Emirates Mars Mission poised to fulfil Arab hopes and aspirations

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Updated 09 February 2021
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Emirates Mars Mission poised to fulfil Arab hopes and aspirations

  • First interplanetary expedition by an Arab country begins with the launch of the UAE Mars Mission
  • Historic moment to follow decades of preparations and hard work to achieve a vision set out by Sheikh Zayed

NOTE TO READERS:

This article has been updated to reflect a delay in the launch of the Hope Probe, which was originally scheduled at 00:51:27 a.m. UAE time on Wednesday.

DUBAI: Our fascination with space knows no bounds. A desire to unlock the secrets and mysteries of the universe has for decades encouraged nations to push the ever-advancing boundaries of scientific and technical knowledge as they strive to explore the unknown.

There have been a number of historic landmarks along the way, including the successful launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957, Yuri Gargarin’s orbit of the Earth in 1961, and the first Moon landing in 1969.

To this illustrious list we can now add the first interplanetary expedition by an Arab country, with the UAE launching on Monday the Emirates Mars Mission.

The unmanned probe, called Hope, lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan early on Monday and commenced its 495-million kilometer journey to the Red Planet."

“The cost of the Hope Mars Mission [has] reached $200 million, which is considered among the lowest in the world when compared with similar programs,” Mohammad Al-Gergawi, minister for cabinet affairs and the future of the UAE said in a message posted on Twitter by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Hope Probe, which was launched by a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H2A rocket, weighs 289 tonnes and is 53 meters tall.

It is expected to enter orbit around Mars in Feb. 2021, in time for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE.

“This mission embodies the [UAE’s] aspirations, sends a positive message to the world and demonstrates the importance of carrying on unabated despite barriers and challenges,” said Sarah Al-Amiri, minister of state for advanced sciences and the Emirates Mars Mission’s deputy project manager.

This historic moment for the region follows decades of preparations and work to achieve a grand vision set out in the 1970s by the UAE’s founder, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nayhan. His interest in space was triggered by a meeting in 1976 with NASA astronauts who had flown in a number of Apollo missions to the moon.

US President Richard Nixon also presented Sheikh Zayed with a gift of a moon rock collected from the Taurus-Littrow Valley during the 1972 Apollo 17 mission. That relic, from what remains the last moon landing to date, is on display in Al-Ain Museum.

Soon after, Sheikh Zayed sent a clear message to his people, and the world, that Emirati curiosity about, and ambitions for, space exploration would know no boundaries. So began the country’s journey into space.

In 2006, the UAE began collaborating closely with universities and space agencies around the world to establish knowledge-transfer programs, with the goal of one day sending a spacecraft to Mars.

However, it was not until the UAE Space Agency was formed in 2014 that the world really began to sit up and take notice of the country’s ambitious space-exploration plans.

In 2017, 34-year-old military pilot Hazza Al-Mansouri was one of two people selected from 4,000 applicants to join the agency’s inaugural astronaut corps.

After rigorous mental and physical tests, he trained in Russia as a part of an agreement between the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos.

The UAE’s first astronaut joined the crew of a Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft that took off on Sept. 25, 2019, bound for the International Space Station.

Al-Mansouri’s eight-day mission ended on Oct. 2, when he landed safely in Kazakhstan, after which he proudly stated that he had returned with “Sheikh Zayed’s space mission achieved.”

Thirty-four years earlier, in June 1985, Royal Saudi Air Force pilot Prince Sultan bin Salman became the first Muslim and Arab in space when flew on the STS-51-G mission of the US Space Shuttle Discovery. He was also the first member of a royal family in space and, at the age of 28, the youngest person to fly on the space shuttle.

When a Saudi went to space
Prince Sultan bin Salman speaks exclusively to Arab News about his 1985 NASA mission and how he became the first Arab, Muslim and royal in space

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Two years later, Syrian military aviator Mohammed Faris joined the Soviet Interkosmos training program and flew as a research cosmonaut on the Soyouz TM-3 mission to the Mir space station. He spent seven days, 23 hours and 5 minutes in space.

Now, 51 years after the first moon landing, a team of Emiratis is leading a mission to the Red Planet and will supervise every aspect of the Hope Probe, a task that has been complicated by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, the mission team has been divided into three groups, given the challenges of transportation, travel, logistics and the need to follow proper health precautions.

The members of the first group arrived in Japan on April 6, where they completed a mandatory quarantine and health tests. The second team followed on April 21. The third team will remain in the UAE, providing back-up and support for the mission.

To ease concerns about the safety of a Mars mission during the pandemic, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, reviewed the final preparations for the mission on July 1.

He confirmed the launch date and described the mission as “an accomplishment for every Arab and a source of pride for every Emirati.”

