Arab world’s first Mars probe takes to the skies

Arab world’s first Mars probe takes to the skies

Hope realized for UAE Mars probe

The United Arab Emirates’ Hope orbiter is now winging its way to Mars after launching successfully from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. The probe, built by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) together with US partners, is the first interplanetary mission from any Arab state. The spacecraft will take seven months to wend its way to the red planet. Then comes the tricky part: entering Mars’s orbit in February 2021.

Nature | 4 min read
Read more: How a small Arab nation built a Mars mission from scratch in six years (Nature | 13 min read)