While, in the United States, NASA's plans to go to Mars are in financial trouble, other nations seem to be stepping up their own goals for the Red Planet. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Space Agency has finally announced its plans to send a probe to Mars. The "Al Amal" (which means Hope in Arabic) Probe is set to reach the Mars' orbit by 2021, which is the 50th anniversary of the UAE's independence.
"The objectives of the mission are to build highly qualified UAE human resources in the field of space technology, to develop knowledge, scientific research and space applications that benefit mankind, to create a sustainable knowledge-based economy, to promote diversification and encourage innovation," the announcement said.
The probe will study the Martian atmosphere to understand how it developed into its current state. “This mission would be taking us to another level so it would be adding to the level of Science or knowledge about Mars and its atmosphere to the scientific community,” Salem Humaid AlMarri, assistant director general for Scientific and Technology Affairs, told EuroNews. This knowledge, the UAE Space Agency hopes, will help us to better protect the Earth's atmosphere.A crucial part of UAE's "Al Amal" mission, which already has a total funding of $5.44 billion, is academic progress. Working with scientists from the University of Colorado, the "Al Amal" teams are expected to learn everything they need to construct the space probe.
Disclosure: The Dubai Future Foundation works in collaboration with Futurism and is one of our sponsors. This post was not paid for or edited by DFF.
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