![]() When it finally attempted to land on Tuesday, ispace somberly reported that it had lost contact with the spacecraft, and was presumed crashed. The UAE's Rashid hitched a ride aboard Japan's ispace Hakuto-R Mission 1 spacecraft, which spent over four months in orbit while preparing for its descent. And had it gone smoothly, the mission would have also seen the first privately funded lunar landing - a highly coveted bragging right, given the boom of commercial space exploration. So, the argument seems to go, even an attempt is already a notable achievement. Bouncing BackĪmong the nations of the world, only three have ever successfully landed on the Moon: the US, Russia, and China. "After getting this close to the Moon, the MBRSC team is inspired and believes that greater accomplishments are yet to in our pursuit of space exploration," it added. "While the Rashid Rover and other payloads onboard the lander did not get the chance to continue on their respective missions," the organization wrote on Twitter, "the team at MBRSC is still proud of the achievements, including developing a rover and becoming the first Emirati and Arab lunar mission to enter the Moon's orbit." It's a disappointing outcome to what could've been a historic mission, but scientists at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai don't seem too beat up about it, choosing to look at the bright side of things. The UAE's hopes and dreams of a Moon landing lay in its glorious Rashid mini rover - so it's too bad it ended up unceremoniously smashing into the lunar surface. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |