“Hope” – or Al-Amal in Arabic – is expected to reach the orbit of Mars by February 2021. (Performance)
Dubai:
The United Arab Emirates announced the postponement until Friday, Japanese time, of the launch of its “Hope” probe on Mars due to weather conditions at the Tanegashima Space Center.
The UAE government said on Twitter on Tuesday that there will be a “delay in launching the Emirates mission Hope probe due to weather conditions” at the distant Japanese launch site.
A rocket carrying the unmanned spacecraft was originally scheduled to take off at 5.51 a.m.JST on Wednesday (2051 GMT Tuesday).
The new launch time was set at 5:43 a.m. Japan time Friday (2043 GMT Thursday).
The UAE project is one of three races to Mars, including Tianwen-1 from China and March 2020 from the United States, taking advantage of the period when Earth and Mars are closest: around 55 million km (34 million miles).
The United Arab Emirates, which is made up of seven emirates, is expected to be the first Arab nation to send a probe to Mars.
“Hope” – or Al-Amal in Arabic – is expected to reach the orbit of Mars by February 2021, marking the 50th anniversary of the unification of the United Arab Emirates.
Once there, he will circle the planet for an entire Martian year – 687 days.
The objective of the United Arab Emirates mission to Mars is to provide a complete picture of the dynamics of time in the atmosphere of the red planet and to pave the way for scientific breakthroughs.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
