The UAE has launched its Rashid lunar rover, part of an ambitious space program.
The Rashid Rover, shown in this rendering, has become the first ever Arab-built lunar spacecraft to launch into space. It is being delivered by the HAKUTO-R lander, engineered to the moon by Japanese lunar exploration company ispace.
Built in Dubai, the rover is much smaller than the last rover successfully deployed on the moon; China’s Yutu-2 has six wheels and weighs 140 kilograms (310 pounds).
By comparison, Curiosity, NASA’s only currently active Mars rover, is bigger still — weighing 899 kilograms (1,982 pounds), the size of a small SUV.
