at 47.5 degrees north and 44.4 degrees east, on the southeastern outer edge of the Mare Frigoris region or what is known as the “Sea of Cold”, located in the far north of the moon, which was chosen to preserve Flexibility while completing mission operations.
The landing site was also chosen taking into account the multiple emergencies, which can be used depending on the variables that occur during transportation, as the site has the technical specifications and scientific objectives of the Emirates Moon Exploration Project. Once it lands, the explorer Rashid will study the properties of the soil on the surface of the moon, the rocks and geology of the moon, the movement of dust, the plasma, and the photoelectrosphere, all of which are new discoveries about this region of the moon. Which makes the UAE lunar exploration project one of the most anticipated space missions.
The Atlas crater is a site that has not been explored by any of the spacecraft or even previous manned missions, which makes the Emirates Lunar Exploration Project one of the most important anticipated missions.
In cooperation with mission partners “SpaceX” and iSpace, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center stated that the launch vehicle is located in Complex No. 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Base, United States, and will be transferred to the launch pad when the scheduled launch date approaches.
According to “iSpace”, the lander will take a low-energy path to the moon instead of heading directly, which means that the landing will take about five months after launch, that is, it will be during March 2023.
