The U.A.E.’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) has signed a new collaboration agreement with a French space agency that will provide sophisticated cameras enabling high-resolution images for the Emirates Lunar Mission. MBRSC has partnered with the French space agency National Center for Space Studies (CNES), to deliver two optical cameras for Space Exploration (CASPEX) for the Rashid rover.
It’s said the CASPEX camera on top of the rover’s mast will provide panoramic visibility of the rover surroundings. The rear-mounted CASPEX camera will deliver images of the lunar soil with high spatial resolution. The lunar rover, which will reportedly be ready for a 2022 mission, will be generating thousands of images and useful scientific data throughout the lunar day.
MBRSC Director-General Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani said: “The U.A.E. aims to lead an innovative and sustainable exploration of the Moon through the Emirates Lunar Mission. Our partnership with CNES is a continuation of the already great collaborative effort with France, and we will continue to strengthen it further. We believe that collaboration is the way forward for space exploration, and the more we work together to tackle challenges for the good of humanity, the greater our collective prospects for the future.”
The rear-mounted French camera’s images of the drive tracks will be analyzed to determine wheel sinkage and to investigate the detailed wheel-soil interaction. Such data will be important to design the mobility systems of future rovers.
