Mars—been there done that, am I right?
The UAE is setting its sights past the Red Planet, launching a plan to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It’s also where most of the meteorites that impact earth are found.
This isn’t happening overnight, of course. The spacecraft will take seven years to build, with a launch planned for 2028.
The Emirates Mars Mission was already ambitious, so the UAE is setting an even more ambitious goal.
The plan is for speed-boosting flybys of Venus in mid-2028 and 2028, before heading to the asteroid belt in 2030. The probe will study seven different asteroids over the course of the mission, and land on an asteroid in 2033.
The exact goal, whether it’s discovering the secrets of life on earth or otherwise, will be revealed next year. What could the mission’s goal be? We’re only left to wonder.
“Our goal is clear: to accelerate the development of innovation and knowledge-based enterprises in the Emirates,” Sarah Al Amiri, chair of the UAE Space Agency, said in a statement.
There’s only been a few missions–NASA’s Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker and Osiris-Rex spacecraft, and Japan’s Hayabusa1 and Hayabusa2 probes — that have landed on an asteroid up to now, making it a hugely ambitious plan.
Partnering with the UAE is the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, also the key partner for the Emirates Mars Mission.
The UAE has other plans coming up as well, including the moon rover Rashid heading to our moon next year.
“Today, we are investing in the generations to come,” HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, said in a statement. “With each new advancement we make in space, we create opportunities for young people here on Earth.”
NASA also has some big plans for the asteroids in the galaxy. Their next launched ship, Lucy, is set to try to discover the origins of the solar system. Read more here.
Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
