This June 1, 2020, rendering provided by Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre shows the Hope probe. The U.S., China and the United Arab Emirates are sending spacecraft to Mars in quick succession beginning this week. (MBRSC via AP)
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.
A Minnesota utility began shutting down a nuclear power plant near Minneapolis on Friday after discovering water containing a low level of radioactive material was leaking from a pipe for the second time. While the utility and health officials say it is not dangerous, the issue has prompted concerns among nearby residents and raised questions about aging pipelines.
Riggs Eckelberry, CEO of OriginClear, which manufactures modular clean water systems, provided background on the water safety crisis in the U.S. He also provided best practices on how to test and filter water at home.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning of a rare and mysterious deadly fungal infection that is spreading at an alarming rate around the country.
