Dubai: Two images taken by the UAE’s Hope Probe were shared by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on his social media handle on Monday.
The images, he wrote, were taken by the probe more than 100 million kilometres into its journey. The images show show the probe having passed Jupiter and Saturn, with Mars lying ahead.
He added: "The Hope probe is officially 100 million km into its journey to the Red Planet. Mars, as demonstrated in the image captured by the probe’s Star Tracker, is ahead of us, leaving Saturn and Jupiter behind. The Hope probe is expected to arrive to Mars on February 2021."
The Hope Probe is a mission undertaken by the UAE that aims to become the first probe to provide a complete picture of Martian atmosphere when it reaches the red planet’s orbit in 2021. It will help answer key questions about not just the atmosphere but also how air quality changes over the span of one Martian year.
