. >> ayesha sharafi is monitoring the progress of the hope spacecraft. it is zipping along at more than a hundred thousand kilometers an hour on course for mars. it is set to go into orbit around the planet in february. ayesha sharafi is a chemist and propulsion engineer and also does shifts as risk manager in the control room. the responsibility is huge. but she and the rest of the team are well prepared for unexpected events. >> "losing contact, maybe." >> reporter: >> "what would happen then?" >> we always have contingency plans in place for off nominal situations like maybe losing contact. >> the emirate mars mission is the first interplanetary mission by an arab country. the hope spacecraft was launched from the tanegashima space center in japan on the 20th of july. it was a big moment for the team at mission control in dubai. the aim of the mission is to gain a complete picture of mars's atmosphere, clouds, gases and dust storms and thus new insight into the planet's climate dynamics. the mission also has strategic goals, polishing the image of the