UAE plans to land spacecraft on moon by 2024
NASA's administrator said that the organisation hoped to return to the Moon by 2024, if Congress approves the $28 billion budget. AFP
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched a new project to explore the moon and plans to land an unmanned spacecraft on it in 2024, Emirati Prime Minister and Vice President Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said Tuesday.
The aircraft will be completely manufactured by Emirati engineers in the UAE, said Al Maktoum.
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"The lunar rover will send back images and data from new sites of the moon that haven't been explored by previous lunar missions," he wrote on Twitter.
The Emirates News Agency said the lunar rover will be called "Rashid," named after one of the founders of the UAE.
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According to the prime minister, the data will be shared globally with research centers and institutions.
If successful in 2024, the UAE would become the fourth nation on earth to land a spacecraft on the moon, after the United States, the Soviet Union, and China.