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With first spacecraft to Red Planet, United Arab Emirates poised to join elite Mars club
Sedeer El-ShowkThe United Arab Emirates (UAE), a small Persian Gulf nation, is on the cusp of a big breakthrough: joining the United States, the Soviet Union, Europe, and India in the elite club of nations that have successfully sent spacecraft to Mars. On 15 July, the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM)—also known as the Hope satellite—is set to launch on a Japanese rocket, arriving at the Red Planet in February 2021.Planners hope the mission will boost UAE industry and science capacity while also delivering sorely needed data on the martian atmosphere.