UAE Plans to Explore Venus and Visit 7 Different Asteroids in 2028
United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become the first Arab country to reach Mars in February 2021. After the successful launch of its first spacecraft around Mars, the country has set its eyes on two missions, exploring Venus and the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The UAE Space Agency has claimed that it will explore the Venus planet until the end of this decade, resulting to land on an asteroid.
The Chairperson of the UAE Space Agency, Sarah al-Amiri, informed Associated Press that it is discussing what data the Emirates will gather. The mission will be a big challenge as the spacecraft will travel both near the sun and away from it.
The mission will be carried in coordination with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The Agency aims to go on board 3.6 billion kilometre journey, which is 7 times longer than the UAE’s Hope probe which reached Mars in February 2021.
In a tweet, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, said that the mission is in its concept phase and will focus on understanding the evolution of asteroids in the solar system with the demonstration of key technologies that will help in future space missions. The country is aimingto make contributionsin space exploration, and understanding of the solar system.
To proceed towards their aim, UAE will build a spacecraft required for the mission. It will take about 7 years to build and will approximately be launched in 2028. The country plans to land on Venus in the year 2033.
Using gravitational force for the movement, the spacecraft will first orbit Venus, then Earth, followed by spotting 7 main asteroids and then land on an asteroid 560 which is million kilometres away from the Earth in 2033.
As the Space Agency in UAE was formed recently in 2014, this mission seems to be an ambitious target for the country. If this mission completes successfully, the UAE Space Agency will join NASA, Japan’s space agency named JAXA and the European Space Agency (ESA) in mission to land a vehicle on a planetoid.
UAE is well-known for its oil deposits and tallest building in the world, large shopping malls and pools. This mission is mainly focused on encouraging the country’s space division as it will give preference to Emirati companies for contracts and material procurements.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai said that the country has focused its eyes on the stars and planets. UAE’s journey towards the development and progress is beyond the boundaries. He said, the country has planned to make progress in space and create opportunities for people residing on Earth.
