The United Arab Emirates’ space agency on Sunday released its first photo of Mars, taken by its Hope Probe.
“The transfer of the first image of the Hope Probe from Mars is a decisive moment in our history and indicates that the UAE is involved in advanced countries involved in space exploration,” said Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Twitter.
The transmission of the first image of the Hope Probe from Mars is a defining moment in our history and indicates that the UAE is involved with advanced countries involved in space exploration. We hope that this mission will lead to new discoveries about Mars that will benefit humanity. pic.twitter.com/TCM5yHTapH
– م مد بن )ايد (@MohamedBinZayed) 14 February 2021
He added: “We hope this mission will lead to new discoveries about Mars that will benefit humanity.”
On Tuesday, the UAE mission became the first of an Arab country to reach the red planet, the neighbor of the earth. Spacecraft set a 50 percent chance of entering Mars orbit, reports CNBC.
The Hope Probe took about seven months to reach Mars. According to the agency, the UAE agency planned to orbit a full Mars, about two Earths, around the red planet.
The first image transmitted from the UAE probe was captured from 25,000 km above the planet’s surface, according to the agency.
The UAE Hope Probe was one of three spacecraft that would reach the red planet this month. China’s Tianwen – 1 vessel, which shared its first photo of Mars on February 5, arrived a day after the UAE investigation. NASA’s Perseverance Rover will land on the planet next Thursday.
In a video posted Friday, an engineer from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory described the period of entry, descent and landing on the planet as ‘seven minutes of terror’.
After the Mars atmosphere is broken, endurance will take about seven minutes to reach the ground, said Swati Mohan, leader for guidance, navigation and control of Mars 2020.
“If there’s anything we know, it’s never easy to land on Mars,” Marc Etkind, NASA’s co-administrator for communications, said in a statement on NASA’s website.
When endurance lands Thursday, it will have a helicopter with the solar power called Ingenuity in its belly. According to its website, NASA plans to launch one or more flights within 30 days.
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
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