"There are no limits to the imagination and aspirations of human beings," Sheikh Mohammed said while announcing the project.

At the conclusion of the World Government Summit on Tuesday, the UAE announced a 'Mars 2117' project that would help transferring humanity to the red planet and build a plan on establishing the first mini-city on Mars (click here for more pictures).



The mars mission for 2117 is a national programme for the next 100 years that aims to prepare scientific research specialized in the exploration of the red planet, fully operated by Emirati engineers and scientists.



The project will help explore life on Mars and discover ways to supply a small city on Mars with life, energy and food during its final phase. The research will also include development of faster transport and travel from Earth to Mars and back.



The project will be spearheaded with an Emirati team of scientists, and will expand over the coming period to include international scientists and researchers in combined efforts to explore potential life in Mars.



Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, made the announcement with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.



On the occasion, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, said, "Mars 2117 project aims at building a scientific and cognitive capabilities of UAE and transform our universities to research centers, while planting the passion for leadership in future generations."



"The new project is the seed we set today and we expect to see its results in the new generations that will be led by passion for science to reach a new human cognitive limits."



UAE today is among the top nine countries in the world investing in space science. Sheikh Mohammed said the goal is to accelerate human research in this area.



"There are no limits to human imagination that always looks for scientific leaps. This century will see that our human abilities can achieve the most important human dream," said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.



Mohamed bin Zayed added: "Today, and through the Mars 2117 mission, we continue journey of humans and we start a new phase that will continue for decades to come. We look forward to accelerate human research to explore Mars."