Diana Farah Dubai

Behind the preparation and launch of the UAE’s Hope Probe is a large hard-working team of young Emirati engineers, who have been culminating scientific and logistical efforts for the last six years to complete the UAE Mars Mission.

The Hope Probe, which will be mounted on the Japanese H-IIA rocket, is set to lift off on July 15 from the Tanegashima Space Center site.

The Emirati team has been working over the last fifty days and ensured the coronavirus pandemic did not affect the planned launch date.

The space mission personnel were divided into three teams in order to successfully transport the probe. The first team arrived at Japan’s space center April 6, along with the Hope Probe.

A second team arrived at the launch site on April 21. Currently, the two teams take turns to support multiple tasks, as there is a range of experienced members in preparation for lift off.

A third team is also there to support the preparations in all stages. Deputy Project Manager at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, Suhail Butti Zafari Muhairi, has been leading the UAE teams in the Tanegashima Space Center.

“We are an integrated team of engineers within the inspection team. The deputy director of the project assumes the responsibility to ensure the readiness of the vehicle prior to launch and during the merger to ensure communication with them from Earth,” he said.

He added that the team showed team spirit and ambition. The Hope Probe confirms that the UAE and the Arab world’s vision and the confidence in the capabilities of mankind.

The probe is expected to reach the orbit of Mars in February 2021, in conjunction with the celebrations of the UAE’s golden jubilee, and the passage of fifty years since the declaration of the UAE’s union in 1971.