The United Arab Emirates has successfully completed the first leg of its very first March thanks to the launch of an H-IIA rocket built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on Sunday. The rocket was carrying the Al Amal (Hope) probe to the United Arab Emirates, a Martian orbiter expected to arrive on the Red Planet by February 2021, and spend a Martian year (687 days) in orbit around Mars to collect data. on its atmosphere.
This is the first of three separate planned missions to Mars scheduled to take place in July, including the launch of an orbit on Mars and the laundering from China to take place later this week, and the mission NASA's Mars Perserverance rover, which is currently planned. for July 30.
The UAE's Al Amar probe has a specific scientific mission to take measurements of the atmosphere of Mars, in order to help scientists better understand how Mars went from a warmer world with surface water liquid to become the incredibly cold, rocky and dry planet as we know it today. Following its successful launch, the UAE reported successful ground communications with the Mars probe and a good trajectory for its multi-month trip.
This is the UAE's first entry into deep space exploration, and a remarkable achievement for a country that only founded its space agency in 2014. They launched satellites twice previously, but this is their first additional orbital mission, and the probe was developed in just six years, thanks to partnerships, including one with a research team working in the atmosphere and space laboratory. University of Colorado Boulder Physics.
It's a busy season for Mars which starts for a reason: the timing means that spacecraft are currently enjoying the shortest possible trip for an appointment with the red planet, given their relative orbits around the Sun - and this only happens once every two years, so it's a long wait for the next good window.
