The task is almost complete: The United Arab Emirates’ “Al-Amal” (“Hope”) spacecraft entered orbit Mars this evening (Tuesday) – ahead of landing on the Red Star. This is a journey that lasts more than half a year and amounts to about 480 million kilometers in space.
The Arab State Space Agency is the sixth in the world to launch a mission to Mars, after the Soviet Union, the United States (NASA), Europe, China and India. The US space agency’s spacecraft is expected to land on the planet on February 18.
The Emirates control team applauded its successful entry into orbit around Mars of the unmanned spacecraft. UAE Vice President Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashd al-Maktoum welcomed the entry into the orbit around Mars and greeted him with a statement, saying: “We have met the main task we have set and that is to reach the orbit around Mars.”
“This is the farthest point in the universe that the Arabs have reached. We want to give hope to all Arab countries that we too can achieve no less than the great powers,” Sheikh Ben Rashed added.
If the mission is completed according to plan, from its orbit in space, for about two years, about 20,000 to 43,000 kilometers above the ground, the spacecraft will for the first time provide space scientists with information about the weather across Mars at all hours of the day. It will also investigate how dust storms and other near-surface climatic phenomena of Mars affect the planet’s atmosphere.
The project is part of the country’s efforts, together with its neighbor to the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, to end its dependence on the oil economy, and become technological and scientific powers – along with changing their image in the world. The cost of the “Hope” project is estimated at $ 200 million, according to the country’s advanced science minister, Sarah Amiri.
Prior to the launch in July 2020 from the space station in Japan, the launch date of the lander was postponed several times due to problematic weather conditions.