The Emirates look to space to boost research and employment (youth)

A mission to Venus and an asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter is planned for 2028. A journey of 3.6 billion km, which will end in 2033. Goals and instruments will be detailed next year. Emir of Dubai: Any progress in space is an "opportunity for young people" on Earth. 

Dubai (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Recently inaugurated Expo2020 Dubai with an eye to the future, tolerance and sustainability, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) relaunches with a space project that aims at the planets of the solar system. Yesterday, in fact, the authorities of the Gulf country presented a space exploration plan that aims to reach Venus by the end of the decade. And even beyond, because its race should end with the landing on an asteroid that lies along a belt of celestial bodies between Mars and Jupiter. 

Technicians and experts estimate  it will take about seven years to build the spacecraft, with the launch currently planned for 2028. The vehicle will make an orbit around Venus, then Earth, using the technique of the so-called gravitational slingshot to reach by 2030 the asteroid belt. Of these he should observe and study at least seven, and then land on an asteroid 560 million kilometers from Earth in 2033.

In 2020, the Emirates had already promoted a space mission, targeting Mars. The next one, to be developed by the University of Colorado's Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics, will make a journey of 3.6 billion kilometers, seven times longer than that of the Emirates' Hope probe that reached the red planet in February 2021, the second nation in the world to successfully reach orbit on the first attempt after India.

The scientific objectives of the mission and the instruments on board will be announced in mid-2022. However, as Sarah Al Amiri, president of the Eau Space Agency, explains, the philosophy behind the project is "clear: to accelerate the development of innovation and knowledge-based businesses." And this, she continues, requires "leaps of imagination, faith and pursuit of goals that go beyond prudence and method." 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, also spoke on the project, emphasizing that "today we are investing in the generations to come." "With every new advancement we make in space," he concluded, "we are creating opportunities for young people here on Earth. 

The Emirates are already famous for their many futuristic and Guinness World Record-breaking projects: in fact, the Gulf nation is home to the world's tallest building, the deepest diving pool, the largest shopping mall and an almost endless list of record-breaking goals promoted to advance its image internationally (and maintain its dominance over Riyadh), while increasing its degree of scientific and technological innovation.