DUBAI: For months, the Arab news media was keeping a close eye on Hope ‘s probe trip to Mars. In the UAE, records showing the unmanned spacecraft (known as Al-Amal in Arabic) have been set on highways as part of the country’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
On Tuesday, landmarks across the Arab world, including Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest tower on Earth, marked red to mark the arrival of the probe to Mars.
Seven months after its launch from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center, the probe completed its 495-kilometer orbital mission and settled into orbit around the planet in orbit for the first interplanetary mission in the the Arab world.
Ground controllers at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) in Dubai rose to their feet and praised when news broke that the Hope probe had begun orbiting the Red Planet, where it will gather data about Martian atmosphere.
Omran Sharaf, project manager for the Emirates Mars Mission, said: “For the people of the UAE and the people of Islamic and Arab countries, we are announcing the success of the United Arab Emirates in (reaching) the orbit of the Red Planet. We thank God. ”
The craft entered high Martian orbit, joining six spacecraft already operating around the planet – three US, two European and one Indian. Mission controllers had to remove a series of delicate turns and power changes to move the probe into position.
“Anything goes wrong and you lose your spaceship,” said Sarah Al-Amiri, the state minister for advanced technology and chair of the UAE space agency.
She described the mission’s success as “a historic development and a fulfillment for the dreams of 200 engineers and scientists” who worked behind the scenes.
The coming of Hope puts the UAE in a league of only five space agencies in history that have taken away Mars ’action mission. Two unmanned spacecraft from the US and China follow close behind, ready to reach the planet in the next few days.
The three missions were launched in July last year to take advantage of the close alignment of Earth and Mars.
In a congratulatory tweet given Tuesday to the Emiratis, Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA’s science mission, said: “Your bold effort to explore the Red Planet will inspire many more to reach for the stars. We hope to join you at Mars soon with Perseverance. ”
Speaking to Arab News, Salem Al-Marri, deputy director general for scientific and technical affairs at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, said: “(Completing the orbit of Mars) means a lot: Inside 15 years, building capabilities at the base to be able to build satellites, launch astronauts and build a similar mission to Mars.
“The first thing it means for the country and for us is that we have the capacity to build these technologies. Number two is that we now have a mission that has global impact. Its importance is global, so the data we get from this mission is going to be of benefit to everyone who studies the Martian atmosphere who wants to better understand the planet.
“I think a mission like this means a lot to everyone.”
Earlier, Hessa Al-Matrooshi, science director of Data Analysis and EMM Management at the space station, said in an interview: “There are many similarities between Earth and Mars about 2 billion years ago. Data on water footprints have emerged on the Red Planet 2 billion years ago. We believe it felt very thick, there was water and a melting state.
“If you look at Mars now, a lot has happened. It feels very thin and you can’t find traces of water unless it’s water and ice. The question is why the great transformation took place. Through this, we can gain an understanding of factors that take place on Earth that can lead to similar results, thus preventing it. ”
The Hope probe was assembled in Boulder, Colorado, before being shipped to Japan for launch aboard the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H2A rocket.
The $ 200 million cost of the resolution is believed to be among the lowest in the world compared to similar programs, Mohammad Al-Gergawi, the UAE minister for cabinet affairs, said in a tweet last year.
However, the price tag does not include operating costs at Mars. The Chinese and US trips are much more complicated – and more expensive – because of their rover search engines. NASA’s sustainability mission is estimated to cost $ 3 billion.
Nevertheless, the success of the mission represents a major boost to the UAE’s space missions. It follows decades of preparation and work to achieve a great vision set out in the 1970s by the late UAE founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nayhan. His interest in space was sparked by a 1976 meeting with NASA astronauts who had given several Apollo missions to the Moon.
US President Richard Nixon had presented Sheikh Zayed with a gift of lunar rock collected from the Taurus-Littrow Valley during the Apollo 17 1972 mission. Shortly afterwards, Sheikh Zayed sent a clear message to his people, and the world, would not know the secrets of Emirati for space exploration. Thus began the country’s journey into space.
In 2006, the UAE began working closely with universities and space agencies around the world to establish intelligence transfer programs, with the goal of one day sending a spacecraft to Mars. However, it was not until the establishment of the UAE Space Agency in 2014 that the world began to pay attention to the country’s space exploration plans.
In 2017, Emirati military pilot Hazza Al-Mansouri was one of two selected from 4,000 candidates to join the group’s initial astronaut group. After rigorous mental and physical tests, he trained in Russia as part of an agreement between the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos.
The first UAE astronaut joined the crew of the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft launched on September 25, 2019, en route to the International Space Station. Al-Mansouri’s eight-day mission ended on October 2, when he landed safely in Kazakhstan, after which he proudly said that he returned with “The Sheikh Zayed space mission was accomplished.”
Looking to the future of Arab space exploration, Al-Marri at MBRSC said: “We already have a 10-year plan and several teams working on a number of missions. If I talk specifically about the next step with the Emirates Mars Mission, we will start after a week or two with a focus on the scientific objectives.
“But the next steps for MBRC are the next 10-year plan. Our next mission is to launch, for the first time in the history of the Arab world, a mission that will land on the Moon. So we put a rover, it’s called Rashid Rover. We’re building that as we speak. ”
– with support from organizations.
Twitter: @jumanaaltamimi
