February 9, 2021, will be embarked as the most prominent chapter in UAE history for the immense valor displayed in the space mission to have their feet on planet Mars. Mission HOPE was the name given to this mars mission which was launched from Japan making UAE the fifth nation to break out into space and reach mars after the likes of the USA, Russia, China, India. This mission was introduced to the world in 2014 and was developed by Mohammed Bin Rashid space center with the help of California university and Arizona university from the united states. Being the first interplanetary space mission from UAE is what makes this mission so special for this country.

While UAE was celebrating this achievement, one day later China as well had something to celebrate as one such mars mission named Tianwen-1 launched by china has proved to be hopeful as the probe has reached planet mars which are estimated to be weighing around 240 kgs. Both these missions were launched in July 2020 to have a sense of alignment with each other to achieve more effective results. With this mission, China has become the first nation to land an orbiter as well as a rover on Mars. Previously china attempted to land an orbit into mars was back in 2011 which was meant for studying the environmental conditions of the red planet.

Similarities in both missions

These both missions hold some similarities in terms of the probe as both the missions involve landing of rover into the mars to get a better understanding of the planet in the most effective way possible. The Chinese probe consists of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover for carrying scientific instruments as per research. Similarly, the probe launched by UAE consists of a rover for carrying a high-resolution camera and spectrometer for research purposes.

While the HOPE spacecraft is going closer and closer to mars orbit after each week and is supposed to reach approximately 22,000 to 44,000 km within the reach of mars planet. Whereas China is adopting the methods followed by the US in the landing of Vikings spacecraft where they initially sent an orbit to the mars and then later a robot was injected into space which is very well followed by China.

The trajectory of the progress of both missions

The heroics of China in the space research field cannot be left unnoticed due to their frequent efforts and quest for the search of truth and unveiling the secrets held by the enormous space within itself. China has a rich history of launching intraplanetary missions as well as interplanetary missions. The initial effort of china to land an orbit on to the mars back in 2011 had failed due to some technical malfunctions which had made china lag behind many nations in space research missions but this was only until 2013 when president Xi jin pin took over and invested billions into space research purposes and thus bringing back china on the map of space programs.

Similarly, UAE has shocked the world with their recent advancements in space research purposes, and reaching mars was not less than any miracle for them which was clearly evident from the scenes captured in Dubai after the successful launch of the probe into mars, the entire UAE was filled with joy. Previous all missions which were launched by UAE were all earth observatory missions and therefore didn’t required much investment as it was involved in this mission. This was only possible due to the encouragement and the support provided by Prince Mohmad bin Zayed.

Mission accomplished or not?

To conclude we can very well say that both these missions will work very efficiently to obtain some positive outcome to simplify the complications in the search of life on the planet mars and analyzing the environmental conditions to set up another planet full of life just like our earth. The combined efforts of all these nations are proving very resourceful to create an ecosystem for life on another planet like mars which was not even considered to be suitable for research purposes a few years back. We can stay more than hopeful about this mission to come with any outcome which will benefit human life in the near future. 

Sources :

1. www.bbc.com
2. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56013041