Rain may delay 1st UAE Mars mission on Japan rocket
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Final preparations for the launch from Japan of the United Arab Emirates’ first Mars mission were under way Monday, but there was a chance of a delay because of bad weather, a Japanese rocket provider said.
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The liftoff of the UAE’s Mars orbiter named Amal, or Hope, on a Japanese H-IIA rocket is scheduled for early Wednesday from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan, in what would be the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.
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A final decision will be made Tuesday before the roll out of the rocket, said Keiji Suzuki, launch site director for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
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A seasonal rain front was expected to cause intermittent lightning and rain over the next few days, he said.
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“But this thunder is not expected to be severe or lasting, and our assessment is that there will be a chance for a launch,” Suzuki told an online briefing Monday from Tanegashima. “We will make a careful decision based on data.”
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Heavy rain has continued for more than a week in large areas of Japan, triggering mudslides and floods and killing more than 70 people, most of them on the southern main island of Kyushu.
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Hope is set to reach Mars in February 2021, the year the UAE celebrates 50 years since its formation. A successful Hope mission would be a major step for the oil-dependent economy seeking a future in space.
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Hope carries three instruments to study the upper atmosphere and monitor climate change and is scheduled to circle the red planet for at least two years.
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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.
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Two other Mars missions are planned in coming days by the United States and China. Japan has its own Martian moon mission planned in 2024.
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