First Arab Mars Mission: The United Arab Emirates' space probe entered the orbit of Mars on February 9, 2021, marking a historic moment for the Arab world.
When the spacecraft swung into the Martian orbit, the ground controllers at the UAE's space center in Dubai rose to their feet and broke into applause. This is the Arab world's first interplanetary mission.
UAE's space probe called Al Amal, which means 'Hope' in Arabic has finally reached its destination after a 7-month long journey.
UAE's Mars Probe
•UAE's Mars probe fired its main engines for 27 minutes in an intricate and conducted high-stakes maneuver that slowed the craft enough for it to be captured by Mars' gravity.
•The signal signal confirming success of the mission took nail-biting 11 minutes to reach Earth.
•UAE's space probe only comprises an orbiter, which will spend 687 days circling the red planet. The period equivalent to one year on Mars.
•During this time, the probe will gather detailed information on the Martian atmosphere and will survey the planet’s weather patterns throughout its four seasons.
Significance |
| •Al Amal's successful insertion into the Mars orbit has ushered in a new era of space exploration for the Gulf nation, as it is UAE's first venture beyond Earth's orbit. •It has put the UAE in a league of just five space agencies in history that have pulled off a functioning Mars mission. •There was visible relief when UAE's mission turned out to be a success. UAE's Mars Mission director Omran Sharaf declared, "To the people of the UAE and Arab and Islamic nations, we announce the success of the UAE reaching Mars." •This is the first space probe to enter the orbit of the Red Planet out of the total three unmanned Mars probes that took flight last year within days of each other. The remaining two belong to China and the United States. |
US, China Mars Mission
•The US and China's space probes are scheduled to arrive at Mars in the next couple of days. All three missions were launched in July 2020, taking advantage of the close alignment of Earth and Mars.
•Both China and US missions comprise a combination of orbiter and lander. While the orbiter will circle Mars, the lander will separate and attempt to land on the Martian surface to look for signs of extra-terrestrial life.
•The United States Perseverance Rover will aim to attempt a landing on February 18, while China will attempt a landing in May.
•The US-European project aims to bring Mars rocks back to Earth to be examined for evidence of microscopic life.
•If China is able to successfully land its mission on Mars, it will become the second country in the world to land successfully on the Red Planet after the United States, which has done it eight times.
•NASA had landed its first mission on Mars 45 years ago and it has a rover and a lander working on the Martian surface currently.
Background
Mars has been the graveyard for a multitude of missions from various countries over the years. Almost 60 percent of all Mars missions have ended in failure, crashing, burning up or otherwise falling short in a testament to the complexity of interplanetary travel and the difficulty of making a descent through Mars' thin atmosphere.
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