On his part, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al-Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai, said: “Hope Probe highlights our national treasure of hundreds of young Emirati engineers and experts ... . (It) represents a message of hope and optimism to mankind.”

Suhail Al-Dhafri, Emirates Mars Mission deputy project manager and spacecraft lead, said that the probe has undergone a series of tests since its arrival at Tanegashima Space Center in April.

Conducted over 50 working days, they included functional tests of spacecraft subsystems such as electrical power, communications, altitude control, command and control, propulsion, thermal control and software systems.

“The final checks are important steps to ensure that all systems are functioning and meeting the requirements before the fueling,” he said. “Getting these parameters are vital prior to getting the probe ready for the liftoff as per our launch window.”

After it enters orbit around Mars, the Hope Probe will study the planet’s daily and seasonal cycles, along with the erosion of the Martian atmosphere, a process that leaves the planet waterless and ill-suited to life.

The UAE will share the data it collects with more than 200 academic and scientific institutions around the world free of charge.

The UAE has plans to establish the first human settlement on Mars by 2117. This month, Sheikh Mohammed announced the launch of the Arab Space Pioneers program, which aims to advance Arab expertise in space science and technologies.

As part of a three-year program, young Arab researchers, scientists, inventors and creative talents will learn the skills required for a career in the expanding space sector.

The UAE promises to keep the world on its toes with its aim of establishing the first inhabitable human settlement on Mars by 2117 — one that can only be achieved through the expertise and determination of future generations.

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@jumana_khamis


UN Security Council urges halt to fighting in South Sudan

Updated 6 sec ago
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UN Security Council urges halt to fighting in South Sudan

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council on Thursday urged an immediate halt to the fighting in South Sudan and renewed its peacekeeping mission in the warring country for another year.
The UNSC “demands all parties to the conflict and other armed actors to immediately end the fighting throughout South Sudan and engage in political dialogue,” the resolution read.
The text, which called for an end to violence against civilians and voiced concern over the use of barrel bombs, was adopted by 12 votes in favor while Russia, China, and Pakistan abstained.
Rights groups have recently sounded the alarm over the deadly use of the improvised and unguided explosives in the north of the country.
The young and impoverished nation has been wracked for years by insecurity and political instability.
But clashes in Upper Nile State between forces allied to President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, have raised concerns over another civil war.
Thursday’s resolution also extended the UN’s peacekeeping mission, founded in 2011 to consolidate peace, until next April.
It also leaves open the possibility of “adjusting” the force and altering its mandate “based on security conditions on the ground.”
Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the international community should use the deployment as one tool to bring the country “back from the brink.”
Shea also said it would be “irresponsible” to continue funding preparations for elections after the country’s transitional leadership postponed any ballot by two years last September.


Morocco commutes sentence of detained former minister

Updated 37 min 36 sec ago
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Morocco commutes sentence of detained former minister

  • Mohammed Ziane was convicted on ‘embezzlement and squandering of public funds’
  • His sentence has been commuted from five to three years

RABAT: A Moroccan court has commuted the prison sentence of opposition figure and former Minister Mohammed Ziane from five to three years, his lawyer said on Thursday.

The former human rights minister had been detained since 2022 and served a three-year term in a different case.

Ziane, 82, the former president of the Rabat Bar Association, was convicted on “embezzlement and squandering of public funds,” said his son and lawyer, Ali Reda Ziane.

The charges relate to funds the Moroccan Liberal Party, or PML — of which Ziane was founder and chief — received during a 2015 electoral campaign.

He was sentenced to five years in prison in July last year.

Even with the court reducing his sentence late Wednesday, “it remains heavy,” said his lawyer. 

“He deserves to be acquitted because there was no embezzlement.”

The lawyer said whether the sentences in the two cases would be served concurrently or consecutively remained unclear.

Proceedings in the initial case followed an Interior Ministry complaint on seven counts, among them contempt of public officials and the judiciary, defamation, adultery, and sexual harassment.

But Ziane has alleged that he was detained “because of (his political) opinion.”

The opposition figure had become known in recent years for statements criticizing the authorities in Morocco, particularly the intelligence services.


A US-backed group seeks to take over Gaza aid distribution in a plan similar to Israel’s

Updated 34 min 43 sec ago
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A US-backed group seeks to take over Gaza aid distribution in a plan similar to Israel’s

  • The UN and aid groups have rejected Israel’s moves to control aid distribution
  • A US official confirmed the authenticity of the proposal and said the former director of the WFP, David Beasley, is the lead choice to run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

TEL AVIV: A group of American security contractors, ex-military officers and humanitarian aid officials is proposing to take over the distribution of food and other supplies in Gaza based on plans similar to ones designed by Israel.
The Associated Press obtained a proposal from the newly created group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to implement a new aid distribution system supplanting the current one run by the UN and other international aid agencies. The UN and aid groups have rejected Israel’s moves to control aid distribution.
It was not immediately clear if the proposal from the new group, which is registered in Geneva, would ease those concerns.
Israel has blocked food, fuel, medicine and all other supplies from entering Gaza for 10 weeks, worsening a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians. It has said it won’t allow aid back in until a system is in place that gives it control over distribution.
The 14-page proposal circulated this week among aid groups and UN officials lays out plans similar to ones Israel has been discussing privately for weeks with international aid groups. The proposal reveals for the first time plans to create the foundation and names the people leading it.

