UAE announces groundbreaking mission to asteroid belt
THE United Arab Emirates (UAE) once again proved that failure will not stop it from achieving bigger things, with the emirates space agency unveiling the details of an ambitious goal to reach the solar system’s main asteroid belt.
The mission was announced in 2021, but details of the spacecraft design, mission operators, and science goals were just released this week.
Dubbed the Emirates mission to the asteroid belt, the project aims to develop a spacecraft in the coming years and study seven asteroids.
The Emirates Space Agency is targeting to launch MBR Explorer into the solar system by 2028 and land on an asteroid in 2033.
MBR Explorer was named after the Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.
During the mission, the spacecraft will embark on a five-billion-kilometer journey and perform flybys of six asteroids, while a lander will be deployed on the seventh.
The latest mission was announced more than a month after the UAE-built Rashid rover failed a moon landing which was blamed on an “altitude miscalculation” that caused it to run out of fuel.
In February 2021, the successful entry of the Hope spacecraft to Mars made UAE the first Arab country and the fifth nation in history to have reached the red planet.