Rush hour above Mars as craft arrive

CAPE CANAVERAL: After hurtling hundreds of millions of kilometres through space since July last year, three robotic explorers are ready to hit the brakes at Mars.

The United Arab Emirates’ orbiter reaches Mars tomorrow, followed less than 24 hours later by China’s orbiterrover combo.

A USbuilt rover will arrive a week later, on February 18, to collect rocks for return to Earth — a key step in determining whether life ever existed on Mars.

Both the UAE and China are newcomers on Mars, where more than half of Earth’s emissaries have failed.

China’s first Mars mission, a joint effort with Russia in 2011, never made it past Earth’s orbit.

‘‘We are quite excited as engineers and scientists, at the same time quite stressed and happy, worried, scared,’’ UAE project manager Omran Sharaf said.

All three spacecraft rocketed away within days of one another last July. — AP