‘Mission accomplished’: UAE Hope Probe successfully enters Mars orbit

  • Date: 09-Feb-2021
  • Source: Al Arabiya
  • Sector:Technology
  • Country:UAE
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‘Mission accomplished’: UAE Hope Probe successfully enters Mars orbit

The UAE's Mars "Hope" Probe successfully entered the planet's orbit on Tuesday in a first for the Arab world, making the UAE the first Arab country to reach the Red Planet.

"To the people of the UAE, to the Arab and Muslim nations, we announce the succesful arrival to Mars orbit. Praise be to God," said Omran Sharaf, the mission's project manager.

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Mission controllers at the UAE's space center in Dubai announced that the unmanned craft, called Amal, Arabic for Hope, reached the end of its nearly seven-month, 480 million kilometers journey and began circling the red planet, where it will gather detailed data on Mars' atmosphere.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai said: "Mission accomplished." He had said on Monday the attempt to enter Mars orbit had a 50 percent chance of failing.

"This is the farthest point in the universe to be reached by Arabs throughout their history... More than five million working hours by over 200 Emirati male and female engineers. Our goal is to give hope to all Arabs that we are capable of competing with the rest