United Arab Emirates releases first photo from Mars probe

The United Arab Emirates, which recently became the first Arab country to send a probe to Mars, has shared the maiden image of the Red Planet taken from the Hope orbiter. The image was shared by UAE's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center on February 14. The image, taken on February 10, shows the north pole of Mars as well as the planet's largest volcano, Olympus Mons. UAE's Hope mission reached Mars on February 9, making history by becoming the fifth nation on Earth to send a man-made object to the Red Planet. 

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UAE's Hope mission

UAE's Hope mission, known as Amal in Arabic, was launched in July 2020 from Japan onboard a Mitsibushi rocket. UAE is the second country to send a probe to Mars on its first try, the first country was India, which successfully sent the Mangalyaan mission in 2013. UAE's Hope mission was launched during the July 2020 window, alongside two other Mars missions from the United States and China.  

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The robotic mission has three scientific instruments onboard - the Emirates eXploration Imager, Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer, and Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer. NASA's Deep Space Network is being used to communicate with the orbiter and also to keep a track of it. The name Hope was chosen after thousands of suggestions were sent from all over the Arab world in 2015.

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(Image Credit: AP)