UAE will send a spacecraft to investigate an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter.

• The United Arab Emirates has revealed plans to send a probe to an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter to collect data about the universe's origins, the latest effort in the oil-rich country's ambitious space programme.
• The project aims for a launch in 2028 and a landing in 2033, a five-year mission that will see the spacecraft traverse 3.6 billion kilometres (2.2 billion miles).
• In 2024, the UAE wants to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon.

Important Facts 

About UAE

• In December 1971, the UAE became a federation of six emirates - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, and Fujairah, while the seventh emirate, Ras Al Khaimah, joined the federation in 1972.
• Capital: Abu Dhabi
• Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
• President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan