Perseverance's touchdown point is an ancient lake bed known as Jezero Crater. And if you're interested in celestial events and rocket launches, we recommend syncing your calendar with CNET's Space Calendar -- you'll never miss a launch again. China has been particularly active in space exploration lately. It will help answer key questions about the global Martian atmosphere and the loss of hydrogen and oxygen gases into space over the span of one Martian year. Here's hoping it survives the "seven minutes of terror" synonymous with Martian landings. “The second is to our Arab brethren: that nothing is impossible and that we can compete with the greatest of nations in the race for knowledge.

With 75 Emirati scientists and engineers taking part in the project, the UAE is preparing to become the first Arab country to send a mission to another planet. "We do this kind of transfer orbit in order to use the least fuel," says James O'Donoghue, a planetary scientist with Japanese space agency JAXA. Here's a brief overview of what you need to know about the big month of Mars missions. The Emirates Mars Mission "Hope Probe" will be the first probe to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere and its layers when it reaches the red planet’s orbit in 2021. The Emirates Mars Mission, also known as the Hope Mars Mission, is a mission aimed at sending an unmanned probe to Mars by 2021.

After foul weather in Japan delayed its scheduled liftoff time twice, the UAE's historic mission to Mars is set to launch on July 20, 2020, at 1.58am UAE time. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, centre, announces plans for the Emirates Mars Mission. But in February 2021, provided all things go as smoothly as planned, NASA's lone rover will be joined by two new robotic allies: Perseverance, a cutting-edge alien hunting lab, and Ingenuity, a "helicopter" set to take to the skies of the red planet. More details of the mission can be found at emiratesmarsmission.ae, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr marks 10 years as Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, Covid-19 stimulus measures must embrace all energy sources, says Aramco chief, British, Muslim, female: Fatiha El-Ghorri is funny, but this is no act, Arab Americans favour Biden by wide margin, new poll finds, Barcelona president Bartomeu resigns after Messi row, Abu Dhabi beachgoers cautioned against poisonous sea snakes, UAE leaders attend a royal wedding virtually, Coronavirus: UAE launches digital initiative to update personal data of citizens and residents, Inside a Covid-19 wedding in Dubai: Couples tie knot before guests in gloves, Dubai sets out overhaul of Covid testing for residents and tourists, region and Arab and Muslim worlds behind it, details of the UAE’s ambitious unmanned probe mission to Mars – driven largely by Emiratis – have been unveiled in Dubai by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Have Hope, will travel: UAE Mars team has six years to reach goal, How the UAE’s Hope will travel from Earth to Mars. The trajectory of the Insight lander (purple) as it leaves Earth (blue) and heads to Mars (green).

For its first Mars mission, the UAE chose partners instead of doing it all on its own.

The crater appears to have once been full of water and Perseverance's suite of scientific instruments should be able to analyze the soil and sediment to see if there's any possibility life once thrived there. The blueprints and mission goals were yesterday unveiled by local space experts. The unmanned Hope is expected to travel for about 200 days at speeds of up to 40,000kph on its journey of 60 million kilometres. The probe is expected to arrive on February 2021, which marks the 50th year since the founding of the United Arab Emirates. The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) was initiated in 2014 by the UAE prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai. Tianwen-1 is currently scheduled to launch on July 23 and, like the two other spacecraft heading to Mars, expected to arrive sometime in February 2021.

Our goal here is to have a study, a laboratory and specialisations regarding gravity, galaxies and Mars. “Sheikh Zayed was the hope of the UAE and the UAE is the hope of the region,” said Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai. It might seem unusual so many Mars missions are launching in such a small amount of time, but I can assure you it's not because the robots have achieved sentience and decided to flee the garbage fire that 2020 has become. “This will complete in 2016,” said Omran Sharaf, project manager of the Emirates Mars Mission. Though only weeks away, the mission remains shrouded in secrecy. “The UAE wants to send a message to the world that this young country is capable of shouldering its responsibilities towards the universe and to be a new model for humanity, and that the Arabs, whenever they are given an opportunity, can make their own contributions to the universe,” Dr Al Rumaithi said. Click here and you can find links on how to watch the upcoming launches live. Three missions from space agencies across the globe are heading to Mars to seek signs of past life and examine the atmosphere. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. In a true representation of the collaborative efforts that have gone into the Mars mission, Sheikh Mohammed invited the Arab world to submit suggestions for the probe's name in a public campaign. “Students will be our target to fulfil the saying of Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE, when he said our objective is to be one of the leading countries in the world in science and space,” Dr Al Rumaithi said. “Our hope and belief in the UAE’s generations are so strong and we are sure the language of science and development will find its place in this region despite the painful regional developments happening.”. "It's like passing a football to a striker, you've got to aim where they're going to be," he says. Courtesy Dubai Media Office What this means for the UAE. Ingenuity could become the first vehicle flown on another planet, provided it unfurls from the belly of Perseverance correctly and is able to take to the Martian skies. DUBAI // The UAE’s Mars mission probe will be carrying the hopes of the country and the region, so it is only appropriate that Hope is its name, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said on Wednesday. Once it reaches Mars in February 2021, it's orbit will see it circle Mars once every 55 hours. ... announcing a UAE Mars mission … If you're looking to catch the launch of the UAE's Hope probe and NASA's Perseverance rover to the red planet this month, you'll find them below. NASA will send the Perseverance rover, a next-gen wanderer that will explore an ancient lake bed, looking for evidence of alien life. by finding the telltale signs of life in geological formations. "We also must aim where Mars is going to be in the future.". It's hoped the mission will enable new ways to explore different worlds and potentially as-yet-unexplored moons of Jupiter or Saturn. From this week until mid-August, a bevy of spacecraft will depart Earth with a one-way ticket to the red planet, tasked with uncovering secrets about past life and the planet's unusual atmosphere. The UAE plans to establish the first human colony on Mars in 2117. The mission addresses high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The sun is the yellow dot, center-left. Mr Gergawi said the mission would change our generation and inspire future ones. You can see the transfer orbit in action in the image to the right. NASA took advantage of this window when it launched InSight, the Marsquake detector, back in May 2018. “The mission will send three important messages,” Sheikh Mohammed said. When a giant Martian dust storm ended the history-making mission of the Opportunity in early 2019, only one rolling science laboratory was left operational on the surface: Curiosity. Also read: UAE's Mars orbiter mission seeks to bring Hope to more places than just the red planet The atmosphere of Mars is much thinner than that of Earth and is primarily composed of carbon dioxide. And then there's Hope, the United Arab Emirates' orbiter, set to study the Martian atmosphere like never before. Al Amal: The first Arab nation mission to another planet Announced in July 2014, the Emirates Mars Mission began with the goal of placing an … It's so thin scientists are fairly certain liquid water cannot exist at the planet's surface but there're still a number of mysteries astronomers hope to solve about the red planet's atmospheric conditions. © CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. It's just physics. The mission was announced by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates, in July 2014, and is aimed at enriching the capabilities of Emirati engineers and increasing human knowledge about the Martian atmosphere..