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UAE Mars mission: Experts confident Hope Probe will make it to red planet
Dubai - Hope journey has been an 'emotional roller coaster' for both Emiratis and expats in the country.
Top space science experts are confident that tomorrow, the UAE will officially be the fifth country to reach the red planet.
With the Hope Probe now just a little over 24 hours away from the most critical stage of its seven-month, 493-million-kilometre space odyssey — experts are looking forward to the Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) with optimism.
DON'T MISS: Sheikh Mohammed's inspirational message for Hope Probe success
“I am highly optimistic and quite confident that the MOI will be performed and achieved perfectly well and Hope will go into the capture orbit as planned and then, later, into its permanent scientific orbit,” said Dr Nidhal Guessoum, professor of physics at American University of Sharjah, who along with Emirati astronaut Hazzaa AlMansouri was recently named among the top 100 leaders in space exploration for 2021.
“It is true that in the past (the first 30 years or so of Mars missions), many probes suffered various failures in reaching Mars, but the success rate has greatly improved in recent times.”
Dr Guessoum added: “The technology and checks are now vastly superior. Moreover, the multiple engines that Hope carries allows for insurance that should one or two fail, the specialists in charge of the mission will have ways to make adjustments and save the mission.”
Hope’s historic journey — the Arab world’s first interplanetary space mission — has been “an emotional roller coaster” for citizens and expats in the country.
Look: Sheikh Hamdan at Hope Probe Mars mission control centre in Dubai
Hasan Al Hariri, CEO of Dubai Astronomy Group and director Al Thuraya Astronomy Centre, said: “It’s a very sentimental and monumental time. Imagine the situation just eight years ago. If I would tell somebody that we would want to go to Mars, they would laugh at me and, today, it’s happening. It’s a moment of a lifetime and I can’t believe we are going to Mars. I am so lucky to see it in my lifetime.
“I want to praise our leaders who jumpstarted the nation to doing something new. This mission has created such incredible momentum not just in the UAE and the Arab region but around the world. It has given the youth new motivation to go to space and engage with space missions. Therefore, the lesson learnt is dream big and we can do it. There is no impossible in life,” Al Hariri said.
Other experts also said one of the most important objectives of the mission was to spur the youth’s interest in studying science and technology. There has been a surge of engagement through various space-related outreach programmes within the region, steering the nation towards its goal of creating a knowledge-based economy.
Sarath Raj, programme leader for aerospace engineering and project director of the Amity Dubai Satellite Ground Station, said: “We are already honing students who are capable of doing orbital mechanics in terms of trajectory corrections. That will help young minds understand deep space networks. At the moment, we don’t have the deep space networks here in the UAE but what we have are the amateur space networks in our ground stations. But we are already assisting students to understand satellite movement, satellite tracking and enhancing their capabilities with regards to space sciences.”
Hariri said youngsters’ interest in exploring space science has been evident. “Just five years ago students were talking about getting into IT, becoming engineers in other fields. Now, they are expressing interest to become astronauts. We have recently opened an avionics department to develop different space careers.”
These big space dreams, he said, have stemmed from the vision of the country’s leaders. “Massive momentum is building up, definitely the credit goes to the leaders and decision-makers of this country. The oil countries will run out of their resources at some point of time, so we need to use our current investments wisely to create new opportunities for our country and its people. If we want to survive tomorrow, we have to invent and innovate. It is a frontier for tomorrow’s human race.”
nandini@khaleejtimes.com
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