DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates has joined the space race to mars with the launch of a new programme to settle humans on the planet by 2117, according to Russia Today.
The oil rich Arab nation established its space agency in 2014, with millions of dollars being poured into raising the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre. In its three years of existence, the space agency has made agreements with other countries involved in the space race, such as USA, Russia and China.
The UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum expressed the hope that the Mars Project 2117 would be successful and UAE’s space agency could potentially help build the first inhabitable human settlement on the Red Planet in the next 100 years.
The project aims to boost UAE’s space research capacity and make it a top player among the countries intending to colonise Mars.
A team of Emirati scientists and engineers will also be charged with streamlining efforts as well as drawing up a blueprint for Red Planet colonies.
It comes in the same week that Dubai hosted the fifth World Government Summit on social, economic and futuristic developments.
The UAE PM said that he expected that the programme would benefit future generations. He said on Tuesday, “The landing of people on other planets has been a longtime dream for humans. Our aim is that the UAE will spearhead international efforts to make this dream a reality.”
The programme’s first step, according to UAE space scientists, would be to fire a probe to Mars in an effort to map the planet’s weather patterns.
A statement issued by the UAE space centre said, “The rocket must blast off from Earth during a brief ‘launch window’ in July 2020. This is because the Earth and Mars orbit the Sun at different rates, and are aligned at their closest point only once every two years.”
“If any part of the mission is not ready in time or fails at the last minute, there may be no second chance,” the statement added.
The probe, called Hope, will orbit about 22,000km (14,000 miles) above the Red Planet.
