The UAE Will Launch Its First Mission to Mars in 2021 – Futurism

In Brief The United Arab Emirates Space Agency has finally unveiled the first of its missions to Mars: sending a probe to study the planet's atmosphere. This plan puts in motion a major goal of the space agency since its foundation back in 2014.

While, in the United States, NASAs plans to go to Mars are in financial trouble, other nations seem to be stepping up their own goals for the Red Planet. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Space Agency has finally announced its plans to send a probe to Mars. The Al Amal (which means Hope in Arabic) Probe is set to reach the Mars orbit by 2021, which is the 50th anniversary of the UAEs independence.

The objectives of the mission are to build highly qualified UAE human resources in the field of space technology, to develop knowledge, scientific research and space applications that benefit mankind, to create a sustainable knowledge-based economy, to promote diversification and encourage innovation, the announcement said.

The probe will study the Martian atmosphere to understand how it developed into its current state. This mission would be taking us to another level so it would be adding to the level of Science or knowledge about Mars and its atmosphere to the scientific community, Salem Humaid AlMarri, assistant director general for Scientific and Technology Affairs, told EuroNews. This knowledge, the UAE Space Agency hopes, will help us to better protect the Earths atmosphere.A crucial part of UAEs Al Amal mission, which already has a total funding of $5.44 billion, is academic progress. Working with scientists from the University of Colorado, the Al Amal teams are expected to learn everything they need to construct the space probe.

Disclosure: The Dubai Future Foundation works in collaboration with Futurism and is one of our sponsors. This post was not paid for or edited by DFF.

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The UAE Will Launch Its First Mission to Mars in 2021 - Futurism