The Esperanza probe, from the United Arab Emirates, plans to reach the orbit of Mars on Tuesday, seven months after its launch the first of three missions scheduled to reach the red planet in February. China and the United States also launched missions to this planet in July 2020, in the period when Earth and Mars are closest.
If Esperanza is successful in orbit the Emirates will become the fifth country to reach Mars, and China the sixth, the next day. So far only the United States India the former Soviet Union and the European Space Agency have managed to reach the red planet. The Esperanza probe from the United Arab Emirates plans to reach the orbit of Mars on Tuesday seven months after its launch the first of three missions scheduled to reach the red planet in February.
China and the United States also launched missions to this planet in July 2020, in the period when Earth and Mars are closest. If Esperanza is successful in orbit, the Emirates will become the fifth country to reach Mars and China the sixth, the next day. So far, only the United States India the former Soviet Union and the European Space Agency have managed to reach the red planet.
Meanwhile, the monuments of the Emirates are illuminated in red, the ArabstoMars hashtag dominates on government social media accounts, and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest skyscraper, will be at the center of a show for the chance. Esperanza will be in orbit around the planet for at least one Martian year, or 687 days. The Chinese probe Tianwen-1 and the US Perseverance robot will land on the surface of Mars.
Omran Sharaf the head of the Emirati mission project declared that it was immense happiness for Esperanza to be the first mission to reach the star. For us, it was not a race. We approach the space as an idea of ​​collaboration and inclusion he added. Although the probe is created to provide a complete picture of the planet’s meteorological dynamics, the mission is the basis of a much more ambitious goal the construction of a human colony on Mars in the next 100 years.
Emirates, which seeks to consolidate its status as a key regional actor, also intends this project to serve as an inspiration for Arab youth, in a region shaken by conflict and economic crises Chinese and US missions Chinese probe Tianwen-1 has already sent the first image of Mars in black and white, it shows geological features, especially the Schiaparelli crater and the Valles Marineris a series of canyons near the equator of the red planet.
