The UAE Hope Probe Enters Mars Orbit

Beginning in 2015, young Emirati researchers and engineers spent years in Boulder learning spacecraft design and planetary science. Their work ranged from fuel tank design to defining questions the spacecraft could answer about Mars. [1]

The UAE’s Hope spacecraft entered orbit around Mars on 9 February 2021. Five days later, its first published image showed dawn revealing the edges of Olympus Mons, the planet’s great volcano. Emirati engineers and American university teams had spent years preparing the probe for that arrival. [1]

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre led the mission in partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Arizona State University, and the University of California, Berkeley. Young Emirati engineers worked in Boulder for years, helping to design, build, and test the spacecraft before its launch from Japan. [1]

From orbit, Hope would study the Martian atmosphere and observe weather and seasonal change. The project was also intended to give Emirati engineers experience building a scientific mission alongside established teams. [1]

Emirati engineer Mohsen Mohammed Al Awadhi described the ambition as building a durable space program and contributing useful research. [1]

Related Diplomats

1. Yousef Al Otaiba [2] [3] [4] [5]

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• The United Arab Emirates and the United States