UAE to explore Mars' atmosphere with probe named 'Hope'
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates' planned 2020 mission to Mars will study the planet's atmosphere and be appropriately named "Hope," members of the project team revealed Wednesday.
Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced initial plans for the unmanned probe last year. It is the first Mars mission attempted anywhere in the Arab world.
An invitation-only event Wednesday in Dubai was a chance for officials to unveil many of the finer details. And they did it with a good dose of Gulf flair — soaring music and computer animations projected onto a movie screen in a chandelier-filled beachside palace. One of the world's largest yachts, Dubai, was berthed outside.
"This mission to Mars is really for the hope of the Arab world and will send them a message to say you can be better, you can improve your country," Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the Emirates' vice president and prime minister, told reporters after the event.
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