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UAE unveils mission plan 'Hope’ for first Arab space probe to Mars

Shaikh Mohammed unveils mission plan for first Arab space probe to Mars

Dubai - His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai witnessed the unveiling of the mission plan for the first Arab space probe to Mars.

 Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, was also present on the occasion.

The blueprints and science goals for the Mars mission have been revealed for the first time. The probe, named “Hope”, will create mankind’s first integrated model of the Red Planet’s atmosphere.

The name was chosen after the Arab world was invited to submit suggestions in a public campaign. “After thousands of tweeted suggestions we decided to name the probe Hope as it sends a message of optimism to millions of young Arabs,” tweeted Shaikh Mohammed after the event.

The announcement featured presentations from the Emirates Mars Mission team.

“This probe represents hope for millions of young Arabs looking for a better future. There is no future, no achievement, no life without hope,” Shaikh Mohammed said.

“The Emirates Mars Mission will be a great contribution to human knowledge, a milestone for Arab civilisation, and a real investment for future generations.”

Shaikh Mohammed announces UAE's Mars mission plans in Dubai on Wednesday. -AP

The unmanned probe will leave Earth in 2020 on a mission designed to complement the science work of other missions and fill important gaps in human knowledge. Its unique orbits and instruments will produce entirely new types of data that will enable scientists to build the first truly holistic models of the Martian atmosphere. These models will help the global Mars science community to unlock more mysteries of the Red Planet, such as why its atmosphere has been decaying into space to the point that it is now too thin for liquid water to exist on the surface.

Data to help climate scientists

Besides deepening human knowledge about Mars, the data will also help climate scientists understand changes in Earth’s atmosphere over millions of years. This knowledge will also help space scientists to evaluate the atmospheres of thousands of newly discovered planets far across the galaxy, to determine which may have an atmosphere that could support extra-terrestrial life.

The Emirates Mars Mission will be the first to study dynamic changes in the Martian atmosphere throughout its daily and seasonal cycles. Its specialised instruments will enable scientists to observe weather phenomena such as clouds and dust storms, as well as changes in temperature, dust, ice and gases including water vapour throughout the layers of the atmosphere. They will learn for the first time how the atmosphere interacts with topography, from the highest volcano peaks to the vast deserts and the deepest canyons.

Launching ‘Hope’

The probe will be a compact spacecraft having the size and weight of a small car. It will blast off in a launcher rocket, then detach and accelerate into deep space. It will reach a speed of 126,000km per hour for the 600 million kilometre journey around the sun to Mars, which will take around 200 days.

The probe will orbit the Red Planet until at least 2023, with an option to extend the mission until 2025. It will send back more than 1,000GB of data to be analysed by teams of researchers in the UAE, and shared freely with more than 200 institutions worldwide for the benefit of thousands of space specialists.

The Emirates Mars Mission will leave behind a major legacy on Earth, because the mission is being planned and managed in the UAE by an Emirati team. In this way it is designed as a catalyst for a new generation of Arab scientists and engineers, and as an anchor project for the growing science and space sectors.

The Emirates Mars Mission team currently comprises 75 Emirati engineers and researchers and will grow to more than 150 by 2020.

 

#&&&&&_&&&&& #&&&&&_&&&&&& #EmiratesMarsMission #AmalProbe

A video posted by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (@hhshkmohd) onMay 6, 2015 at 3:44am PDT

“The Emirates Mars Mission is a strategic investment in our human capital and an investment in our human capital is a winning investment. Future generations will reap the rewards of our investment in science and knowledge,” Shaikh Mohammed said.

The missions’s message to the world

The Emirates Mars Mission will send three important messages, Shaikh Mohammed said. “The first message is for the world: that Arab civilisation once played a great role in contributing to human knowledge, and will play that role again; the second message is to our Arab brethren: that nothing is impossible, and that we can compete with the greatest of nations in the race for knowledge. The third message is for those who strive to reach the highest of peaks: Set no limits to your ambitions, and you can reach even to space.”

The mission team gave a full presentation about the project with all the science details in addition to a video about the journey to the Red Planet. Lt-Gen Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior; and Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, were among many dignitaries who attended.

Also present on the occasion was Dr Khalifa Mohammed Thani al Rumaithi, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the UAE Space Agency, who commented: “The UAE Space Agency, given its administrative and financial responsibility, will work side by side with the mission team and all the strategic partners to see this mission is executed in the time given and the budget allocated through implementing best practice for space projects so that the mission achieves its purpose and goals.” -reporters@khaleejtimes.com