UAE visitors to get Martian Ink stamp on passports in honour of Hope Probe

Visitors arriving at UAE airports will receive a Martian Ink stamp on their passports, in commemoration to the Hope Probe’s historic arrival to Mars on February 9.

The stamp which is produced by the UAE Government Media Office in collaboration with Dubai Airports is offering a memorable reminder of a new era for Arabs in time and space with a special message reading, You’ve arrived in the Emirates. The Emirates is arriving at Mars on 09.02.2021.

The special passport stamp marks the spacecraft’s arrival to Mars, after it successfully overcomes the most critical phase of its mission to enter the Red Planet’s orbit. The probe will provide the first complete picture of the Martian atmosphere. The limited-edition design is made from the world’s first Martian Ink, extracted from volcanic basalt rocks that give Mars its distinct rusty colour.

The rocks were collected during a special mission to the UAE’s eastern Al Hajar Mountains and Sharjah’s Mleiha Desert by experts and gemologists. They were then crushed into a fine paste, dried in the sun, and mixed with adhesives to create three separate colours that represent the Red Planet, ready for stamping into the passports of thousands of visitors. Basalt rocks, which can only be found in certain parts of the world, date back tens of millions of years and give the UAE’s mountain ranges their distinct rugged look.

The mission is expected to collect more than 1,000 GB of new data, which will be shared with over 200 academic and scientific institutions around the world. The Hope Probe’s historic journey to the Red Planet coincides with a year of celebrations to mark the UAE’s Golden Jubilee.

Khaled Al Shehhi, Executive Director of Production and Digital Communication Sector, UAE Government Media Office said, “To commemorate this historic occasion and celebrate the mission’s incredible victory with the rest of the world, we have created a special stamp printed with Martian Ink made of basalt rocks found in the deserts of the UAE. This will be embossed on the passports of all the visitors to the UAE arriving at this time for a limited period.”