ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates Mars Mission, “Hope Probe” launched in July, has completed its first successful route guidance operation, the official WAM news agency reported on Monday.

“The maneuver marks the first firing of the Mars Hope probe’s six Delta-V thrusters, which were deployed for the first time in the vital course correction that will now see the probe directly targeting its Mars capture orbit,” WAM reported.

“The results of the ‘Hope Probe’ have exceeded our expectation and it is now on its course in the required direction to orbit Mars,” Omran Sharaf, director of the Emirates Mars Exploration Project, was quoted by WAM as saying.

The Mars “Hope Probe,” the first outer space mission launched by an Arab nation, was successfully launched on July 20 from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.

The mission “is focused on atmospheric dynamics. It will explore the atmosphere of Mars globally while sampling both diurnal (daily) and seasonal timescales,” according to WAM. — Agencies