UAE launches mission to Mars in effort to move away from reliance on oil
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The Hope Probe was launched from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre, after two delays due to bad weather.
The United Arab Emirates have
announced their first Mars mission. The £ 160 m mission aims to provide a image
of the Martian atmosphere as well as to observe everyday and seasonal changes
on the surface.
It is also intended to advance the
science and technology sector of the UAE, thereby allowing it to step away from
its economic dependency on oil.
The Amal (Hope) Probe was launched
from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center shortly before 11 pm Sunday, UK time,
following two delays due to bad weather.
The probe deployed solar panels for
its contact and other devices about an hour after its launch, as it headed
towards Mars at an average speed of more than 75,000 mph.
Omran Sharaf, Emirates Mars Mission's
project chief, said about an hour and a half after the lift-off that the probe
was sending out signals.
The trip to Mars takes seven months to
complete before the probe circles the planet and sends data back.
It is one of eight successful
spacecraft that have landed on the surface exploring Mars, some orbiting and
others, and the UAE has plans to settle on the planet by 2117.
The UAE, which has about 9.4 million
people, unveiled plans for the mission in 2014 and initiated its National Space
Program three years later. Hazza al Mansouri became the first Emirates in space
when, in September, he travelled to the International Space Station.
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| The reaction in Dubai was one of jubilation as the launch was completed successfully |
Three Earth observation satellites
were also placed into orbit by the UAE-two developed by South Korea and
launched by Russia and the third developed by the UAE and launched by Japan.
Mr Sharaf said that the Mars mission
"sends the Arab youth a very clear message that if the UAE can hit Mars in
less than 50 years, they can do much more."
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