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During the six months of the Universal Exhibition, the first to be held in an Arab country, the “Hope” (Amal in Arab) probe will be orbiting Mars. An event within the event for Expo Dubai, postponed by one year due to Covid-19, which will open its doors on 1st October 2021 and end on 31st March 2022.
The first Universal Exhibition to be held in an Arab country will take place exactly while the probe of the United Arab Emirates will be orbiting the Red Planet.
With the launch, which took place on 19th July from the Tanegashima space centre in Southern Japan, the United Arab Emirates inaugurated a new era of international voyages to Mars: yet another example of how the host country of the forthcoming Expo interprets the event’s general theme, "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future".
The challenge posed by the mission towards Mars reflects the idea of enlarged "connectivity" and is consistent with the sub-themes of the Expo, namely "Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability".
The Expo Dubai programme will include a thematic week dedicated to aerospace, during which some of the new information acquired by "Hope" will be presented.
The probe of the "Hope" mission will take five months to reach Mars and will remain in orbit for two years, acquiring data that will be used to analyse the planet's composition and, in particular, to measure its oxygen and hydrogen levels.
Besides the Emirati project, there will be other missions to Mars over the next few months, one by the United States and another by China. Then, in September 2022, it will be the turn of Exomars, the European mission to which Italy contributed substantially.
