The “Rashid” lander is preparing for the third orbital maneuver after 12 days, reaching an altitude of 1.4 million km.

The operations team at the control center in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, is preparing to conduct the third maneuver in the orbital control of the “Rashid” explorer lander, coinciding with its arrival at the highest altitude above Earth, which is 1.4 million km, on January 20, that is, 12 days later.

According to “iSpace”, the “Haktor R” lander will begin entering the moon’s orbit for a period of a full month, from the moment it reaches the farthest distance from the planet, by reorienting its trajectory in the correct way, so that a kind of free fall towards lunar gravity takes place, which is What does the success of the fifth stage mean?

The lander, carrying the first Emirati mission to explore the moon, had successfully conducted the first orbital control maneuver on December 15, when it reached a height of 550,000 km from Earth, allowing the vehicle to be placed on its trajectory towards the moon, and to verify the operation of the main propulsion system. , among other important systems. On January 2nd, the lander succeeded in performing its second control maneuver towards lunar orbit, when it reached an altitude of 1.24 million kilometers from Earth.

Hector R needs about 140 days of navigation to reach the surface of the moon, as the ground station team at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai coordinates with the iSpace control center team throughout that phase daily, for about 10 minutes, with a series of Tests to check systems and devices, and perform a number of course correction maneuvers.

By the end of next April, Hector R will undertake the process of landing itself on the surface of the moon, relying on its computers, and will calculate how to land in a way that makes it maintain its trajectory, until it reaches the specified point on the surface of the moon, specifically in the “Atlas Crater” area. ».