The Emirates Mars Mission Offers Hope and Opportunities

By Heba Aljeneibi, Chargé d’affaires of the UAE’s Embassy to Norway

On the 20 th of July, the United Arab Emirates will become the 5 th nation to ever send a spacecraft to Mars, and the UAE space launch will make history as the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. ‘’Al-Amal’’ translated to ‘’Hope’’ is the name of the 1.3-tonne probe launching from an H-2A rocket from Japan’s spaceport Tanegashima, starting its nine month journey to Mars. The 500-million-km journey should see the UAE Hope Probe arrive in February 2021 - in time for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the United Arab Emirates.

The Emirates Mars Mission will be the first mission ever to study dynamic changes in the Martian upper and lower atmosphere. The Emirates Hope Probe is equipped with an Emirates exploration imager to take high-resolution photos, as well as an infrared and ultraviolet spectrometer. The data will provide unprecedented information on the past and present of the Red Planet’s climate, in turn offering a holistic look on how the atmosphere works. This could better our understanding of why Mars became uninhabitable – and perhaps help us humans keep our own planet’s atmosphere from facing the same fate.

The Emirates Mars Mission represents optimism, ambition and infinite possibilities for great achievements to every nation. It represents human development and investment in science, technology and knowledge. The Emirates Mars Mission serves as a scientific and technological breakthrough and is a testament to the UAE’s will to invest in new technology and contribution to expanding our knowledge beyond our own planet. And the Emirates Mars Mission is just the beginning. Domestically, the UAE is now in the process of establishing a highly technological industry, leading to commercial and scientific space missions, and by 2117, we aim to establish a human settlement on Mars.

Behind the advanced Emirates Mars Mission is a remarkable group of Emirati scientists. The Hope Probe they have developed has been conceived, designed and built by a team from the United Arab Emirates. The majority of the Emirati scientists on the Emirates Mars Mission are below the age of 35, and their astonishing work will venture far beyond the borders of the UAE. After collecting information from the Hope Probe, the Emirates Mars team will collaborate with more than 200 academic and scientific institutions around the world and will release Hope’s data to be openly accessed by the international research community.

The UAE’s space programme began in 2006 and the current mission is the result of six years’ work by researchers and scientists, about half the time most interplanetary missions take. With an already regulated time limit, the Covid-19 pandemic and its infection control measures made the UAE Mars Mission team’s work even more challenging. Nonetheless, the Hope Probe is readied for launch within the tight three-week launch window, scheduled due to the proximity of the Earth and Mars’ orbits.

We can already see that the UAE space exploration has changed perceptions of careers in science within the UAE. There is a growing demand for students wishing to pursue degrees in physics. Universities have introduced new degree courses and the interest of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects have soared, making the Emirates Hope project a major incentive for young Arab scientists to embark on a career in space engineering, and other STEM subjects.

The UAE space program, along with the most recent Mars mission, is a new chapter in the UAE´s ambitious story. Beyond inspiring the UAE’s next generation, the mission is sending an important message of possibility and hope to the youth and serves as a signpost for future generations in the UAE and across the globe.

While the UAE is known for its economic revenues from oil and gas, as well as finance, tourism and trade, the Emirates’ accomplishments will set a positive example for the region, diversifying its economy by advancing science and technology-grounded knowledge and moving towards a sustainable, knowledge-based economy. The UAE space programme gives us the science and technology we need to assert ourselves in the industries of the future and the Emirates Mars Mission will revive the interest of science and spark hope and ambition to the youth across the region and the entire globe.

Heba Aljenebi is the Chargé d’affaires of the UAE’s Embassy to Norway