The UAE reaches Mars for the first time with its Hope probe

UAE’s Hope probe sits in a clean room before launch.A probe from the United Arab Emirates successfully reached Mars on Tuesday, earning the country a spot in a small group of spacefaring powers that have sent spacecraft to study the fourth planet from the Sun. The UAE hopes the mission will yield key discoveries on Martian weather patterns and catalyze a new science and technology sector as it looks to wean its economy from oil dependence.
“Mission accomplished,” UAE’s vice president Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum tweeted as mission control in Dubai celebrated confirmation of the Hope spacecraft’s orbital insertion around Mars at 11:14AM ET.
The SUV-sized Hope probe carried out an intricate and fully automatic maneuver called a Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) on time at 10:30AM ET, mission…

Continue reading…