A UN official said last week that Israel’s plans would “weaponize aid” by placing restrictions on who is eligible to receive it.
Aid workers have also criticized the plans, which would centralize distribution at four hubs under the protection of private security contractors. They say the plans could not possibly meet the needs of Gaza’s large and desperate population, and that they would forcibly displace large numbers of Palestinians by driving them to move nearer to the aid.
Under the new group’s proposal, Palestinians would receive pre-packaged rations, potable water, hygiene kits, blankets, and other supplies at the distribution hubs. The group said it wants to partner with the UN and international aid groups in handing out their supplies.
A US official confirmed the authenticity of the proposal and said the former director of the UN World Food Program, David Beasley, is the lead choice to run GHF. The proposal could still be revised and Beasley’s role is not confirmed, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to detail plans that have not been made public.
Beasley, a former governor of South Carolina, didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of siphoning off large amounts of aid. The UN and aid workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution.
When contacted Thursday for comment about GHF’s proposal, Israeli officials did not immediately respond.
The Trump administration supports the new group’s proposal, said a person involved in it. The person said GHF would work “within the confines” set by Israel on aid but would be “independent and committed to humanitarian principles” — a nod to UN concerns. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a plan not yet made public.
“This is a new approach with one focus: Get help to people. Right now,” said US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
Ahead of his first trip to the Middle East this week, US President Donald Trump said “a lot of talk” was going on about Gaza and that his administration will soon have more to say about a new proposal. This may include a new push for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the release of hostages and an influx of aid to Palestinians.
Who’s involved?
GHF’s proposal names a 10-member leadership team that includes former senior American military officers, business executives and officials from aid groups. At least two of them have ties to private security companies.
Beasley is listed among them, but the proposal says his role is still “to be finalized.” Beasley is also a senior adviser to Fogbow, a private US firm that participated in the short-lived project delivering aid to Gaza by sea via a US military-built pier.
The AP contacted people listed in the proposal to confirm their participation. Only one responded, saying he was “not on the board.” The person involved in planning said the list was still in flux.

How would it work?
According to the proposal, GHF would initially set up four distribution sites, each serving 300,000 people. That would cover about half of Gaza’s population. The system would be scaled up to meet the needs of 2 million people. But the proposal does not give a timeframe. Aid workers warn that food is rapidly running out in Gaza under Israel’s blockade.
The GHF proposal said subcontractors will use armored vehicles to transport supplies from the Gaza border to distribution sites, where they will also provide security. It said the aim is to deter criminal gangs or militants from redirecting aid.
It did not specify who would provide security but said it could include personnel who previously worked in the Netzarim Corridor, an Israeli-held zone cutting off northern Gaza. A private security company, Safe Reach Solutions, has operated in the corridor.
GHF said people will get assistance based on need with no eligibility requirements. This appears to differ from proposals floated by Israel. Aid workers say Israel has said it intends to vet aid recipients and screen them using facial recognition.
What do aid groups say?
Throughout Israel’s campaign in Gaza, the UN and other humanitarian groups have been carrying out a massive aid program. They have trucked in supplies and distributed them across the territory, going as close as possible to where Palestinians were located.
What has chiefly hampered the system, aid workers have said, are Israeli military operations and restrictions on movement, as well as the low amount of aid allowed to enter even before the blockade. Convoys have also been attacked by criminal groups stealing aid, and hungry Palestinians have sometimes taken supplies from trucks.
Aid workers contacted by the AP cast doubt whether GHF would meet humanitarian requirements for neutrality and independence.
Shaina Low, communications adviser for Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the main organizations in Gaza, said aid groups are concerned the plan will be used “to advance military and political goals.”
By forcing the population to relocate around aid hubs, the system would “depopulate entire parts of Gaza” and could be used to potentially expel the population, she said.
“They are framing (the plan) to fix the problem that doesn’t really exist,” she said, referring to Israel’s contention that it must prevent Hamas from taking aid.
The use of private security companies has also alarmed humanitarian workers. While it’s common for private security firms to operate in conflict zones, they have to respect humanitarian law and at a minimum be fully vetted and monitored, said Jamie Williamson, executive director for the International Code of Conduct Association.
Tamara Alrifai, communications director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which has led the aid effort it Gaza, said the plan was logistically unworkable.
She said the foundation does not appear able to match the current infrastructure needed to distribute food and address other humanitarian needs.
Alrifai called it “a very dangerous precedent” for countries to use “full siege as a tactic of war” to force the abandonment of “existing aid structures and the entire international system that exists and is recognized and start creating a new system.”


