Announced back in 2017 the UAE announced its ground-breaking Mars Science City project. Since then the country has sent its first astronaut Hazzaa Al Mansoori into space, and is about to launch the Mars Hope probe.
It’s all part of the Mars 2117 Strategy, seeking to build the first settlement on Mars within the next 100 years. Before this, Dubai will see the first of its kind Mars Science City, and it looks exactly like you’d think.
Mars Science City was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and will cover 1.9 million sq ft.
The ambitious scale of the project makes it the largest space simulation city ever built, and is intended to provide a realistic model to simulate living on the surface of Mars.
Mars Science City falls within the nation’s objectives to lead the global scientific race to take people to Mars. The project will build laboratories for food, energy and water, as well as agricultural testing and studies about food security.
A museum will also be constructed using 3D printing technology and sand from the Emirati desert within the science city. It will display humanities greatest space achievements to date, plus educational areas designed to engage and inspire young citizens.
Future plans for the city, which will consist of several domes aimed at replicating the conditions on the surface of Mars, include a year-long project involving a team living in the red planet city.
“Mars Science City is going to be our platform for the science and the technology to help us in our future missions to Mars,” said Mars 2117 Program Manager at MBR Space Centre Adnan AlRais.
“We want to come up with a new facility that will help the international community.”
It’s uncertain when Dubai’s Mars Science City will be complete, but it’s expected to be fully operational this decade.
You can find out more about the Mars Hope probe right here, along with the UAE’s second round of the UAE Astronaut Programme here.
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