UAE’s ‘Hope’ probe successfully enters Mars’ orbit

By AFP 9 February 2021, 6:51 pm

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The United Arab Emirates’ “Hope” probe successfully enters Mars’ orbit, mission officials say, in the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.

“To the people of the UAE, to the Arab and Muslim nations, we announce the successful arrival to Mars orbit. Praise be to God,” says Omran Sharaf, the mission’s project manager.

Sharaf and other officials at mission control broke into applause, visibly relieved after a tense half-hour as the probe carried out a “burn” to slow itself enough to be pulled in by Martian gravity, in what was the most perilous stage of the journey.

It rotated and fired all six of its powerful thrusters to dramatically slow its average cruising speed of 121,000 kilometers (75,000 miles) per hour to about 18,000 kph.