The Hope Mars Mission is now UAE astronaut Hazza Al Mansoori’s main priority. The mission is to reach the Red Planet on the country’s 50th anniversary, making it the ninth country to touch down on Mars.

Set to launch in 2020, the Hope probe will be the first mission to Mars by any West Asian, Arab or Muslim majority country.

Two months after becoming the first UAE astronaut to travel to space, Al Mansoori is also focusing on the UAE’s ambitious space project to put man on Mars by 2117.

“One of the really most challenging things is food security, energy, how we can survive there with the high radiation affecting our bodies. So, all of these challenges that we encounter we have to study them now from here and to build up also a culture of science. Just to mention we will build up like a simulation of habitat here in the UAE. We simulate the living on Mars. And with that, we will build up like different buildings, museum and also scientists will be hosted also in this habitat simulation or to study more Mars environment,” said Al Mansouri in an interview to Euronews on 18th December.

“And definitely just to highlight that the challenges that we’ll have onboard the station or also on future on Mars or on moon, that they will also affect us here on ground from food security, energy or how to provide water also,” he added.

Commenting on introducing UAE food to the International Space Station and the reaction he received, Al Mansoori said, “I offered them UAE food on board the station. It was amazing for them and interesting because our food, as you know, it has its unique flavour and also spices . So they liked it, actually. And we did a lot of pictures and they liked it. And they said that we want to order this more in future. So I hope it will be the permanent.”

After a yearlong training regime in Russia and the 25th September voyage to the International Space Station which has made Hazza Al Mansoori a well-known name around the world, the UAE’s first astronaut is spearheading the UAE’s future space missions and engaging the UAE youth about the space culture.