TOKYO (AP) — Final preparations for the launch from Japan of the United Arab Emirates’ first Mars mission were underway Monday, but there was a chance of a delay because of bad weather, a Japanese rocket provider said.
The launch of the United Arab Emirates orbiter Amal, or Hope, on a Japanese H-IIA rocket is scheduled for Wednesday morning from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan in what would be the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.
A final resolution will be made On Tuesday before the rocket launched, said Keiji Suzuki, director of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ launch site.
A seasonal rain front was expected to cause intermittent lightning and rain over the next few days, he said.
“But we don’t expect this thunder to be serious or lasting, and our assessment is that there will be a chance of launch,” Suzuki said at an online briefing monday in Tanegashima. “We will make a prudent data-driven decision.”
Heavy rains continued for more than a week in giant parts of Japan, causing landslides and flooding and killing more than 70 people, peaking on the southern island of Kyushu.
Hope is expected to succeed in March February 2021, when the UAE celebrates the 50th anniversary of its formation. A successful Hope project would be a major milestone for the long-term oil-dependent economy in space.
Hope uses 3 tools to examine the upper environment and monitor the weather replacement and will have to surround the Red Planet for at least two years.
Emirates Mars Mission Project Director Omran Sharaf, who joined Monday’s briefing from Dubai, said the mission is not just a repeat of what other countries have done. It will provide a complete view of the Martian atmosphere during different seasons for the first time, he said.
Two more projects are planned for Mars in the coming days across the United States and China. Japan has its own project for the Martian moon scheduled for 2024.
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