SpaceX chief Elon Musk speaks at the World Government Summit in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National
SpaceX chief Elon Musk speaks at the World Government Summit in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National
SpaceX chief Elon Musk speaks at the World Government Summit in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National
SpaceX chief Elon Musk speaks at the World Government Summit in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Elon Musk congratulates UAE on Hope probe's striking observations of Mars's moon Deimos


Sarwat Nasir
  • English
  • Arabic

Billionaire Elon Musk has congratulated the UAE on the stunning observations of Mars's moon Deimos made by its Hope probe.

The National yesterday published the unprecedented images of the mysterious moon captured by the Emirati-built spacecraft.

Emirati social media influencer Hassan Sajwani tweeted The National's story and Mr Musk replied: “Congrats, UAE!!”

More than 200 Emirati engineers, scientists and researchers were involved in developing the Arab world's first interplanetary mission.

It was built in partnership with three US universities, including University of Colorado Boulder, University of California, Berkeley and Arizona State University.

The spacecraft was launched on a Japanese rocket in July, 2020, and arrived in the Red Planet's orbit on February, 2021.

Since then, it has been sending back crucial data about the planet's upper atmospheric conditions and space weather.

It tracked a massive dust storm on Mars for more than two weeks, helping to show how quickly they can spread across the planet.

It also captured rare images of the aurora in Mars’s night-side atmosphere.

The findings help scientists understand the interactions between solar radiation, Mars’s magnetic fields and the atmosphere.

Latest findings on Mars's moon Deimos helped to indicate that the celestial body may not actually be a captured asteroid as previously thought.

The spacecraft flew as close as 100km to the moon’s surface, capturing data of its composition that challenges a long-standing theory that Mars’s moons are captured asteroids — space rocks trapped in a planet’s orbit.

Findings point to a planetary origin, meaning that the rock may have come from Mars itself.

“We are unsure of the origins of both Phobos [the larger moon of Mars] and Deimos,” said Hessa Al Matroushi, the mission's science chief.

“How exactly they came to be in their current orbits is also an active area of study, and so any new information we can gain on the two moons, especially the more rarely observed Deimos, has the potential to unlock new understanding of Mars’s satellites.

“Our close observations of Deimos so far point to a planetary origin rather than reflecting the composition of a type D asteroid as has been postulated.”

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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Brief scores:

Day 2

England: 277 & 19-0

West Indies: 154

Jawab Iteiqal
Director: Mohamed Sammy
Starring: Mohamed Ramadan, Ayad Nasaar, Mohamed Adel and Sabry Fawaz
2 stars

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

WHAT IS GRAPHENE?

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

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Squid Game season two

Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk 

Stars:  Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun

Rating: 4.5/5

Updated: April 25, 2023, 7:57 AM`