President Sisi congratulates UAE on launching "Hope" probe to Mars

CAIRO – 21 July 2020: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi congratulated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on launching Sunday the Arab World's first probe to Mars called "Hope."

"I proudly followed the launching of "Hope Probe" to the space. The step is historical and pioneering for the UAE to enter the field of outer space exploration. [The step] constitutes the hope aimed for to reinstate the glories and the discoveries by the Arab and Islamic nations in the realms of sciences, arts, and innovation," the president tweeted Monday.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ar" dir="rtl">تابعت بكل فخر واعزاز اطلاق &quot;مسبار الامل&quot; الي الفضاء وهي خطوة وان كانت سباقة وتاريخية لدولة الامارات الشقيقة لدخول مجال اكتشافات الفضاء الخارجي، فهي تجسد الامل المنشود في استرجاع امجاد واكتشافات الامة العربية والاسلامية في مجالات العلوم والفنون والابتكار.</p>&mdash; Abdelfattah Elsisi (@AlsisiOfficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlsisiOfficial/status/1285325781497974787?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 20, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The probe was launched by a Japanese rocket. It is one of two others to be launched from China and the United States called Tianwen-1 and Mars 2020, respectively.

"Hope" is expected to reach Mars by February 2021 marking the 50th anniversary of the unification of the seven princedoms. It will not land on the planet like the other two missions scheduled for later this year. The probe will just orbit the planet for a Martian year that is 687 days.

The objective of "Hope" is to provide a comprehensive image of the weather dynamics in the red planet’s atmosphere, as reported by The Guardian.