United Arab Emirates Going to Mars

First Arab Nation to Launch Interplanetary Mission

Source:  Emirates Mars Probe/University of Colorado

UAE To Launch Mars Probe to Document Martian Climate and Atmosphere

The United Arab Emirates has big space ambitions and plans.  It is going to launch a mission to Mars in 2020, making it the first Arab nation to launch an interplanetary mission.  The Hope Mars probe will deploy the Hope Satellite to study the climate on Mars.

Destination Mars 2021

When the Hope satellite reaches Mars in 2021, it will show how Mars' climate conditions change throughout the year.  The satellite will be launched from Japan in June 2020.  It will reach Mars in February 2021 and collect data for two years.  The mission could be extended through 2025.  Interesting, a female scientists is a key player behind the mission.  Sarah Al Amiri is deputy project manager of the Mars Mission and Chairperson of the UAE Council of Scientists.  90% of the workers on the Emirates Mars Mission are under 35 years old.

Highly Advanced Technology

The Mars probe will carry three highly advanced pieces of equipment.  There's the Emirates Exploration Imager, which is a camera that will send high-resolution images back to Earth.  The Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer will study ice, water vapor, dust and temperature patterns in the Martian atmosphere.  And, the Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer will study Mars' lower and upper atmosphere and be used to determine what causes hydrogen and oxygen on Mars to escape into space.

Crowded Martian Skies

The UAE Mars team is working with space experts at the University of California Berkeley, the University of Colorado Boulder and Arizona State University.  Mars in the 2020s will be a crowded place with four major space missions underway.  NASA's 2020 Rover mission, the European Space Agency's ExoMars rover mission, China's Mars Explorer and now the Emirates Mars Mission will all be probing Mars, which is 140 million miles from the Earth.