A historic Tuesday, February 9, 2021 for the United Arab Emirates, which succeeded in placing their probe in orbit around Mars, a first for an Arab country.

“To the people of the United Arab Emirates, the Arab and Muslim nations, we announce the successful entry into orbit around Mars. Praise be to God,” said Omran Sharaf, the mission's project manager, solemnly.

Live from the space center in Dubai, he expressed his relief like the engineers present.

"What you have accomplished is an honor for your nation. I want to congratulate you," Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and strongman of the wealthy Gulf nation Emirates, told them.

The probe, designed to unlock the secrets of the Martian climate, will be the first of three spacecraft due to reach Mars in February.

Besides the Emirates, China and the United States launched missiles in July, taking advantage of a time when Earth and Mars are closest.

>> To read again: The United Arab Emirates prepare for their meeting with Mars

The orbiting of "Hope" ("Amal" in Arabic, "Hope" in French) around Mars coincides with the 50th anniversary in 2021 of the unification of the seven emirates into the federation of the United Arab Emirates.

All the landmarks in the country will be illuminated in red at night.

"To bring about a big change in the state of mind"

The "Hope" probe began a 27-minute maneuver at 3:30 p.m. GMT of slowing down enough to be pulled by Martian gravity, the most difficult part of the mission, officials said.

The probe turned and ignited its six powerful thrusters to slow its speed from 121,000 km / h to about 18,000 km / h.

"Twenty-seven blind minutes will determine the fate of seven years of work," tweeted Sarah al-Amiri, president of the UAE Space Agency and Minister of State for Advanced Technologies, earlier this week.

"This project is very important for the nation, for the whole region and for the world science and space community," Omran Sharaf told AFP earlier.

According to him, the goal is "much bigger" than just reaching Mars. 

"The government wants to bring about a big change in the mindset of the Emirati youth (...) to accelerate the creation of a high-tech science and technology sector," he added.

Objective: establish a human colony on Mars within a century

While the probe is designed to provide a full picture of the planet's weather dynamics, it is also a step towards a much more ambitious goal: the establishment of a human colony on Mars within 100 years.

In addition to consolidating its status as a key regional player, the Emirates want the project to serve as a source of inspiration for Arab youth, in a region that is more often in the news for its devastating conflicts and political crises than for its prowess. scientists.

To mark this historic moment, images of two moons of Mars - Phobos and Deimos - were projected in the sky of Dubai, to make it possible to "see what the probe sees", according to the office in charge of the media of the emirate .

Unlike the Chinese Tianwen-1 and American Mars 2020 missions, "Hope" will not land on the Red Planet.

It is due to use three scientific instruments to monitor the Martian atmosphere and is expected to begin transmitting information in September, data that scientists around the world will have access to.

With AFP

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