DUBAI - (Xinhua) - The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in the United Arab Emirates launched (Sunday) the vehicle of the Emirates Moon Exploration Project, "Explorer Rashid".

An official statement of the center stated that during the mission, the "explorer Rashid" will be launched towards the surface of the moon, indicating that the mission takes one lunar day, starting after sunrise in the landing area on the moon's surface, until before sunset.

According to the center, the landing site of the "Explorer Rashid" will be 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 during Mission operations accomplished.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said, "Today, the UAE launched the explorer Rashid with the aim of landing on the surface of the moon, to be the fourth in the world and the first in the Arab world to land on the surface of the moon, if the mission is successful, God willing."

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid added, in a tweet on his official account via Twitter, that "reaching the moon is reaching an exceptional station in the ambitious march of a country and a people whose aspirations have no ceiling, and there is no impossible for them, and the next is higher and greater, God willing."

He continued, saying, "Explorer Rashid is part of an ambitious space program for the UAE, which began with Mars, passing through the moon, and reaching Venus... Our goal is to transfer knowledge, develop our capabilities, and add a scientific footprint in human history."

The "Explorer Rashid" was launched in cooperation with the "SpaceX" and "iSpace" centers, and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center stated that the launch vehicle was launched from Complex No. 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Base in the United States, and it was transferred to the platform designated for the mission at the time of launch.

The director of the Emirates Moon Exploration Project, "Explorer Rashid" Hamad Al Marzouqi, said in press statements that the explorer will work during this period to implement the basic idea of the mission, which is to move on the surface of the moon and visit different places, and each site will have a clear scientific plan, including photography. and measure electric charges.

He explained that these plans are in coordination between the scientific and engineering teams at the center, and then they are sent to the operations team, which in turn implements the plan and receives data, pointing out that the team has the flexibility to change plans based on the reality on the surface of the moon, and this is done very quickly to achieve maximum benefit. of the duration of the mission on the lunar surface.

He pointed out that "Explorer Rashid is distinguished from other missions in that it includes four cameras and a device for measuring charges on the surface of the moon, all of which are unique, and are used for the first time in an exploratory mission on the surface of the moon."

He added, "The explorer includes four sensors that have the ability to measure accurate electrical charges, which helps to understand the phenomenon of charges that are considered strange, and for the first time a device with these capabilities has been sent to the surface of the moon."

The mission of the "Explorer Rashid" includes collecting data related to the origin of the solar system and the planet Earth, studying the plasma, dust and soil of the moon's surface, and searching for samples that benefit rock science, lunar geology, and the photoelectric envelope, all of which are new discoveries about this region of the moon.