5 Tracks Inspired by the Red Planet as Mars Mission Enters Critical Stage

The UAE has a hot date with the Red Planet today as its Mars Mission enters its most critical stage. Seven months after its launch, the Emirati-built Hope Probe will either slip into Mars’ orbit this evening – or crash and burn.

If the Hope Probe’s mission is successful, the UAE will become only the fifth nation in history to make it to the Red Planet. The pride of the country’s fledgling space sector, Hope will become the first probe to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere. The unmanned spacecraft will explore the Martian atmosphere for a full Martian year – around 687 days on Earth.

Yas Island lit in red for Emirates Mars Mission — Yas Island, Abu Dhabi

Imagination

The 493 million kilometres inter-planetary journey has captured the imagination of the whole country. Landmarks across the UAE, including The Dome at Dubai Expo, and Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, have been lit up in red recently in support of the mission. Will Hope make history? Find out by tracking the probe from 7pm tonight – Tuesday 9^th February – via Emirates Mars Mission or Hope Mars Mission.

Inspiration

Musicians and artists often look to the stars and beyond for inspiration. Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds and the 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack by Richard Strauss are musical masterpieces. Ambient albums often lean towards cosmic sounds. And British group Public Service Broadcasting used the space race between the US and the Soviet Union as the foundation for their critically-acclaimed album The Race for Space.

Released in 2015, The Race for Space marries electronic beats and guitars with spoken word samples from mission control rooms, historic speeches and space noise. A modern classic, NPR described it as “Kraftwerk-meets-Aphex Twin-meets-Daft Punk”. Check out The Other Side from the album below.

Red Planet

As the Hope Probe homes in on Mars, we’ve selected five tracks inspired by or somehow connected to the Red Planet. For space cadets of all persuasions…