Dubai’s lunar mission suffers heartbreak as Rashid rover fails to land

Newly released footage shows the heartbreak and disappointment of Emirati engineers and scientists at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre when they learned that their spacecraft carrying the Rashid rover had crashed during a landing attempt on the Moon. The spacecraft, named Hakuto-R M1 and built by Japan’s ispace, failed to deliver the UAE-built rover and other international payloads, and contact with the spacecraft was lost.

The core team of 11 Emiratis had worked tirelessly for almost five years to build the 10kg rover, which was supposed to study an unexplored region of the Moon for 14 days. The footage shows the communication lead and project scientist, Dr Sara Al Maeeni, holding her face in her hands and Abdullah Al Shehi, mechanical lead of the rover, covering his face with his hands upon hearing the news of the mission failure. Dr Hamad Al Marzooqi, the mission manager, also appeared in the video where he learned that contact was lost.

However, the chairman of MBRSC, Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, quickly consoled the upset engineers and scientists with encouraging words, saying “there are some things that require a certain amount of patience. Thank you. You have worked hard,” and acknowledging that they are the treasure that makes the country proud. The Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, and the Crown Prince of Dubai and President of MBRSC, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, visited the space centre the following day and formally announced the development of Rashid 2, the second rover under the country’s long-term Moon exploration program.

Despite the failure of the mission, Emirati engineers gained valuable data that can be used for future missions. Rashid was the first Arab rover to enter lunar orbit, and it is crucial for MBRSC to secure a lander to be able to send the next rover to the Moon. A lunar lander is a type of spacecraft that can travel to and land on the Moon using its propulsion system, with rovers and other payloads stored safely inside.