UAE’s first Mars mission is giving people a ray of hope amidst the pandemic. The moment the first man stepped on the moon, we have been trying really hard to expand our place in the universe.
But inter-planetary travel is not as easy as it sounds. No matter how hard we try, we simply lack the technology that can make this possible.
A space shuttle that travels to the moon barely has any fuel left when it lands back on earth. But with our every trip to space, we are one step closer to making it a reality.
Previous Attempts To Mars
This is an important piece of history but it definitely isn’t the first on the list. Several countries have tried sending probes to Mars before.
Although many have gone down in vain, there have been some successful attempts. The UAE’s first Mars mission is standing on the shoulders of the Vikings 1 and 2.
They were the first probes to ever make a successful landing on the surface of the red planet. And unlike what you may think, they weren’t sent there recently.
Those probes had their launch back in 1976 which makes us remember the fact how difficult space travel is. Because till then, we haven’t really had such big progress when it comes to travelling to Mars.
UAE’s first Mars Mission
With its Hope Mars probe, United Arab Emirates is not joining a handful of nations who have made it to the red planet.
The launch of the Hope probe went as per the plan on June 19th 5:58 PM EST and it went live on a dedicated YouTube page.
Though being new to space research, UAE can bring a lot of scientific value to the table with this launch. The exact landing date of the probe is still unclear but we can expect it to be somewhere around early 2021.
The major motive of the probe is to find the rate at which the planet is losing its oxygen and hydrogen. Other objectives are to study the planet’s future and also about its watery past.
Beyond Hope…
Apart from UAE’s first Mars mission, China is also ready for its Tianwen-1 launch. It is a combination of an orbiter, lander and rover which is expecting its launch on the 23rd of July.
But apart from these few, there are not a lot of players left in the game. To put it in simple terms, most countries lack the tech expertise to make something like this, a reality.
Their only chance is to partner with the countries who have the means to reach the planet.
Conclusion
Just like all other space missions, the missions to Mars usually have a stringent time frame.
This period usually comes once every 26 months and if a country happens to miss it, it won’t be able to proceed for another 2 years.
Followed by the UAE, the Chinese is all set to launch their asset into outer space. There are no other Mars missions scheduled for the year which means that we won’t be able to see another one at least until 2022.
