United Arab Emirates’ first mission to Mars entered the orbit of the red planet on February 9, seven months after the Emirati-built ‘Hope Probe’ was launched from Tanegashima in Japan. With this, the UAE has become the fifth country after the US, Russia, China, the EU, and India, to reach the Martian orbit. Relieved ground controllers at the UAE’s space station in Dubai broke into applause after the unmanned spacecraft called ‘Al-Amal’ (Arabic word for hope) executed a ‘burn’ on its braking engines to reduce speed & successfully slipped into Mars’ gravity. The historic event was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the unification of the UAE’s seven emirates. Hope is the UAE’s fourth space mission and first interplanetary one. Watch the video to know more.