Historic Hope probe to Mars set for launch

ENGINEERS HAIL IT AS MAJOR TURNING POINT IN 50 YEARS OF UAE

UAE’s historic space mission to Mars is all set to blast off at 12.51am (UAE time) on Wednesday to unravel from above the weather dynamics in the Red Planet’s atmosphere.

The unmanned 1,350-kg probe — about the size of an SUV named Al

Amal — Arabic for Hope — is to take off from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan.

A top Japanese official told WAM that the UAE’s engineers are in their last leg preparations for the launch. “It is an honour for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Jaxa, to be part of this historical launch of the Hope mission from our Tanegashima Space Centre by the HIIA Launch vehicle,” Yasuo Ishii, Vice-President of Jaxa, said.

“We look forward to the successful launch. We look forward to promoting further cooperation with the UAE in space activities,”he said.

Last-minute checks

All testing and checks leading to the full launch and mission-readiness are being carried out and the capsule has been positioned securely onto the rocket, according to the UAE Space Agency and the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre

But more than the scientific milestone, Emirati engineer Hamad Al Hazmi, who responded to a question from Gulf

News, said: “Hope Probe is a true testament to the efforts by Emiratis, Arabs and Muslims.

“This is a major turning point in the UAE’s past 50 years

and [what it will achieve] in the next 50 years,” he underlined. Al Hazmi described Hope Probe as a scientific mission that is a symbol of hope for hundreds of millions of people across the 56 Arab and Islamic countries.