ABU DHABI // The UAE will unveil the scientific and logistical details of the first Arab mission to Mars next week.
The plan for the spacecraft’s seven to nine-month journey across the solar system will be released during an event on Wednesday. It will be attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and high-ranking officials.
Emirati engineers and scientists, who will be working on the project for the next five years, will be there to discuss the research that will take place when the spacecraft reaches Mars.
The UAE announced last July that it would create a space agency, with plans to send a probe to the Red Planet by 2021. The mission will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the country’s formation.
“The UAE Mars probe represents the Islamic world’s entry into the era of space exploration. We will prove that we are capable of new scientific contributions to humanity,” the President, Sheikh Khalifa, said at the time.
He added that the plan was to make the UAE a world leader in aerospace by 2021.
The Mars mission will be led by Emiratis.
To date, the UAE has invested Dh20 billion in the aerospace industry, according to Mohammed Al Ahbabi, UAE Space Agency director general.
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