Operational Concepts and Rehearsal Results of the First Emirates Lunar Rover: Rashid-1

Lunar rover operations present unique specificities compared to other spacecraft operations. Preparing for the 14-day surface exploration phase of the Rashid-1 rover mission required developing new concepts, designs and tools to enable the mission goals and maximize its scientific return. The Emirates Lunar Rover was set to demonstrate enabling scientific capabilities on the lunar surface by hosting scientific payloads on a small 10 kg platform. It possesses mobility and other operational capabilities to provide science teams with varied sampling, imaging, and sensing opportunities. The operation of the rover systems and the science payloads was to be performed in tandem within the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre mission control centre for rapid decision-making and maximizing lunar surface exploration around the landing site during the short mission duration. This paper focuses on the operational design and the mission rehearsals performed by the Emirates Lunar Rover team in preparation of the lunar landing. With the goal of maximizing the science outcome of the mission, we show how the operations processes were continuously improved against the issues and challenges encountered during the training process and long duration rehearsals performed as preparation for the actual operations. This paper discusses these processes and provides analysis, down to the command and telemetry level, on the performance of the operations team to share lessons learned to improve future lunar rover operations