First Arab Space Mission to Mars
July 20, 2020
UAE has joined China and the US in the race to the red planet by launching the first Arab space mission to Mars.UAE has successfully launched an H2-A rocket from Tanegashima spaceport, Japan at 6:58 am Japanese time on Monday (July 20, 2020) Just over an hour after launch, the probe deployed solar panels to power its systems and establish radio communication with the mission on earth. The journey was initially due to launch on July 14 but delayed by bad weather. The unmanned probe is called “Al-Amal” or “Hope”. As a result of the announcement of the mission in 2014, the UAE launched a National Space program in 2017 to develop local expertise. Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), the space center of Emiratis and Dubai, worked with US educational institutions to improve and build the Hope Probe. The United Arab Emirates strives to develop its scientific and technological capabilities and reduce its reliance on oil. The mission has caused $200m, confirmed by the Minister for Advanced Sciences, Sarah Amiri. Hope will reach the orbit of Mars by February 2021, marking the 50th anniversary of the UAE. It's a long journey of seven months (taking advantage of a period when the Earth and Mars are nearest) or 494 million km at an average speed of 121,000kph and the spacecraft will be observed by The MBRSC space center in Dubai. It will orbit the planet for a whole Martian year (687 days) and will provide a complete picture of the atmosphere for the first time, studying daily and seasonal changes. Amiri said, “This is the future of the UAE,” who is also minister of state for advanced sciences, told Dubai TV from the launch site. It has an ambitious plan for a Mars settlement by 2117.
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