NASA congratulates UAE on successful Mars mission

The UAE added an extra vermilion hue to the phrase ‘red letter day’ as the nation rocketed into the space exploration elite.

After a seven-month journey that has taken Hope Probe on a 493million kilometre voyage across the solar system, the vessel is now in orbit around Mars.

The world’s most prominent space organisation has heaped praise on the UAE’s leadership for its faultless mission.

NASA – via its NASA Mars Twitter handle – offered a warm welcome to the Red Planet.

Welcome to the Red Planet. And congratulations. https://t.co/2xNt7vu0wL

— NASA Mars (@NASAMars) February 9, 2021

NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover, which itself is due to land on Mars on Thursday February 18, similarly tweeted its congratulations, quoting poet Al Mutanabbi.

Dear @HopeMarsMission, congratulations on arriving at Mars! In the words of the poet Al Mutanabbi:

إذا غامَرْتَ في شَرَفٍ مَرُومِ

فَلا تَقنَعْ بما دونَ النّجومِ

(If you ventured in pursuit of glory, don’t be satisfied with less than the stars.) pic.twitter.com/HvSsRHumzr

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 9, 2021

There was also praise from the UK Space Agency, Russia’s Roscosmos programme, the Indian Space Research Organisation and France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales space agency.

Russia, which became the first country to land a spacecraft on Mars some 50 years ago described the UAE’s successful missions as “huge milestone”.

Meanwhile, Indian’s space bods said the UAE had joined the top table for space exploration, following their own fruitful mission to the Red Planet in 2014.

Excellent news!

Huge congratulations to @uaespaceagency and all working on the @HopeMarsMission. https://t.co/xhEnQLmayv

— UK Space Agency (@spacegovuk) February 9, 2021

President of the UAE, Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, said: “The entry of the Hope Probe into the orbit of Mars is a significant accomplishment in our nation’s history.

“This achievement was made possible by the Emirati pioneers whose work will inspire future scientists and engineers for generations. We are immensely proud of them.”

The entry of the Hope Probe into the orbit of Mars is a significant accomplishment in our nation’s history. This achievement was made possible by the Emirati pioneers whose work will inspire future scientists and engineers for generations. We are immensely proud of them.

— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) February 9, 2021

Meanwhile, Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed announced the success of the operation with a “Mission accomplished” tweet.

Prior to the commencement of the final stages of the approach, Sheikh Mohammed had cautioned that the entry had a 50-50 chance of success.