History will proudly register that on Monday 20 July 2020, exactly at 00.43am, the UAE launched the first major Arab initiative to explore Mars, “the Hope Probe.”
The rocket blasted off from a launching pad in Japan’s Tanegashima Island. The probe weighs 1.3 tons and is supposed to travel a 500 million km journey before it reaches its orbit in February 2021, coinciding with the completion of 50 years for the establishment of the UAE by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Emirati engineers have managed to produce in six years of hard work a sophisticated probe. It is expected that this probe would reveal new secrets regarding the atmosphere of the red planet.
Also, it is hoped that the explorations of the Hope probe would give new additions to our information like why Mars is losing its hydrogen and oxygen into space, and the lack of ways to live thereon.
The historic achievement of the UAE restores the compass of the Arab and Islamic world to its rightful direction, that has been lost for hundreds of years, so that the UAE has now come back to return it to the forefront to revive the glory of the Arabs with their sciences and scholars, who nurtured humanity for centuries in medicine, pharmacy, chemistry and physics, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, architecture, arts, literature, among many other fields.
This is an Arab initiative to research, something that every Emirati, Arab and Muslim should feel proud of.
The team’s name will be engraved in the history records. Those who made this possible worked day and night to complete this noble human mission.
A proud moment
However, what makes Emiratis and Arabs feel proud is the unique participation of women in this pioneering project, where the ratio of Emirati women working in the Hope probe reached 34%. Statistics have indicated that there is a gender equality in the mission leadership team, which is a very important testament of the UAE’s gender equality policy.
The long-term strategies, such as the investment in science, education and future technology, and the investment in citizens for their happiness and well-being, strived by the UAE, are the most important achievements of the country’s leadership — its founder and leader, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
This vision is carried forward by President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Shaikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Within just five decades, the country reached this point where it can match advanced nations and compete with the most prestigious universities and scientific and technological institutions, especially by employing the human resources, skills and potential in the interest of mankind and its future.
Restores the compass
The historic achievement of the UAE restores the compass of the Arab and Islamic world to its rightful direction, that has been lost for hundreds of years, so that the UAE has now come back to return it to the forefront to revive the glory of the Arabs with their sciences and scholars, who nurtured humanity for centuries in medicine, pharmacy, chemistry and physics, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, architecture, arts, literature, among many other fields.
The success of the UAE is not only a scientific alone. It has many aspects.
The first- universal. It means that the Arabs, if determined and buoyed by a firm political will to enter the field of science, will perform no less than others, especially when they are provided with the right leadership and management.
Secondly — is that we, as Arabs and Emiratis, can serve humanity by using our minds and fortunes not in wars and conflicts, but in science, knowledge and the goodness of mankind;
The third — is that the trip to Mars will create a qualitative accumulation at all levels, which should be developed in all fields, and that is one of this trip objectives at the Emirati level, let alone the Arab, Islamic and international level.
The fourth — is that what was an imagination or a dream until recently can become a reality and tangible fact.
Fifth — is that it establishes for a scientific and research renaissance, for example, the Centre for Science and Astronomy, state of the art universities in Sharjah, and the continuing revival in both culture and arts.
The Sharjah Centre for Space Science was inaugurated back in 2015 by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, member The Supreme Council, Ruler of Sharjah.
The vision of the Centre is to build a national centre in the fields of astronomy and space science to promote education in those fields in the Arab world and the Emirates in particular and devote a great deal of resources for the development of education, science, research and Islamic heritage.
The Centre is open for teachers, school students, universities, researchers and all members of society.
The Hope probe will be a turning point in the evolution of our nation, with its determination and will, and with the great ambition.
Therefore, with hope and work we can fly high, for the good of the humanity. And we hope for more of such historic accomplishments.
Dr Mohammed Omran Taryam is an Emirati writer
