UAE plans to send unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024

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The United Arab Emirates is planning to launch its first-ever mission to the moon by 2024, with an unmanned spacecraft, UAE Vice President and Dubai ruler Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum said Tuesday.

The lunar rover the country is planning to launch will send back images and data from new sites on the moon that have yet to be explored by previous missions. The information will be shared with global research centers and institutions, he tweeted.

The rover will be 100 percent manufactured and developed in the UAE by Emirati Engineers, according to Mohammed.

If the mission is successful, the UAE will be the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, following the U.S., the Soviet Union and China. 

The U.S. last month published its Artemis plan aimed at landing the first women and next man on the surface of the moon by 2024. NASA’s nearly $28 billion plan includes launching two missions without astronauts in 2021 and 2023, before planning to send astronauts back to the lunar surface by the 2024 goal.

Tags Exploration of the Moon Lunar rovers Moon Spaceflight United Arab Emirates

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