 TOKYO AP - A United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a seven-month journey to Mars, kicking off the Arab worlds first interplanetary mission. The liftoff of the Mars orbiter named Amal, or Hope, from Japan marked the start of a rush to fly to Earths neighbor that includes attempts by China and the United States. The UAE said its Amal was functioning after launch as it heads toward Mars. Omran Sharaf, the project director of Emirates Mars Mission, told journalists in Dubai about an hour and a half after the liftoff that the probe was sending signals. Sharaf said his team now would examine the data, but everything appeared good for now. People cheered and clapped, with one woman with offering a celebratory cry common for weddings. Hope is set to reach Mars in February 2021, the year the UAE celebrates 50 years since the countrys formation. It blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center on a small southern Japanese island aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket, on time at 6:58 a.m. 2158 GMT Sunday into the blue sky. Mitsubishi said the probe has been successfully separated from the rocket and is now on its solo journey. The launch had been delayed for five days because of stormy weather. At Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, Emirati men in their traditional white kandora robes and women in their black abayas watched transfixed as the rocket lifted off. As its stages separated, a cheer went out from a group of Emirati men seated on the floor. They began clapping, one using his face mask due to the coronavirus pandemic to wipe away a tear. It was great to see everything going according to schedule today. It looks like things are all on track. Its a huge step in terms of space exploration to have a nation like the... 