Sheikh Mohammed and Mohamed Bin Zayed receive UAE Hope Probe team

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, received the UAE Hope Probe team.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid said on Twitter, “On the day of Eid... and in the presence of my brother Mohamed Bin Zayed... We received the team of the Hope Probe... The sons of the nation are the most important achievements of this country... and with their achievements we are proud…”

The Emirates Mars Mission team was stationed in Tanegashima for four months till the launch of the Hope Probe.

The Hope Probe will make a 7-month-long journey to the red planet covering 493,500,000km, according to Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC).

The Emirati project is one of three racing to Mars, including Tianwen-1 from China and Mars 2020 from the United States, taking advantage of a period when the Earth and Mars are nearest.

The UAE also wants the project to serve as a source of inspiration for Arab youth, in a region too often wracked by sectarian conflicts and economic crises.

On Twitter, the UAE's government declared the probe launch a "message of pride, hope and peace to the Arab region, in which we renew the golden age of Arab and Islamic discoveries."