Emirati engineers are to begin assembling and testing the final version of the lunar rover set to land on the Moon’s surface next year.
A prototype of the Rashid rover was on display at the Dubai Airshow on Sunday.
The rover will be carried to the Moon on board a lander being built by Japanese company ispace.
The mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket next year.
Dr Hamad Al Marzooqi, project manager of the Emirates Lunar Mission, said the deadline to deliver the final version of the rover – called the flight model – to ispace is April.
“This model gave us the green light to start manufacturing, integrating and testing the flight model. This will start by mid-December,” he told The National at the airshow.
“We’ve already received a lot of components for the flight model and the integration and testing will start next month and will last from end of March to mid-April.
“Then, we’ll finish in order to ship the flight model to the integration facility of the lander.”
The Hakuto-R lander developed by ispace will be make its maiden flight attempt to the Moon next year.
A growing number of private companies are looking to carry out missions to the Moon’s surface, helping them win contracts with government-run space agencies.
Dr Al Marzooqi said the UAE mission was in close contact with ispace regarding the readiness of the lander and plans to launch the mission as scheduled.
“They are progressing very well. We are in close contact with them and we are following them every almost every week. We are happy with what we are they are doing and they are on track,” he said.
“Everyone is competing to be the first commercial lander to land on the surface of the Moon.
“Success by any commercial lander will give a boost to everyone. Yes, there's a risk depending highly on a commercial lander, but we’ve been taking risks since the beginning and we hope for the best.”
Mission staff are already working on another rover as a back-up and for use in the UAE’s long-term Moon exploration efforts, he said.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre was mandated by the UAE government to carry out a lunar landing by 2024, but the centre secured an earlier flight through ispace.
“To increase our chances, we are doing it this way. So, we are working on the next and the next rover,” Dr Al Marzooqi said.
“We will not put all our eggs in one basket. However, we are happy with ispace’s progress.
"But landing on the surface of the Moon is something very risky – even very advanced institutional agencies cannot guarantee success for landing and we have seen failures in the past couple of years.”
Only the US, the former Soviet Union and China have carried out successful Moon landings.
In the early space exploration era, there was a high rate of failure, especially by the former Soviet Union.
In 2019, India’s Vikram lander crashed on the lunar surface owing to a software glitch. Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft crashed on the surface the same year.
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Match info
Athletic Bilbao 0
Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
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Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
Be sceptical about recommendations: If someone suggests an investment to you, ask if they stand to gain, advises Mr Cronin. “If they are receiving commission, they are unlikely to recommend an investment that’s best for you.”
Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
