With the Hope Probe set to arrive in Mars’ orbit tomorrow, luminaries from the global scientific community are in awe of what the country could achieve if all goes according to plan.
For one: The Emirates Mars Mission’s probe could be the key to unlocking one of the questions man has had for generations: Is there life on mars?
According to renowned American author and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, while it won’t provide all the answers, it will fill a very important piece of the puzzle by analysing the planet’s atmosphere from orbit.
“The mission is going to go into orbit around Mars, and measure its atmosphere. That’s something that no one has really done before. We’ve been distracted by its surface. [We’ve wondered], ‘might there be life? Is there water on the polar ice caps?’ Meanwhile, what does the atmosphere tell us? Any indication of what the atmosphere was once like, what it will be like in the future? Oh my gosh! You don’t have water unless there’s an atmosphere that can support it,” says Tyson.
Without an atmosphere that can support water, there cannot be water. And without water, there is no life. Whether it was there billions of years ago or there is still some form of life now, the Hope Probe will help find those answers, and perhaps tell us where to look next.
As the Hope Probe approaches Mars, the hope of a new scientific breakthrough will be added to humanity's record, bringing the UAE to the forefront of research and knowledge. Many wonder what drives us to go to Mars, but only those who read the future realize why we do. pic.twitter.com/Hc4O3SHgUf
— Maktoum Bin Mohammed (@MaktoumMohammed) February 7, 2021
Tyson views the Hope Probe as an achievement for the country and beyond.
“I am delighted to learn that the United Arab Emirates is sending the Hope Probe to Mars. This is a mission that carries so many dimensions, from its value to the United Arab Emirates, to the Arab states, to the world,” says Tyson.
The mission helps unite the UAE with the world, as science never exists only within the borders of a single country, especially with achievements of this scale. The UAE has had key partners that helped get it to this moment, just as the United States once did.
“Science is the greatest source of collaboration of nations there ever was. Why? Because scientists speak the same language as each other. Same with engineers and mathematicians. So it is inherently right for bringing international collaborators with you. So they can participate in your dreams. We did that in the United States. We didn’t just create a space program all by ourselves, no, we got help,”
Those achievements also helped usher in a new era as children watched the United States reach the moon and were driven into a passion they didn’t know they had, fuelling the next generation of scientists.
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“And you know what [Those achievements] did for us back then? These were headlines: ‘Oh, my gosh, I want to be an astronaut. I want to be an engineer, I want to be a scientist’. We didn’t need special programs to excite people. They just wanted to do it. Because it was a point of pride. It was a point of participation. Everyone was cheering,” says Tyson.
“And so if you can capture that spirit, with your Hope Probe, not only in the United Arab Emirates itself, but in the Arab states, you can ensure generations of people will want to carry that torch forward. And by the way, this torch has kind of always been there. So the legacy is there. And you just have to look back a little ways and say,’ yeah, yeah, that used to happen’. And it used to happen here in the Middle East, looking at how you’ve conceived the project.”
Tyson is also excited by how many Emirati women are involved in the Emirates Mars Mission.
Only 1 day separating us from witnessing the dream of a nation enter the dark 27 minutes that determine our future and our fate. We hope for Hope as it gets closer to being captured into Mars’ orbit.#ArabsToMars #HopeProbe pic.twitter.com/VoY8Orugrr
— Hope Mars Mission (@HopeMarsMission) February 8, 2021
“Oh my gosh, with the fraction of women who are participating in it at all levels of the project, and scientist engineers and managers, the fact that women are a big part of what will ensure that your future is reaching for all the best ideas, the best talent that could possibly be produced on that frontier of exploration. So that’s what makes it just a spectacular mission. It’s an affirmation that exploration and discovery is not really just for scientists. It’s for us all,” says Tyson.
The Mission has around a 50 per cent chance of success, and even if it does not achieve its goal of entering Mars’ orbit, that does not mean that the mission was a failure. The opposite is true, in fact.
“I’ll even say good luck, because sometimes you need a little bit of that too. Oh, I’ll add one more thing: When you’re on the frontier, occasionally stuff goes wrong. Nothing wrong with that. Some wise mentors I had told me the day you stopped making mistakes is the day you can guarantee you’re no longer on the frontier.”
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