New frontiers to conquer as Mars mission paves the way

STEM in UAE to get a boost from lift-off to the Red Planet

Emirates Mars Mission

The UAE mission to Mars that launches in July will be breakthrough in developing the knowledge economy for the nation as it creates a model for advancement in science and technology.

At a webinar forum with London's Science Museum, Sarah Al Amiri, the UAE's Minister of State for Advanced Sciences and Deputy Project Manager of the Emirates Mars Mission, said the government had challenged programme manager to provide unique scientific gains from the mission. She added that the Hope probe's data on atmospheric conditions on the Red Planet would be accessible to all researchers around the world.

The model of encouraging the UAE's own talented scientists and engineers to conquer difficult technical challenges would now be used to build pharmaceutical, biotechnology and agricultural research facilities, she added.

Questions at the session came from the former British foreign secretary Jack Straw and a host of science and space experts, including Emiratis based in London who wanted to contribute to the next stages of work at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. It was hosted by Emirates Society chairman Alistair Burt, the former UK Middle East minister.

The event heard how the Hope Probe is due to launch into orbit on 15 July 2020 just after midnight UAE time Japan’s Tanegashima Space Centre. The UAE-made craft was shipped to Japan a few weeks ahead of schedule as the programme sought to avoid the disruption of Covid-19 related shutdowns around the world.

Omran Sharaf, project manager of the Emirates Mars Mission, said the mission was designed to show the UAE's technological prowess ahead of the 50th anniversary of its foundation in 2021.

Sir Ian Blatchford, director of the London Science Museum Group, said launching a probe to Mar's was a technically challenging journey that could only take place in time-limited windows.