At no bigger than a people carrier, Dubai’s latest attempt to capture the world’s attention lacks the stature of the tallest building or the artificial islands shaped like countries.

However, when a spaceship named Hope arrives in the city today on the first leg of a mission to Mars, it will raise the same questions as those previous mega-projects. Is the United Arab Emirates merely suitably ambitious, befitting its status as one of the world’s richest countries? Is it touched by megalomania? Or is it, as some people think, slightly crazy?

The spacecraft, which will orbit Mars to study the planet’s weather, is due at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre for final testing before its planned launch from Japan later in the year, an