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.
Jeff Bezos blasted into space Tuesday on his rocket company’s first flight with people on board, becoming the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft.
A Dutch 18-year-old is about to become the youngest person in space. Blue Origin announced that instead of a $28 million auction winner launching with founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday, runner-up Oliver Daemen will be on board.
Amazon founder and soon-to-be-space traveler Jeff Bezos is donating $200 million to the Smithsonian Institution to boost its National Air and Space Museum.
Johnson & Johnson says it is recalling five of its sunscreen products after some samples were found to contained low levels of benzene, a chemical that can cause cancer with repeated exposure.
Officials in Minnesota say they’re finding more giant goldfish in waterways, prompting a plea to citizens to stop illegally dumping their unwanted fish into ponds and lakes.
Hawaii officials will hold a lottery to distribute invasive goats that are overrunning an important historical and cultural site.
Firefighters are working in extreme temperatures across the U.S. West and struggling to contain wildfires as another heat wave baked the region, straining power grids.
Indian officials say lightning has killed at least 38 people across two states over the past 24 hours.
More manatees have died already this year than in any other year in Florida’s recorded history, primarily from starvation due to the loss of seagrass beds.
"Uranium bulls," a small but devoted group of investors, see an opportunity in the metal commodity that makes nuclear power possible.
