Dubai:
The United Arab Emirates will launch a spacecraft to discover a significant asteroid belt in between Mars and Jupiter, officials stated Tuesday, following a UAE probe reached the red planet early this year.
The 5-year journey from 2028 will traverse 3.6 billion kilometres (2.2 billion miles), with the unmanned craft drawing on gravity assists from Earth and Venus to attain the primary asteroid belt beyond Mars, officials stated.
“The mission will make its first close planetary approach orbiting Venus in mid-2028, followed by a close orbit of Earth in mid-2029,” the UAE Space Agency stated in a statement.
“It will make its first fly-by of a main asteroid belt object in 2030, going on to observe a total of seven main belt asteroids before its final landing on an asteroid 560 million kilometres from Earth in 2033.”
The UAE — made up of seven emirates such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai — is a newcomer to the world of space exploration.
In September 2019, the oil-wealthy nation sent the 1st Emirati into space as component of a 3-member crew that blasted off on a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan.
Then in February 2021 its “Hope” probe effectively entered Mars’ orbit on a journey to reveal the secrets of Martian climate, in the Arab world’s 1st interplanetary mission.
The UAE also has plans to send an unmanned rover to the moon by 2024.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, the UAE’s de facto leader, stated that the launch of the new project sets an “ambitious” new target for the nation.
“The UAE is determined to make a meaningful contribution to space exploration, scientific research and our understanding of the solar system,” he tweeted.
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