a Hundred days time, engineers and scientists, to the computer scientist Sarah Al-Amiri, to create for the Mars mission “Hope” of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a scientific concept had. The essential requirements: the launch of the spacecraft in 2020, for a planetary Mission rather small Budget and the desire to achieve scientific insights that could not be from other previous missions delivered.

Sibylle Anderl

editor in the features section.

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The 2014. In the summer, the UAE had announced their plans to want to, only six years later, a mission to Mars launch – a more than ambitious announcement for the young Nation without a major scientific and technological space of experience. In 2006, the Emirates were entered in the space sector and had initially developed with the support of South Korea earth observation satellite. A mission to Mars, it is hoped, would be able to contribute a significant expansion of the technological and scientific Expertise in the country against the Backdrop of the dwindling importance of the Oil industry. “The bigger the challenge, the greater the skills to be developed,” concludes Al Amiri, the economic Motivation.

at the same time the date falls in the coming year, the Mission to Mars will reach the age of 50. Anniversary of the founding of the UAE. Against this Background, Hope will help to inspire future generations for science and technology.

Al-Amiri, it is worth emphasizing, however, important that the Mission, in spite of these political and economic importance in the core of a scientific: “We don’t want to send with the Mission of simply a probe to Mars, in order to make a photo and to announce that we have arrived there”, she makes clear. The objectives of the Mission had rather been on the basis of arguments from scientists around the world set.

in fact, Al Amiri 2014 caught up with first opinions of international researchers and engineers who already had experience with the Design of space missions, and used by the Nasa in terms of exploration of Mars-defined scientific objectives as a guide.