South Sudan clashes stopping aid reaching 60,000 malnourished children: UN

Updated 48 min 3 sec ago
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South Sudan clashes stopping aid reaching 60,000 malnourished children: UN

NAIROBI: Intense fighting in South Sudan has prevented desperately needed food from reaching some 60,000 malnourished children for almost a month, the UN said on Thursday.

South Sudan has been wracked for years by insecurity and political instability, but recent clashes in Upper Nile State between forces allied to President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, have alarmed observers.

In a joint statement, the World Food Programme and the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, warned that escalating fighting along the White Nile river — a major transport route — has meant “no humanitarian supplies have reached the area in almost a month.”

The area in the north of the country already had “over 300,000 children affected by moderate or severe malnutrition in the past year” and was at “breaking point.”

“Every day makes a difference for a malnourished child in need of life saving treatment,” said WFP’s South Sudan representative, Mary-Ellen McGroarty.

The agencies said almost 2,000 cartons of lifesavingnutrition supplies had been stolen since the uptick in hostilities.

UNICEF representative Obia Achieng said there was an “unprecedented” break in supply lines due to the ongoing fighting, looting, and disruption of the river route.

“If this continues, we are in danger of simply running out of supplies in counties across the state by the end of May 2025, with potentially catastrophic results for the youngest, most vulnerable children,” Achieng said.

South Sudan has been unstable since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.

Kiir and Machar fought a five-year civil war that cost some 400,000 lives, and was only ended by a power-sharing deal in 2018 that has almost entirely collapsed in recent months.


UN: Israel school closures in East Jerusalem ‘assault on children’

Updated 08 May 2025
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UN: Israel school closures in East Jerusalem ‘assault on children’

  • The Palestinian Authority also condemned the move in a statement, calling it a ‘violation of children’s right to education’

JERUSALEM: The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Thursday decried an “assault on children” after Israel closed all six of its schools in annexed East Jerusalem, months after an Israeli ban on its activities took effect.

“Storming schools & forcing them shut is a blatant disregard of international law,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini posted on X, describing the move as “An assault on children. An assault on education.”

UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler said that Israeli forces “closed six UN schools in annexed East Jerusalem on Thursday, posting closure orders on the six buildings and forcibly entering three of the six schools.”

An AFP photographer present at two of the schools in the Shuafat refugee camp reported that Israeli forces entered the premises and posted a closure notice stating the schools were operating without “authorization.”

The children had to leave the premises, with many departing in tears. Several young pupils, some visibly moved and others shocked, hugged in front of the school before they left.

UNRWA said one of its staff members was detained.

“From May 8, 2025, it will be prohibited to operate educational institutions, or employ teachers, teaching staff, or any other staff, and it will be forbidden to accommodate students or allow the entry of students into this institution,” the closure order in Hebrew read.

UNRWA’s director in the West Bank, Roland Friedrich, said that “heavily armed” forces surrounded the three UNRWA schools in Shuafat camp at 9 a.m.

Friedrich added that 550 pupils aged six to 15 were present when the closure was enforced, calling it “a traumatising experience for young children who are at immediate risk of losing their access to education.”

Friedrich said police were deployed in the area around three separate schools in other parts of East Jerusalem, which has been annexed by Israel since 1967.

UNRWA said that the school year for 800 children had “been ended by force.”

The Palestinian Authority condemned the move in a statement, calling it a “violation of children’s right to education.”

In a statement, its Education Ministry called the closures a “crime.” 

It urged international institutions “to assume their responsibilities and defend the right of refugee children to a free and safe education.”

UNRWA has provided support for Palestinian refugees around the Middle East for more than 70 years, but has long clashed with Israeli officials, who have repeatedly accused it of undermining the country’s security.

At the end of January, Israeli legislation banned the agency’s activities. 

Due to the annexation, the law applies to East Jerusalem but not to the rest of the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

Contact between it and Israeli officials is also forbidden.

Israel has accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas militants, claiming that some of the agency’s employees took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.

A series of investigations found some “neutrality-related issues” at UNRWA, but stressed Israel had not provided conclusive evidence for its headline allegation.

Nevertheless, the UN said in August that nine staff working for UNRWA would be sacked because they may have been involved in the attacks.

Adalah, an Israeli group defending the rights of the Arab minority, reported that Israeli police were raiding six UNRWA-run schools in East Jerusalem.

The organization filed a petition with Israel’s Supreme Court in mid-January, arguing the new legislation against UNRWA violated “fundamental human rights and Israel’s obligations under international law.”