Free Astronomy Magazine July-August 2015

how of foreign space agencies, are already actively working on the project – a number set to double by 2020. So far, the UAE had limited themselves to send in the near space some satellites for telecommunications purpose and the ob- servation and mapping of the Earth’s sur- face, but with the Emirates Mars Mission their approach to astronautics has taken a huge leap forward, making it necessary to create a new space agency and other insti- tutions connected to it. Hope will be jointly developed by the UAE Space Agency and the Emirates Institution for Advanced Sci- ence and Technology (EIAST). The first will implement, according to a seven-year agree- ment, all phases of the project under the supervision of the second, which will also deal with the allocation of the budget made available by governmental institu- tions. Last April, the EIAST became part of a new entity directly created by the highest government representatives, the Moham- med bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), whose task is to oversee the mission to Mars, promote new astronautical projects, enhance the acquired skills and knowledge and develop new technologies. The Emirates’ rulers have personally come out in favour of the Arab mission to Mars S ummary of the scientific objec- tives and struc- tures on which Hope will focus its attention during the mission be- tween 2021 and 2023. The probe’s observations will be fundamental to the knowledge of the Martian at- mosphere. [Mo- hammed bin Ra- shid Space Centre]