By Mari Yamaguchi

The liftoff of the United Arab Emirates' Mars orbiter was postponed until Friday due to bad weather at the Japanese launch site.

The orbiter named Amal, or Hope, is the Arab world's first interplanetary mission. The launch was scheduled for Wednesday from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan, but the UAE mission team announced the rescheduled date on Twitter.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' H-IIA rocket will carry UAE's craft into space. Mitsubishi launch official Keiji Suzuki had said on Monday a postponement was possible as intermittent lightning and rain were forecast over the next few days.

Heavy rain has fallen 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.

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.

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.

Emirates Mars Mission Project Director Omran Sharaf, who joined Monday’s briefing from Dubai, said the mission will provide a complete view of the Martian atmosphere during different seasons for the first time.

Two other Mars missions are planned in the coming days by the U.S. and China. Japan has its own Martian moon mission planned in 2024.

Share:
More In Science
Our Biological Connections With Plants; Mind-Controlled Bionic Hand
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Brightseed Co-Founder breaks down what plant bioactives are, and how they're using the latest technology to study human's biological connections with plants; Esper Bionics CEO breaks down how they re creating a mind-controlled bionic hand that guest smarter the more you use it; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Capturing A Black Hole In Our Milky Way.'
NOAA Predicts Busier-Than-Usual Hurricane Season
Hurricane climatologist Jill Trepanier joined Cheddar News to discuss NOAA's announced prediction for an above-normal hurricane season and what it might mean for people in the United States. "I think it's important that people who maybe haven't been used to having extreme weather events related to say tropical cycles and tropical systems, like thinking New Jersey, Northeastern seaboard, that area may get more action than they're used to in the past," she said.
Miga Health Raises $12 Million to Combat Heart Disease
Dr. Jarrad Aguirre, Co-Founder and CEO of Miga Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says his company is looking to establish the future of heart health and points to how 80% of premature heart attacks and strokes are preventable.
Cooling the Earth; How Global Warming will Impact Real Estate
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, David Keith, Professor of Applied Physics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and founder of Carbon Engineering outlines the viability of solar geoengineering as a solution to help reverse the effects of global warming; Lena Geraghty, Sustainability & Urban Innovation Director at National League of Cities, discusses which U.S. cities are safest from global warming and how the real estate market will be impacted from the effects of climate change; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Changing Ocean Asia.'
Artificially Cooling the Planet
David Keith, Professor of Applied Physics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and founder of Carbon Engineering joins Cheddar Reveals to outline the viability of solar geoengineering as a solution to help reverse the effects of global warming.
Global Warming's Effect on the Real Estate Market
Lena Geraghty, Sustainability & Urban Innovation Director at National League of Cities, joins Cheddar News to discuss which U.S. cities are safest from global warming and how the real estate market will be impacted from the effects of climate change.
What Spending 665 Days in Space Feels Like
Peggy Whitson, Director of Human Space Flight, Axiom Space, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss Axiom's involvement in the first fully-private mission to the ISS, and her experience spending 665 days in space.
Living in Outer Space; A New-Age Twist on Millenia-Old Remedies
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates, Peggy Whitson, Director of Human Space Flight, Axiom Space, breaks down Axiom's involvement in the first fully-private mission to the ISS, and her experience spending 665 days in space; William Li and Danielle Chang, co-founders of The Hao Life, discuss how they're shaking up the $71 billion supplement industry by putting a modern spin on traditional natural Chinese remedies; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Sagrada Familia: Gaudi's Challenge.'
Load More