Lately, the United Arab Emirates has been achieving milestone after milestone in the ongoing space mission that has been undertaken by the Emirati astronaut, Sultan AlNeyadi. And now, keeping up with this strike, a new asteroid mission has been unveiled by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and the Ruler of Dubai. Here’s all you need to know about the UAE Asteroid Belt Exploration Project launch.
UAE Asteroid Belt Exploration Project Launched In Abu Dhabi
As evident from the name, the UAE Asteroid Belt Exploration Project is a space exploration program that was launched by his highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi. Making the announcement on Twitter, he revealed that the project has been launched at Qasr al Watan and it is the most important project in the field of space. In a news report published by Gulf News, it was mentioned that this project is expected to last over 13 years. Yes, six years will be devoted to development, while seven years will be given for exploration. Throughout this duration, the Emirati MBR explorer will take a journey at a distance of a staggering, 5 billion kilometres beyond Mars.
Final Asteroid Landing To Be In 2034
بحمدالله أطلقنا في قصر الوطن التفاصيل العلمية لأحد أهم مشاريعنا في مجال الفضاء "مشروع الإمارات لاستكشاف حزام الكويكبات " . المشروع يستمر 13 عاماً.. 6 سنوات للتطوير و7 سنوات رحلة استكشاف.. ستقطع خلالها المركبة الاماراتية MBR Explorer ٥ مليار كيلومتر متجاوزة كوكب المريخ لاستشكاف… pic.twitter.com/C0peR7JAMe
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) May 29, 2023
Talking more about the exploration project, the asteroid exploration programme aims to explore seven asteroids beyond Mars. As such, the planned landing for the final asteroid has been kept for 2034! Not to mention, this is a unique global research and it includes plans to establish private emirate companies that specialise in space technology and similar fields. In fact, it is expected that the scope of this project is going to be 10 times that of the mission, Hope Probe. Talking about other upcoming UAE space missions, there are plans to send Rashid Rover 2 to the moon soon, as the previous one is expected to have crashed during its landing.
Doesn’t it all sound exciting? Well, stay tuned to this space for more developments related to this news!
Cover Image Courtesy: Twitter/HHShkMohd
First Published: May 29, 2023 6:57 PM