The first photo of the planet Mars taken by the Hope probe.
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Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center / UAE Space Agency / AP / SIPA
The United Arab Emirates' "Hope" probe sent its first image of Mars, days after it entered orbit around the red planet, the national space agency said on Sunday.
The image was taken on Wednesday, a day after the Emirates successfully placed their probe, called "Amal" in Arabic (Hope in French), around the orbit of Mars, becoming the first Arab country to perform such a feat.
Voili la voilou, the first image of the Emirati #Hope probe around Mars!
Absolutely gorgeous ...
📷Hope Mars Mission / MBRSC pic.twitter.com/z88f1DSTlm
- E. Bottlaender (@Bottlaeric) February 14, 2021
"The Emirates Mars mission captured the image of the solar system's largest volcano, Olympus Mons, emerging in early morning sunlight," the agency said in a statement.
"The first image of Mars taken by the first Arab probe in history," tweeted Mohammed ben Rached al-Maktoum, Emir of Dubai and Prime Minister of the country.
The probe is designed to provide a complete picture of the meteorological dynamics of the planet.
But above all, it is a step towards a much more ambitious goal: the establishment of a human colony on Mars within a hundred years.
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.
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