While observing its Golden Jubilee, the UAE has carved itself an exceptional foothold in the “farthest point in the universe Arabs have ever reached” as His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai put it!.
The Hope Probe’s long awaited rendezvous with the Red Planet is not just a watershed moment in the history of space exploration, but also a message for the entire world that sky is not the limit for the ambitions of the Emirati people. The dreams cherished by our previous generations have finally come true! While carving a niche among the only five nations that have made it to the Red Planet is a landmark event that fulfills the aspirations of our leadership and people, the groundbreaking development also serves humanity at large and the scientific community in particular, bar none.
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Reaching Mars is by all means a tour de force by a young nation with an ambitious space exploration programme tailored to revolutionise the scientific and industrial infrastructure of the Arab world and help hundreds of millions of Arabs and Muslims longing to explore new possibilities in the outer space.
In so doing, Hope Probe represents the culmination of a disruptive human initiative to fathom the true depth of the void above. An initiative that commenced as an ambitious idea in a historic Cabinet retreat convened by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Sir Beni Yas by the end of 2013. During that retreat, a brainstorming session explored a series of innovative plans to mark the 50th Anniversary of the nation’s founding in 2021.
Reaching the Red Planet emerged then as a bold, ground-breaking bid, as a result of which President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued in 2014 a federal decree establishing the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA) to start working on the historic milestone, seen henceforth as a defining moment in the country’s transformational drive toward a new paradigm of development.
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From the very outset, the plan was made crystal clear not to import a readymade probe; but rather manufacturing it by an all-Emirati team with the objective of inspiring an entire generation and lay the foundation for an innovation-driven and knowledge-based economy, while mobilising all possible resources and unleashing our human potential to invest in the field of space exploration.
While decorating the last metal piece installed in the probe with a phrase reading ‘The power of hope shortens the distance between earth and sky’, the UAE’s leaders have been staunch believers in their people’s ability to overcome the impossible and prove to the entire world that impossible is nothing in the Emirates!
