The United Arab Emirates successfully launched its first probe to Mars

Mars objective. The Emirati Al-Amal (Hope) probe was successfully launched on Monday July 20 from Japan. This first Arab interplanetary mission must reach the orbit of Mars, of which it will have to provide images to better understand its atmosphere and climate.

The takeoff of this unmanned spacecraft, broadcast live and online, took place as planned from the Tanegashima space center (southwest of Japan) at 6:58 local time (Sunday 21:58 GMT), after two postponed last week due to bad weather.

Almost an hour after takeoff, applause was heard in the Japanese control room when the probe separated from its H-IIA number 42 launcher from the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The takeoff was also experienced with pride and emotion in the United Arab Emirates. The Burj Khalifa of Dubai, the tallest tower in the world, had symbolically projected a ten-second countdown on its immense facade before takeoff.

'Hope Probe is an accomplishment for every Arab and a source of pride for every Emirati' - @ hhshkmohd # BurjKhalifa celebrates the launch of the #HopeProbe as it makes its way to Mars, sparking hope in our hearts for a brighter and better tomorrow # HopeMarsMission @HopeMarsMission pic.twitter.com/YAIVQUaRFT

"This mission is an important milestone for the United Arab Emirates and their region," said Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, director general of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) in Dubai at a press conference in Japan after the launch.

This project "has already inspired millions of young people" in the Arab world to "dream big and work hard to achieve what seems impossible," he added.

Al-Amal sends "a message of pride, hope and peace in the Arab world" also commented on the UAE government on Twitter. "We are returning to the golden age of Arab and Islamic discoveries".

Arrival in Martian orbit planned for February 2021

The probe is expected to begin orbiting Mars by February 2021, on the 50th anniversary of the unification of the seven principalities that make up the United Arab Emirates.

This mission must study the atmosphere of Mars to "provide a first complete understanding" of its climatic variations over an entire year, said Sarah al-Amiri, Minister of Advanced Technologies of the Emirates and deputy director of the project, who was also present at the Japan at the time of launch.

From September 2021, Al-Amal must indeed begin to deliver images of the red planet from its orbit for an entire Martian year, or 687 Earth days.

Best known for their immense reserves of oil and natural gas, their skyscrapers and their taste for luxury, the United Arab Emirates aspire to become a major player in the field of science and technology.

Last September, Hazza al-Mansouri became the first Emirati to be sent into space, alongside a three-member crew aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. The astronaut is also the first Arab citizen to visit the International Space Station (ISS).

The ambitions of the wealthy Gulf State go even further since it plans to establish a human colony on Mars within less than a century.

In order to prepare for it, he plans to create a gigantic "scientific city" in the desert on the outskirts of Dubai, to simulate Martian conditions and develop the technology necessary to colonize the red planet.

Founded in 2006 in Dubai, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center spearheaded the Al-Amal project in which some 450 people participated, more than half of them Emirati.

The March rush is on

The Emirati probe inaugurates this summer a real rush towards Mars, since two other unmanned missions, one Chinese, the other American, must soon leave for this planet because of a favorable window of fire from Earth.

To date, only the United States, India, Russia and the European Space Agency have successfully placed probes around Mars.

And only the Americans have managed to land intact robots there: four (fixed) landers, and four mobile devices called rovers (Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity, the only one still active).

The United States plans to send its most sophisticated Martian rover to date this summer, Perseverance, which will attempt to unearth evidence that microbes lived on this planet three and a half billion years ago.

China is also preparing to dispatch a probe and a small remote-controlled robot to Mars by the end of July, under the name of mission Tianwen-1.

With AFP

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