“Hope” probe launches Sunday, beginning seven-month journey to Mars

Enlarge / Spectators watch a screen broadcasting the launch of the "Hope" Mars probe at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai on Sunday. (credit: GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

On Sunday, a Japanese-built rocket launched a 1.35-ton probe sponsored by the United Arab Emirates into low-Earth orbit. The spacecraft is now on its way toward Mars, where it is intended to enter orbit around the Red Planet in February, 2021.

The "Mars Hope" mission represents a partnership between the Arab country-which seeks to inspire a future generation of scientists and engineers-and several US academic institutions, including the University of Colorado Boulder. The program was managed in the United Arab Emirates, and the spacecraft was built in a laboratory in Colorado.

"This is a huge leap forward for the UAE's ambitious space program," Ahmad bin Abdullah Humaid Belhoul Al Falasi, chair of the UAE Space Agency, said after the launch. "The mission is a catalyst that has already served to significantly accelerate the development of the UAE's space, education, science and technologies sectors."

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments