United Arab Emirates scientists cannot wait for the Hope Probe to arrive in the Red Planet as it is set to go into orbit in less than two weeks on February 9. The Hope Probe is going to make history as the country's first Mars probe.
According to a previous report from Science Times, the Hope Probe or Emirati Mars Mission has specialized cameras to study the Martian atmosphere at visible, infrared, and ultraviolet wavelengths.
It will travel through the Martian high orbit for one year to observe the planet at different times of the day and will take first-time measurements on the lower atmosphere where the Red Planet's weather is formed.
It is one of the three missions sent to Mars, taking advantage of the launch window in July 2020. The other Mars missions include NASA's Perseverance rover and China's Tianwen-1 mission.
First Mars Mission to Arrive
According to a report by CNN, UAE's Hope Probe will be the first of the three missions to arrive at Mars, and scientists from UAE are now very excited. The country's space agency has announced that it will share live coverage on its website of Hope Probe's arrival on February 9 beginning at 10:30 am ET.
Although the first of the three missions sent last July, the UAE is only the fifth country in history to reach the Red Planet, after NASA, the Soviet Union, the European Space Agency, and India. China will soon follow the UAE as its Tianwen-1 Mars mission is set to arrive after the Hope Probe.
The probe will use its three scientific instruments to create the first complete portrait of the Martian atmosphere to collect different data points on the atmosphere to gauge seasonal and daily changes that are happening on Mars.
This will give information on how energy, and oxygen, and hydrogen particles are moved through the atmosphere and escape Mars. MAVEN orbiter deputy principal investigator David Brian said that
UAE Space Agency chairperson Sarah Al Amiri said during a virtual news conference on January 28 that their team has prepared "as well as they can possibly prepare to reach orbit around Mars. We're just counting down the final few days before we arrive at the Red Planet."
UAE Space Agency's Next Space Mission
According to Space.com, the UAE announced that its next mission beyond the Earth orbit would be in 2024 as it will launch its lunar rover, named Rashid. It will focus on developing technologies and evaluating concerns before sending crewed and long-term explorations to space.
"There are many scientific objectives behind this mission that will help us to better understand the moon," Adnan AlRais of the UAE's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) said. Of course, that includes sending crewed missions to Mars and build settlements on the Red Planet.
But for the Hope Probe team, their main focus is to surpass all challenges of arriving in the Mars orbit safely. Al Amiri noted that the team understands the roller coaster emotion that accompanies the mission. In every celebration, there are always several points of worry that await for ext point of celebration, he said.
"I wish I could put it into words, but I'm probably every feeling that you can possibly think, both positive, negative, and neutral."
Check out more news and information on Mars on Science Times.
