Spacecraft carrying UAE Rashid rover takes images of Moon before Tuesday's landing attempt

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The Japanese spacecraft carrying the UAE's Rashid rover has sent back images of the Moon a day before it will attempt its lunar landing.

The Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, built by ispace, took the two photos as it was flying only 100km from the Moon.

It blasted off into space in December for a five-month-long journey, with the Emirati-built rover and other international payloads stored safely inside.

The Moon-landing attempt will take place on Tuesday, at 8.40pm GST, and a live stream by ispace will begin an hour before on its YouTube channel.

"We are excited to share a new photo of the Moon taken by the lander's on-board camera from an altitude of about 100km above the lunar surface," ispace tweeted on Monday.

A landing sequence will begin tomorrow in which the spacecraft will perform a complex manoeuvre to decelerate and adjust its attitude (positioning in space) to land softly.

The success rate of soft lunar landing attempts is low, with only the US, the former Soviet Union and China having achieved the feat, although both India and Israel attained hard landings in 2019.

Because the Moon has no atmosphere, engineers cannot use parachutes to slow down the spacecraft, which instead has to use its propulsion system to change its velocity and attitude.

The unstable terrain of the lunar surface can make a safe landing more difficult.

Hakuto-R M1 will attempt to land on the Atlas crater in the Mare Frigoris region of the Moon's near side, facing Earth. The co-ordinates will be 47.5°N, 44.4 E°.

Ispace says three alternative landing sites have been selected as a precaution.

If the first attempt is delayed, the alternative landing dates are April 26, May 1 and May 3.

The Mare Frigoris region is also known as the Sea of Cold, as it is in the north polar region of the Moon.

Scientists find the area particularly interesting because of the light plains scattered throughout.

Studying these will help scientists learn more about the geological history of the unexplored region.

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FFP EXPLAINED

What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.

What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.

What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

The biog

Alwyn Stephen says much of his success is a result of taking an educated chance on business decisions.

His advice to anyone starting out in business is to have no fear as life is about taking on challenges.

“If you have the ambition and dream of something, follow that dream, be positive, determined and set goals.

"Nothing and no-one can stop you from succeeding with the right work application, and a little bit of luck along the way.”

Mr Stephen sells his luxury fragrances at selected perfumeries around the UAE, including the House of Niche Boutique in Al Seef.

He relaxes by spending time with his family at home, and enjoying his wife’s India cooking.

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Date of birth: April 18, 1998

Playing position: Winger

Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda

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The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press

The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer

Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000

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