Jon Excell

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Aerospace

UAE probe sets off on historic mission to Mars

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The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), the first interplanetary mission undertaken by an Arab nation, has successfully launched the Mars Hope probe from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan. 

Following lift off from the launch platform - at 01:58am UAE Time on 20th July - a two-stage 53-metre Mitsubishi MHI-2A reached a velocity of 38,000 km/h (Mach 35) to place the probe into earth’s orbit. The probe –will now begin its 493,000,000 Km, seven-month journey to the red planet.

The Mars Hope Probe will reach Mars orbit in 2021, the 50th anniversary of The Emirates, which became an independent nation on 2 December 1971. Once there, it will enter orbit around Mars and begin its mission of building the first full picture of the planet’s climate throughout the Martian year.

The fully autonomous 1350kg spacecraft – which will carry three separate instruments to measure Mars’ atmosphere - was designed and developed by engineers from Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) working with academic partners, including LASP at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Arizona State University and the University of California, Berkeley.

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