"Explorer Rashid" passes the final tests before the launch phase
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center announced that the "Explorer Rashid" team has completed the final stage of the tests, the last step separating the explorer from the launch date for the completion of the Emirates Moon Exploration Project, the first Emirati mission to the surface of the moon.
Salem Humaid Al Marri, Director General of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, said: We congratulate and thank all members of the team who worked hard and diligently during the past period of tests with the aim of making the Emirates project to explore the moon a success, which will constitute a new scientific qualitative leap for the United Arab Emirates, and will pave the way for more Future space exploration missions, as this project embodies the spirit of innovation and scientific progress that characterizes the UAE and its contribution to research and explorations of global space sciences.
For his part, Dr. Hamad Al Marzouqi, Director of the Emirates Lunar Exploration Project, said: “All of us at the MBRSC are waiting for this long-awaited moment, after we have completed the testing stages, and today we are preparing to move on to the next and final stage of our mission before launch, which includes placing the explorer in the launch rocket.”
We stress the importance of the sciences and technological technologies that have been applied in the Emirates project to explore the moon and their role in providing an answer to several questions related to the geology of the lunar surface, which we have worked on for years.
During the past four months, the explorer Rashid has gone a long way of testing before being placed in the lander. The explorer's systems have undergone a set of tests, including preparation for the launch phase, the navigation phase and the landing phase on the surface of the moon.
During the beginning of this year, the explorer completed the assembly phase and the first set of tests of the full systems functions of the final model in the laboratories of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center. This testing phase included evaluations of all hardware and software functions within all possible scenarios on the moon's surface. Laboratories of the Center of Excellence for Electro-Optics Systems “EOCE” of the Emirates Edge Group, headquartered in Abu Dhabi.
In the second stage, the explorer Rashid completed a series of environmental tests in Toulouse, France, during two tests. The first included the final thermal vacuum test, which was carried out at the CNES laboratories. The explorer was also exposed to extremely high and low temperatures to simulate the environment of the moon's surface.
In the second section, the explorer underwent a vibration and shock test at Airbus, where the explorer model was placed on a vibration table that simulates the environment that he will face during the launch aboard a SpaceX "Falcon 9" rocket, the speed reduction when entering the lunar orbit and the shock of landing on the moon's surface.
The necessary batch of tests was concluded in Germany during the final stage of checks on the interfaces of the Ispace lander, which will transport the explorer safely to the lunar surface.
This stage also included hardware verification checks, such as imaging systems and a final functional test of the integrated system after environmental tests.
It is noteworthy that the Rashid Explorer, which was designed and developed entirely by Emirati hands in the laboratories of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, is among the most advanced in terms of technology and design in the world, and is expected to be launched on board the launch vehicle from November 9 to 15.
It is worth noting that the Emirates project to explore the moon is one of the missions funded by the Communications and Information Technology Development Fund of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and Digital Government (TDRA) with the aim of achieving a set of scientific objectives for the mission, which include: studying the lunar plasma and answering questions related to moon dust, the surface of the moon and transportation On the surface of the moon and how different materials interact with the lunar soil grains.
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