(Image Credit: Chris Whiteoak / The National)
After announcing the ambitious project back in 2015, the United Arab Emirates successfully reached the red planet today with their Hope Mars Probe, massively decelerated and entered orbit all according to plan!
This was a wonderful success to see, as it further expands the scope of nations that are embarking upon this new phase of growth and exploration. Dubai and the UAE, more than many other nations in recent history, probably benefits from a frontier mentality that the rest of us can only imagine or read about. They grew in four decades from a small traditional society, based off of fishing and local trade, into a stunning modern metropolis and economic powerhouse, on the back of their good luck being located on top of so much oil. The ruler there, however, is no dummy and knows that the oil gravy train won’t run much longer, so has taken many wise steps to diversify their economy.
This push into science and technology is another of these steps, and will be a benefit to both that region, and to the overall betterment of mankind if they can manage it as they have managed their beautiful cities.
So – congratulations to the UAE team for their successful mission. I can’t wait to see the science that will start to come back from this probe, which will tell us more about the Martian atmosphere on a global scale.
Want to see a cool related video from the successful landing celebration? Check out the entire Burj Khalifa putting on a high-res light show:
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