Millions of people will forever remember February 9, 2021 – a momentous day that they will celebrate as a new beginning. It marks, after all, the completion of a historic journey and the start of a new one, in more ways than one.
The star attraction of this epic adventure is Hope, the ever-so aptly named probe of the Emirates’ Mission to Mars. Launched in July 2020, it completed its 500 million-kilometre odyssey to the Red Planet seven months later, in February. This alone has been a truly remarkable achievement for the UAE and the team at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC). The mission holds much promise for the local, regional, and international scientific communities. But Hope means even more than this.
Get on board
As well as boosting the UAE’s space, education, science, and technology sectors, the event is also timed to coincide with the country’s golden jubilee. This scientific feat, unique for such a young country, is tangible proof that our “Impossible Is Possible” nation brand promise is meaningful and real. The mission, lasting a full Martian year, will see the Emirates making a significant contribution to the global scientific community and to humanity, increasing the collective knowledge about the atmospheric trends on Mars. Right from the start, we wanted to involve the public, emotionally, and engage them with the amazing endeavour. This started with the history-making #FirstArabicCountdown.
Making it to Mars was in itself a massive achievement but the last step was the most challenging one. The Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) was a complex 27-minute manoeuvre during which the Hope probe would rapidly decelerate to enter a stable orbit with Mars. The stresses on the spacecraft of all engines firing at once are far beyond those at launch and it was completed with a 22-minute two-way radio delay from Earth. This required the spacecraft to be highly autonomous, as it was beyond the control of the command centre. The delicate operation, in which numerous missions in the past have failed, has a 50% success rate.
By putting the MOI into its dramatic context, we injected anticipation, apprehension even, in the mission. Instead of being merely news, Hope’s journey became exciting. In just a few weeks, we built a communications program to get the public on board, eager to follow the progress of the probe. It may have been unfolding millions of kilometres away, but we wanted the public to embrace the endeavour and share in the pride of having Arabs to Mars.
An emotional build-up
Our goal was to connect people across the country and beyond to the mission; so, we used different touchpoints and activations to engage with different target audiences, including travellers to the UAE. We started with a video to focus on hope and what it’s allowed the UAE to achieve, nine days before the arrival to Mars. The clip put the mission into a nation-building context of ground-breaking developments, all rooted in ambition and innovation.
