UAE sends Arab world’s first mission to Mars
The rocket carrying the probe took off from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center, marking the beginning of an almost 500 million kilometer journey into space
By IAR Desk
Monday, July 20, 2020 marked a historic day for UAE as they launched the Hope Probe in a landmark mission to Mars, the first in the Arab world. The rocket carrying the probe took off from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center, marking the beginning of an almost 500 million kilometer journey into space. The UAE Mars mission’s deputy project manager and Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, Sarah al-Amiri, told Dubai TV from the launch site: “This is the future of the UAE.” Meanwhile, Hend al-Otaiba, director of strategic communications at the UAE’s foreign ministry tweeted “Hope belongs to millions of young people in this region who long for progress, inspiration and opportunity; it’s a direct challenge to those who continue to suppress these aspirations,”
According to Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, the Hope Probe will be “the first probe to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere and its layers when it reaches the red planet’s orbit in 2021”.
The UAE state news agency WAM reported that the Ground Control in Dubai successfully received a first transmission from the Hope Probe at 3:10 a.m. local time, a little over one hour from when it blasted off from the space center. They further stated that “The team of the Ground Control Station has analyzed the data to ensure that the solar panels are facing the sun properly”.
The probe is expected to reach Mars in the first quarter of 2021 which is also the year the UAE celebrates 50 years since its unification.
The report also cited the statement by Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammad al-Gergawi stating that the Emirates Mars Mission has cost $200 million, and the cost is considered “among the lowest in the world when compared with similar programs.”
The report also stated that according to the UAE Space Agency, the UAE’s Mars Mission’s duration is estimated to last for one Martian year (approximately two Earth years, or 687 days). The UAE first announced plans for this mission in 2014 and launched a National Space Program in 2017.
