UAE space probe lifts off on mission to Mars
TOKYO — A United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a seven-month journey to Mars, kicking off the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.
The liftoff of the Mars orbiter named Amal, or Hope, from Japan marked the start of a rush to fly to Earth’s neighbor that includes attempts by China and the United States.
The UAE said its Amal space probe was functioning after launch as it heads toward Mars.
Omran Sharaf, the project director of Emirates Mars Mission, told journalists in Dubai about 90 minutes after liftoff that the probe was sending signals.
People cheered and clapped, with one woman offering a celebratory cry common at weddings.
Hope is set to reach Mars in February 2021 as the UAE celebrates 50 years since its formation.
It blasted off early Monday from the Tanegashima Space Center on a small southern Japanese island aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ H-IIA rocket. The launch had been delayed for five days because of stormy weather.
At Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, Emirati men in their traditional white kandora robes and women in their black abayas watched transfixed as the rocket lifted off. As its stages separated, a cheer went out from a group of
Emirati men seated on the floor. They began clapping, one using his face mask due to the coronavirus pandemic to wipe away a tear.
“It was great to see everything going according to schedule today. It looks like things are all on track. It’s a huge step in terms of space exploration to have a nation like the UAE taking that giant leap to send a spacecraft to Mars,” astronomer Fred Watson said.
The UAE has set a goal to build a human colony on Mars by 2117.