How the United Arab Emirates Set Its Sights on Mars

How the United Arab Emirates Set Its Sights on Mars

The Hope orbiter will make contributions to research on the red planet, but the Emirati government really hopes it will inspire future scientists.

Sarah al-Amiri is the head of science operations and the deputy project manager for the Emirates Mars Mission, the U.A.E.'s first space mission, which is expected to send a probe to the red planet on Tuesday.Credit...Khushnum Bhandari/BloombergJuly 14, 2020, 12:30 a.m. ET

As a girl growing up in Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates, Sarah al-Amiri looked at an astronomy book with a photograph of Andromeda, the giant galaxy neighboring our Milky Way.

"I can't describe it,“ Ms. al-Amiri said in an interview, "but just to realize that something that was printed on a page was larger than anything that I've ever seen and dwarfs the planet that I live on.“

When she was in college, there were few opportunities in the Middle East to pursue studies of the universe, and Ms. al-Amiri majored in computer science instead. But now, the U.A.E. is aiming to inspire its youth to pursue science and technology careers, and Ms. al-Amiri has forged a career pursuing the heavens.

Just 33 years old, she is the head of science operations and the deputy project manager