UAE MAPS OUT MISSION TO EXPLORE ASTEROID BELT
▶ Voyage of five billion kilometres could lay ground for extraction of valuable minerals in space
The UAE yesterday announced details of its planned mission is to send a spacecraft to an asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter.
Officials said the craft, weighing 2.3 tonnes and fitted with giant foldable solar panels, will attempt to send a lander on to the surface of an asteroid.
The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) aims to launch the MBR Explorer – named after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai – in 2028.
The mission to the belt was first announced in 2021. Details of the spacecraft design, mission operators and science goals were unveiled yesterday.
The MBR Explorer will embark on a journey of five billion kilometres to perform fly-bys of six asteroids, then dispatch a lander to a seventh. In addition to the scientific knowledge gained in the mission, EMA could lay the groundwork for the extraction of resources from asteroids.
The asteroid belt reportedly contains $700 quintillion worth of minerals including gold, iron and nickel.
“The UAE project to explore the asteroid belt is a huge national scientific project and a unique global research and knowledge project,” Sheikh Mohammed said on Twitter. “It will include the establishment of private Emirati companies in space technology, the establishment of a ground control centre for deep space missions and the training of new Emirati graduates in this sector.
“The UAE can venture far into space, covering 5 billion kilometres for one reason: its belief in its youth and its empowerment of its citizens.”
Mohsen Al Awadhi, project director of the mission at the UAE Space Agency, told The National that private companies in the Emirates would develop the mission alongside the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in the University of Colorado Boulder, which helped build the UAE’s Hope Martian probe.
“A lot of what we achieved on the Emirates Mars Mission is
basically paving the way for this follow-up mission,” Mr Al Awadhi said.
“We believe these are waterrich asteroids. We want to see what other resources might be available.”
Scientists are interested in studying the asteroid belt because it contains remnants of the solar system and could offer clues about how Earth was formed.
“What we did is try to understand what is missing information-wise and what are some interesting asteroids that scientists have been considering,” Mr Al Awadhi said.
The asteroids the mission will explore are known as 10253 Westerwald, 623 Chimaera, 13294 Rockox, 88055, 23871 and 59980.
The spacecraft will attempt to land on 269 Justitia, which is a reddish colour.
The MBR Explorer will use two cameras and two spectrometers to collect data about the space rocks.
“Justitia was really interesting because other asteroids that are from the main asteroid belt, based on the current available observations, are mostly bluish,” Mr Al Awadhi said.
“Maybe it’s coming from beyond Pluto and now it’s in the main asteroid belt.”
The mission is to be launched in 2028.
The spacecraft will use gravitational forces from Venus, Earth and Mars to change its velocity to reach the asteroid belt.
Most of its fuel will be used during its journey between the asteroids.
Its manoeuvre near Venus is expected to take place in July 2028.
The spacecraft will pass Earth in May 2029, before passing Westerwald and Chimaera in 2030 and Rockox in 2031.
It will pass asteroids 2000 VA28 and 1998 RC76 in 2032 and 1999 SG6 in 2033, before releasing its lander in May 2035.