Having reached the skies with the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa, the United Arab Emirates is now looking at the final frontier space. The country has announced plans for sending the first Muslim spaceship in history to Mars in 2021, a mission described as a giant leap for the Arab world.[wpsr_retweet]
Famous for being home to the world’s tallest tower, the fastest police cars and its one-of-a-kind man-made islands, UAE keeps surprising the world with new, ambitious projects. Last week, it revealed plans for building “Mall of the World”, a stunning indoor, domed, and commerce-dedicated city, and now it announced a Mars mission which will include sending a spacecraft to the Red Planet in 2021. The announcement was made by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who pointed out that this mission, no matter how challenging it may be, especially for a country in the middle of a conflict-stricken region, will actually prove that the Arab world is “still capable of delivering scientific contributions to humanity”.
The country will launch an unmanned probe, which will take nine months to travel the 60 million kilometers (37m miles) distance to the Red Planet. The historic journey will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the country’s founding and will make it one of only nine nations with space programs to explore Mars. According to the statement, the project aims to contribute to science and to advance human knowledge. However, it didn’t specify particular scientific goals, so the international space community is waiting for details about probe.
With the announcement, the UAE is officially entering the space race. For years, the country has been pushing the Arab League to set up a pan-Arab space agency, a Muslim version of the European Space Agency and NASA. Of course, now this agency will be finally created, but experts say, the UAE is still unexperienced when it comes to rockets and actually launching a spacecraft into space. The mission will be extremely risky and currently, it hasn’t big chances for success. The overall success rate of global Mars missions since the 1960’s when the US landed a man on the Moon, is less than 50-50. At a 70% rate, only NASA has managed to achieve some real advancement in Mars exploration.
The government still hasn’t said how much this mission will actually cost, but it will certainly be in the billion range. So far, investments in space technology, according to officials, exceeds $5.4 billion and includes funding earth mapping and observation, satellite data and mobile satellite communications. Yet, nothing has ever been invested in building satellites and launching vehicles. But, we should admit, this is clearly a triumph for the UAE.
