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 Al-Maktoum said.
The aircraft will be completely manufactured by Emirati engineers in the UAE, Al-Maktoum said.
“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.
According to the prime minister, the data will be shared globally with research centres and institutions.
If successful in 2024, the UAE would become the fourth nation on earth to land a spacecraft on the moon, after the U.S., the Soviet Union and China. (Xinhua/NAN)