Dubai: Yamama Badwan
The explorer “Rashid” is preparing to provide high-quality images with a panoramic field of view of up to 360 degrees, 8 hours after the arrival of the “Haktor R” lander to the surface of the moon at the end of next April, by means of 4 three-dimensional cameras, moving vertically. And horizontally, including two optical cameras «Kaspix», which allows the availability of data after analyzing the images of the explorer tracks to determine the extent of immersion of the wheels in the soil, and to study the interaction between the wheel and the soil in detail, which makes this data extremely important in the processes of designing vehicle navigation systems in the future.
The Emirates Lunar Exploration Project stated that the main camera, which was installed at the top of the front side of the explorer, provides a panoramic view of the environment surrounding it on the surface of the moon, and is characterized by the presence of a sensor that supports red, green and blue colors, and it is also equipped with a two-axis movement mechanism to provide a field of vision. It is 360 degrees, and will be used for scientific purposes, and it can also photograph objects close to the explorer, which are only one millimeter in size, and can monitor the accumulation of dust on the explorer.
High accuracy
The project added that the secondary camera is identical to the main camera in terms of field of view and the sensor supporting the three colors, but it is installed on the back of the explorer, and it is a backup camera for navigation and operations, and it is closer to the surface of the moon than the previous camera, while its images are distinguished by the high accuracy of dust grains and close to the paths of the explorer. .
The project stated that the third camera is a microscope, which will provide images of the lunar surface with the highest resolution available to date, as well as the possibility of an unprecedented view of the unexplored upper layer of lunar soil, as the study of this layer will provide clarifications about the formation of the lunar surface, and the changes it witnessed at precise scales. And that is done by means of a microscopic camera, while the thermal imaging camera contributes to measuring the thermal behavior of stones, rocks and soil in the moon, which provides important information about the mineral and thermal properties of its rocks and soil, especially since previous missions conducted a distance measurement only for areas covering only tens of meters of the surface temperatures of the moon.
scientific goals
According to the Emirates Lunar Exploration Project, the scientific objectives of the microscopic imaging device include providing thermal images with a resolution of several centimeters for objects that are about one meter away from the vehicle. These images will also be used to extract information about the properties of lunar soil, such as its chemical composition and sizes. His sweethearts.
entering orbit
In the same context, the explorer’s landing vehicle “Rashid” continues, two days ago, the process of entering the lunar orbit for a period of a whole month, from the moment it reached the furthest distance from the planet, which is 1.4 million km, last Friday, when it redirected its trajectory correctly, in order to A kind of free fall towards lunar gravity takes place, which means the success of the fifth stage of the mission.
