UAE’s mission to mars: last metal piece of Hope Probe installed
Final touch bears signatures of UAE’s Rulers and Crown Princes
Dubai: The installation of the last metal piece of the outer structure of the Hope Probe was witnessed by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Tuesday.
Accompanied by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Shaikh Mohammad visited the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre, where he received the last piece and witnessed its installation to the outer structure of the probe.
The metal piece carries the names and signatures of Their Highnesses the Supreme Council Members and Rulers of the Emirates as well as the signatures of Crown Princes.
It is also decorated with a phrase that reads, “The power of hope shortens the distance between earth and sky”, in an expression of the sublime human message communicated by the UAE for the future of the world.
“The Probe Hope is a testimony of the ability of our youth, a message to Arab youth and a historical stage in the UAE’s journey,” Shaikh Mohammad said.
He inspected the progress of work and final preparations for launching the probe and was briefed on the details of the final stage of technical and logistic preparations. Shaikh Mohammad listened to a detailed presentation on the final arrangements before launching the probe into its orbit in July.
“Our country is proactive in making history and achievements, and will dedicate a treasure of space science and knowledge to the world,” the Vice-President said.
“The Probe Hope is ready to blast off to Mars carrying a UAE message, a nation’s hope and aspirations of Arab and Muslim peoples for a bright future,” Shaikh Mohammad said.
He noted that the Probe Hope’s team represents the Emirati family and society, equipped with its cohesion, teamwork, excellence and love the nation. “Our message to the world is a message of peace and hope for a prosperous and sustainable future, where science and knowledge are accessible to all people on Earth.”
As the Chairman of MBRSC, Shaikh Hamdan said: “Exploration of Mars has become a reality, thanks to the group of Emirati youth, who devoted their time and effort to serve the humanity, and are now a source of pride and hope for the Arab and Muslim nations.”
He added: “Mars is no longer impossible, as the word impossible does not exist in our dictionary.”
Shaikh Mohammad then inspected the clean room and control room to learn about systems and procedures. He saw the pre-final piece that carried the signature of Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, the Mother of the Nation.
About Hope Probe
About 150 Emirati scientists and engineers and researchers are participating in the mission, 34% of the team are women. The probe will blast off for the Red Planet mid-July this year from Tanegashima Space Centre. It will take seven to nine months to reach travelling a distance of 600 million km. It will provide scientific explanations to a number of important research questions that the scientific community is focusing on. In its journey to Mars, the probe would need to change its position from time to time to point its solar panels at the sun to charge its batteries, and to point its antenna back at Earth to maintain contact with mission control.
In addition, from its high-altitude perch — an elliptical orbit that varies from 12,400 miles to 27,000 miles above the surface — Hope will give scientists a global view of Martian weather, noting changes in temperature and other conditions during the course of a day. It will study how the upper and lower layers interact with one another, providing the first complete picture of the planet’s atmosphere. It will also help to create a picture of how the seasons on Mars are affected by the light of the Sun.
The work on the Hope Mars Mission has begun back in November 2015 and is set to be launched into space mid-July this year. There have been only 26 successful missions to Mars, from the United States, Europe, Japan and others. By this mission, the UAE joins these countries to be among the only nine countries in the world to contribute to the discovery of Mars.
The probe, which will become one of three probes orbiting Mars, will be completely controlled by the UAE from the “Ground station” of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center. The probe will collect more than 1,000 GB of new data from the Red Planet. The information will be professionally managed, analysed, and stored in a scientific data center in the UAE. The scientific team will index and analyse the data available to humanity for the first time, and later share it with the global scientific community interested in Mars.