World expectation for the upcoming launch of the Emirates' Mars mission
The leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been overseeing preparations for the launch of the Hope probe to Mars, which will take place from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center on July 19 at 23:58 and 14 seconds Eastern Standard Time - Monday, July 20, at 01:58 in UAE and 06:58 and 14 seconds in Japan on July 20. During this day the H-IIA launcher will take to the air, in which the probe that the Emirates is sending into space to study the atmosphere of Mars will travel.
This is the first Arab interplanetary mission and has generated great expectations worldwide. Through a video conference, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Governor of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), were briefed on pre-launch tasks.
The meeting was attended by the Emirati launch team working from Japan and 21 engineers from the UAE Space Agency and MBRSC from the mission control room in the Al-Khawaneej area of Dubai.
Addressing the launch team in Japan, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said that the Mars mission fulfils a dream of Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the UAE: "In 1976, the late Sheikh Zayed met with NASA experts because space was his ambition; today, his dream is being realised thanks to the skills of young engineers who learned and have made it to the present day.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan conveyed greetings from UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Sultan al-Nahyan to the team in Japan and said the launch "marks a milestone in the history of the UAE and the Arab nation" and "is an unprecedented achievement for all Arabs. "I'm sure the heart of every Emirate is with us," he said.
He also noted, in the words of Sheik Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, that he hopes "to celebrate together the first transmission of the Hope probe as it begins its journey to the Red Planet. "The Mars data provided by the probe will be a scientific discovery for the benefit of humanity," he said. He also noted that "this achievement is an invitation from the UAE to young Arab scientists to join us in making further progress. "We have entered the space age and more missions await us, so we need all the innovative Arab minds on board," he said in the words of the official Emirate news agency WAM and El Correo del Golfo.
The latest technical reviews of the Hope probe, which will provide the first global image of the Martian atmosphere, have already been carried out. The launch team in Japan has completed the final tests and technical verifications to prepare the probe for lift-off after multiple delays caused by unstable weather conditions at the site.
The team at the MBRSC ground station in Al-Khawaneej is ready to monitor the Hope probe's journey to Mars from launch to the day it enters Red Planet orbit. The control room will receive data once the probe is released from the rocket and the two solar panels are deployed to charge the spacecraft's batteries. The Hope probe's launch to Mars is the result of a six-year journey by 200 Emirati engineers and researchers who have joined forces to build the first spacecraft in the Arab world. Once it enters Mars orbit in the first quarter of 2021, Hope's launch will mark a remarkable event worldwide, along with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE, which is commemorated next year.
The mission will cover 493 million kilometres in a seven-month journey and orbit the Red Planet for a full 687-day Martian year to provide the first global image of Mars' atmosphere. The Hope probe will be the first to study the Martian climate throughout the daily and seasonal cycles.
