(Image source from: bworldonline.com)
Arab’s first interplanetary mission took off in Japan with a United Arab Emirate spacecraft to Mars.
The first Arab’s space mission named Hope blasted off on Monday through a rocket from Japan to the Mars. A live feed of the launch showcased the rocket carrying unmanned probe known as “Al-Amal” in Arabic which means hope. The spacecraft was lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Southern Japan.
The rocket manufacturer Mitsubishi said to the media that they launched an H-IIA vehicle carrying aboard the Emirates space mission, HOPE spacecraft.
Five minutes after the launch, the rocket carrying the probe was on course carrying out the first separation of its flight.
The Emirates Mars project is currently one of the three projects that are aiming to study mars. Tianwen from China and Mars 2020 from the United States are the other two missions. These projects were embarked at a time when the Earth and Mars are nearest to each other.
According to NASA, Mars will be comparatively nearer to Earth, which will be 38.6 million miles away from the Earth.
Hope spacecraft of UAE is expected to reach Mars by February 2021 which also marks the event of 50 years of the unification of UAE which is alliance of seven emirates.
Unlike the other two missions from China and the US, Hope will not land on the red planet but instead orbit it for the whole Martian year which is 687 days.
The aim and objective of Hope mission from UAE is to study the surface of Mars and provide the comprehensive image of weather conditions in the atmosphere of the red planet. This mission will mark the foundation of a much bigger goal which is the human settlement on Mars within the next 100 years.
The UAE aims the project to be served as a source of inspiration to Arab youth in a region that is often engulfed by conflicts and economic crisis.
The Hope probe is likely to detach from the rocket one hour after the launch. Scientists at Japan were eagerly waiting for the probe separation from the rocket as seen on Monday morning.
Several dozens of probes were set off to Mars since 1960, most of the missions were from America, but many have failed to reach Mars or have failed to land.
The impulse to explore the Martian surface began with the news that water once flowed on the surface of Mars. Since then, scientists across the world have been developing missions to study the red planet for the possibility of life for humans.
The unique part of the UAE Hope mission will be the orbiting of the probe so that scientists can study Martian atmosphere at different times of day and seasons.
The UAE already has 9 properly functioning satellites in the orbit and is planning to launch another 8 in the coming years.
By Gayatri Yellayi
