First UAE Mars mission aims to inspire a new generation of scientists

July 27, 2020

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In the early morning hours of July 20 on Tanegashima, a small island just off the southern coast of Kyushu, Japan, a 174-foot rocket roared to life and lifted a spacecraft on the first leg of a 306-million-mile journey to Mars.

The spacecraft itself, however, is not Japanese. Called al-Amal, or “Hope,” it was designed and managed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates. Safely separated now from the Japanese rocket, the probe will fire its own thrusters to leave Earth orbit for Mars in about 28 days, arriving in February 2021 to complete the first interplanetary voyage initiated by an Arab country.

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The Hope orbiter was the first to depart, blasting off at 6:58 a.m. local time in Japan (5:58 p.m. EDT on July 19). Its primary mission will last 687 days—one year on Mars—studying the atmosphere and weather patterns of the planet.

The mission also reflects a broader ambition in the UAE to drive innovation in science and technology and diversify the economy of the tiny but oil-rich nation.

“We Arabs love to connect things to our heritage and the past, but Hope really means the future,” says Nidhal Guessoum, an astrophysicist and professor at the American University of Sharjah in the UAE.

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