We're proud of the UAE's tremendous Mars mission

Our readers have their say on the UAE's space sucess, justice for an acid-attack victim and the perks of living in the UAE

Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, UAE Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, speaks during an event to mark Hope Probe's entering the orbit of Mars, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Christopher Pike
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With reference to Sarwat Nasir's report UAE Mars mission: history made as Hope probe successfully enters orbit (February 9): what a wonderful achievement. Truly a great moment for the UAE and an occasion to be proud.

Mohan Pillai, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, US

Excellent! Congratulations on a successful mission. The more we learn about Mars, the better. With the Chinese mission and Nasa’s Perseverance following shortly, we will collect a lot of good data. Future cargo and manned missions will benefit from all the crafts this month.

Michael Chittum, Pacifica, California, US

This is so impressive. It was a treat to watch the live feed as well. Congratulations to the UAE and the whole Mars mission team.

Jo Suello, Duba

Congratulations to everyone involved in the mission for this outstanding achievement.

Mohammad Azam, Sharjah

The UAE is only the fifth country to join the elite club of exploratory nations to have made it to the red planet: Russia, the US, the EU, India and now the UAE. This is amazing.

K Ragavan, Benguluru, India

Well done! Many congratulations from France.

Georges Rodgeur, Paris, France

Fantastic news. Wishing future UAE space programmes many more successes.

A L Satish, Abu Dhabi

May the victim of the acid attack get to live a full life

With reference to Nick Webster and Kamal Tabikha's article Acid attack victim rebuilds her life after reconstructive surgery in Dubai (February 9): ten years is not enough punishment for having ruined somebody's life and bringing her such terrible pain. I really wish she is able to live her life again to the fullest, and that the man who did this to her gets a deserving punishment. Ivana Vorlikova, Dubai

Grateful to be in the UAE and for second dose of vaccine

With reference to Rory Reynolds and Gillan Duncan's report UAE vaccinates more than 190,000 in weekend push (February 6): I am grateful to have received my second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and to have contributed to pushing the UAE's vaccination numbers high. I am lucky to have an option, Sinopharm, as my allergies could make vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna too risky for me. I'm also profoundly indebted to have access to the doses, which I may not have had in the West.

I feel grateful towards the UAE for many reasons, not the least of which is having been vaccinated for coronavirus.

Elan Fabbri, Dubai