The probe, called the Hope Probe, was designed to overcome 500 million kilometers and reach the red planet on February 9, 2021. Its historical launch took place on July 20, 2020, being postponed twice before that.
Previously, the United Arab Emirates had little experience in creating spacecrafts. Nevertheless, the country was courageous enough to do what so far has only been possible for Russia, the United States, the European Union, and India. Nowadays, this list includes UAE.
UAE engineers, trained by professionals from America, designed and created an extremely complex Hope probe. It took them six years.
Scientists have a hope that the probe will become a source of knowledge about why the planet has lost most of its water and atmosphere, which scientists and researchers are interested in. The mission value is not limited to science. It is expected to inspire youth both in the country and throughout the world to engage in science and space exploration. This is one of the many projects demonstrating the country’s desire to connect its future with high technology.
The soul and public face of the project is the Minister of High Technology Sarah Al Amiri, who seeks to captivate everyone with her passion for space. She began her career as a computer engineer. “I am fascinated by the enormity of space and the complexity of its study,” she explained. It is worth mentioning that 34% of the employees working on the project are women.
The organizers of the project from the very beginning decided that they were not going to Mars in order to do what others had done before. They asked the NASA Mars analytical team about what can the probe do based on the current level of knowledge.
NASA’s recommendations formed the basis of the probe’s research program. The planned duration of the mission is two years, during which the probe will study the circulation of vertical air flows in the atmosphere. Moreover, the circulation of dust in the upper planet atmosphere is planned to be studied.
As mentioned, this mission should also shed some light on the causes of the almost complete disappearance of water, which was present on the planet in the early period of the existence of Mars. Such knowledge is priceless not only for the UAE but for the whole world.
The probe is equipped with three cameras that make it possible to observe the atmosphere in the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet ranges.
The first UAE mission to Mars is certainly a great achievement. It’s a vivid example of how the country is trying to expand its limitations, without being afraid of doing something new and opening new horizons. As the Hope probe successfully reaches its destination, humanity gets an unique opportunity to acquire priceless knowledge about the red planet. The mission is the embodiment of courage, skills, and effort, which will lead to great results in the future and new exciting opportunities to come.
