Smooth launch on remote Japan island after two delays
UAE’s bold journey comes 51 years after Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Moon
After being postponed twice due to inclement weather in the past week, the launch protocol for Hope Probe proceeded smoothly yesterday under a starry sky on a rocky outcrop on the remote Japanese island of Tanegashima, where the HIIA rocket carrying the probe was transferred to Launch Pad 1 in the morning.
The UAE’s bold journey to space comes 51 years to the day that US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to land on the moon and proclaimed: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The UAE’s mission envisages a similar leap for humanity: Building a human settlement on Mars within the next 100 years.
A flurry of last-minute tests and activation of a variety of rocket systems ensued, including radio frequency checks between the rocket communications system and tracking radars at Tanegashima, and steering check of the rocket’s main engine.
“It’s the night before a new dawn. The Hope Probe is all set to start its journey, while its destination, Mars, stares back at us in a clear night sky. This is history in the making,” the Hope Mars Mission tweeted midway through the checks.
Ready to receive signal
Omran Sharaf, project manager of Emirates Mars Mission Hope Probe, said during a media briefing at Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) shortly before the scheduled lift-off that an eight-member Emirati team at the launch site at Tanegashima Space Centre continuously checked the health of the spacecraft prior to launch. The team at the MBRSC was ready to receive the first signal from Hope Probe, he said.
Following the checks, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) — provider of the H-IIA rocket — confirmed that all programs for guidance and control mounted on the H-IIA had been checked and all devices for flight attitude control were working as expected.
Engineers at the Launch Control Centre then loaded 300 tonnes of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants into the rocket’s first and second stages — fuelling it up for the terminal countdown.