A spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates has swung into orbit around Mars in a triumph for the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.
Mission controllers at the UAE’s space center in Dubai announced Tuesday that the craft reached the end of its nearly seven-month, 300-million-mile journey and began circling the red planet. It is called Amal, which is Arabic for Hope. And it will gather data on Mars’ thin atmosphere.
It took several nail-biting minutes or so for the signal confirming success to reach Earth. Tensions were high: Over the years, Mars has been the graveyard for a multitude of missions from various countries.
Two more unmanned spacecraft from the US and China are set to arrive at Mars over the next several days. All three missions were launched in July to take advantage of the close alignment of Earth and Mars.