Sheikh Mohammed shares 1st image of Mars taken by Hope probe

Dubai - The Hope probe is currently cruising at 121,000km/h towards Mars.

The UAE's Hope probe has captured and relayed the first image of its destination: The Red Planet. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, took to Twitter to share the image 66 hours after the probe took off.

The photo shows an oval shaped Mars as the brightest spot among other celestial bodies. The image is titled 'First Mars sighting by Hope probe (taken by star trackers)' and labels the Red Planet.
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Sheikh Mohammed tweeted he had received the Hope probe's first sighting of Mars after the spacecraft travelled one million km into space. "Beyond the sky is where our dreams start," he said.

The UAE ushered in a new dawn of Hope when it launched the Arab world's first interplanetary mission on July 20 from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Launched at 1.58am, the Hope probe is currently cruising at 121,000km/h towards Mars and is expected to get into its orbit around the Red Planet in February 2021.
KT explains: Hope's 7-month journey to Mars