• Omran Sharaf, Emirates Mars Mission director. Photo: Emirates Mars Mission
    Omran Sharaf, Emirates Mars Mission director. Photo: Emirates Mars Mission
  • Sarah Al Amiri, the UAE's Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, is playing an important role in space exploration. Photo: Emirates Mars Mission
    Sarah Al Amiri, the UAE's Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, is playing an important role in space exploration. Photo: Emirates Mars Mission
  • Omar Al Shehhi, lead of integration and testing of the Hoep spacecraft. Photo: Emirates Mars Mission
    Omar Al Shehhi, lead of integration and testing of the Hoep spacecraft. Photo: Emirates Mars Mission
  • Mohammed Wali, deputy project manager of the launch team. Courtesy: Emirates Mars Mission
    Mohammed Wali, deputy project manager of the launch team. Courtesy: Emirates Mars Mission

UAE Mars Mission: the Hope probe cost nearly Dh735 million


Sarwat Nasir
  • English
  • Arabic

The cost of the Hope Mars Mission was almost Dh735 million, senior UAE government officials revealed on Tuesday.

Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, made the announcement during a media briefing.

It is the Arab world’s first mission to Mars and was built by more than 150 Emirati engineers, scientists and researchers, with the help of three American universities.

“We were able to accomplish the Hope probe, from the idea to the launch, within just six years. Similar missions take at least 10 years,” Mr Al Gergawi said.

“The cost of the probe amounted to $200 million, which is considered among the lowest in the world compared to similar missions and projects – all thanks to the efforts of our engineers, research and scientific cadres, the sons and daughters of the Emirates who put their passion and faith in this project.”

Today, the mission also reached another milestone, when the spacecraft was positioned on to the rocket that will send it into space.

Hope was mounted on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ H-IIA rocket this week by a team of Emirati engineers at the launch site in Tanegashima Island, Japan.

“The encapsulation and the transfer of the probe to the rocket is a vital step in our historic mission. The process entails continuous monitoring and detailed testing to ensure that all systems are functioning to optimum levels,” said Omar Al Shehhi, the integration and spacecraft testing lead of the mission.

The probe was first encapsulated into the payload fairing – an external structure that protects the spacecraft – and then it was mounted securely on to the launch vehicle.

The next step is to charge the spacecraft and set it for take-off.

This stage of the mission also included functional tests of the craft’s subsystems, such as measuring the electrical power, communication, altitude control, command and control, propulsion, thermal control and software systems.

“Each and every stage and step – from encapsulation to getting it mounted on the rocket – is extremely critical,” said Mohammed Wali, the launch team’s deputy project manager.

“The encapsulation is a proud and emotional moment for the Hope probe project team. After six years of hard work, our Probe is one step closer to launch.”

About an hour after the launch, the probe will be separated from the launch rocket and the solar panels will become functional – beginning its seven-month journey towards the Red Planet.

The launch will take place at 12.51am, UAE time, on July 15 and will be streamed live on the social media channels of Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.

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The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

Three ways to limit your social media use

Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.

1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.

2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information. 

3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.

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