A small team of Emirati engineers have developed the UAE's lunar mission. Photo: MBRSC
A small team of Emirati engineers have developed the UAE's lunar mission. Photo: MBRSC
A small team of Emirati engineers have developed the UAE's lunar mission. Photo: MBRSC
A small team of Emirati engineers have developed the UAE's lunar mission. Photo: MBRSC

Emirati engineers working at 'full speed' for Rashid Rover 2, says MBRSC chief


Sarwat Nasir
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Emirati engineers are working at “full speed” to develop the UAE's second mission to the Moon, the chief of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre has said.

Salem Al Marri, director general of the space centre, spoke to The National after investigation findings were released on the crash landing of a private spacecraft carrying the UAE's Rashid rover.

The Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, which carried an Emirati and many international payloads, attempted a soft touchdown on the Moon's surface on April 26, but ran out of fuel due to an altitude miscalculation.

“Getting to the Moon, as we've said many times, is very difficult, very hard,” Mr Al Marri said.

“It seems small but obviously it's a complex set of events that led to that false reading, and then eventually running out of fuel and crashing.

“The main thing is that ispace now know exactly what happened and they can mitigate it in future missions.”

Ispace's investigations showed that a faulty software caused its lander to carry out incorrect altitude adjustments, ultimately causing it run out fuel right before a soft touchdown was expected.

Images taken by a Nasa rover showed four large pieces of debris scattered across the landing site.

The space centre has already started working on a second rover called Rashid 2.

As the UAE does not have its own landing capabilities, MBRSC would have to secure a lander again, like it did with the Hakuto-R, to send its rover to the Moon.

During a visit to the MBRSC, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai “instructed us to start working on the second rover,” Mr Al Marri confirmed.

“We're at full speed ahead. We're now looking at different elements of where this rover would be landing. So, the team is working very hard.

“The team is quite upbeat looking at the results of how close we got with ispace.”

He said the engineers are working on the design of the rover and the selection of the landing site.

“That really does make you feel like hopefully next time we can really make it and land on the surface of the Moon.”

New images reveal impact site on Moon where lander carrying UAE's Rashid rover crashed

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- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

Four tips to secure IoT networks

Mohammed Abukhater, vice president at FireEye in the Middle East, said:

- Keep device software up-to-date. Most come with basic operating system, so users should ensure that they always have the latest version

- Besides a strong password, use two-step authentication. There should be a second log-in step like adding a code sent to your mobile number

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Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives. 

The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast. 

As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau

He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker. 

If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah

 

Other ways to buy used products in the UAE

UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.

Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.

Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.

For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.

Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.

At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

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Saudi Arabia

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South Korea

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Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.

They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.

“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.

He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.

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Five films to watch

Castle in the Sky (1986)

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

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Pom Poki (1994)

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)

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How to vote in the UAE

1) Download your ballot https://www.fvap.gov/

2) Take it to the US Embassy

3) Deadline is October 15

4) The embassy will ensure all ballots reach the US in time for the November 3 poll

Updated: May 26, 2023, 1:28 PM`