UAE makes history, becomes fifth nation in the world to orbit Mars

The UAE made history on February 9, as the first Arab nation, and the fifth in the world, to reach Mars after the Hope Probe successfully entered the Red Planet’s orbit at 7:42 PM.

The probe overcame the most critical part of its mission, the Mars Orbital Insertion, MOI, that involved reversing and firing its six Delta V thrusters to rapidly reduce its speed from 121,000 km per hour to 18,000 km per hour. During the 27-minute critical phase, the contact kept with the probe was kept to a minimum.

Hope probe’s arrival to Mars, after travelling 493 million kilometres in a seven-month journey in space, marks the UAE’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Now that it has entered the Martian orbit, the Probe will transition to the Science phase, transmitting its first image of Mars back to Earth within just one week.

Hailing the success of the mission, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai said, “The Hope probe’s historic arrival to Mars is the greatest celebration of the 50th anniversary of our country. It sets the beginning of the next 50 years with boundless ambitions and dreams. Our next accomplishments will be even bigger and greater.”

He added, “We dedicate our Mars achievement to the people of the UAE and the rest of the Arab world. Our success proves that Arabs are capable of reviving the region’s legacy and status in the scientific sphere. We mark our country’s 50th anniversary by our Mars stop, and invite Arab youth to join the UAE’s science movement that marched at high speed.”

Millions of viewers

Beamed live around the world by international television stations, the Probe successfully entered the orbit of the second-smallest planet in the Solar System on February 9 at 7:42 PM, UAE time.

The moment was marked by a dazzling laser show on the facade of the Burj Khalifa reviewing the journey of the Hope Probe, the stages of the project, and the efforts of the Emirati scientists who participated in the realisation of the country’s space dream.

As hundreds of spectators watched the stunning display, the world’s media were joined by high-level government officials and the Emirati Hope Probe team for a special briefing on the mission’s progress.

The core mission will involve capturing more than 1,000 GB of new data over one Martian year, 687 Earth days, which will be shared with 200 scientific and educational institutions around the world. The mission can be extended for another two years, to provide the first-ever complete picture of the Martian atmosphere.

Through closely studying the connection between current Martian weather and the climate of the Red Planet, scientists will gain deeper insights into the past and future of the Earth as well as the potential for human life on Mars and other planetary objects.

The defining moments

The most critical phase of the Hope Probe’s entry to the Red Planet’s orbit, the MOI, commenced at 7:30 PM, UAE timing.

Previously programmed by the team before the launch, the probe automatically fired its six Delta V thrusters to rapidly reduce its speed from 121,000 km per hour to 18,000 km per hour. The deceleration burn took 27 minutes until 7:57 PM as the probe safely entered the capture orbit.

At 8:08 PM, the ground control station at Al Khawaneej received the first transmission from the Hope probe, signalling the success of the mission. The probe’s entry to Mars’ orbit marks the end of four of the six stages of its space journey that started in July 20, 2020, launch, early operations, cruise and the Mars Orbit Insertion. The probe is currently entering the transition to science phase, before it commences the science phase to study the Martian atmosphere.

First day in Mars

On its first day in Mars, the team restored communication with the probe to ensure its systems remained intact after the dangerous phase it had just passed. For the next 3-4 weeks, daily contact will be scheduled between the probe and the team back on Earth, enabling a quick turn-around of command sequence uploads and telemetry receipt. The probe will capture its first picture of Mars in the first week of its arrival.

Transition to Science phase

After a period of testing and validation, a series of maneuvers are performed to get the Hope Probe in the correct position to move into the Science Orbit.

The next stage in the Hope Probe’s journey is the transition from the Capture Orbit to an acceptable Science Orbit in preparation for its primary science operations. The rebooting of the probe’s systems can last for 45 days, while the radio signals will take from 11-22 minutes to travel from Hope to earth and back.

The Science phase

The probe will officially enter the Science phase to complete the first-ever planet-wide, 24×7 picture of Mars’ atmospheric dynamics and weather daily, throughout all seasons for one full Martian year until April 2023. The probe, however, can be used for another two years for additional data collection.

The three science instruments installed on the probe will enable the collection of 1,000GB comprehensive new Martian data, which will be shared for free with over 200 research centers.  The insights and data we gain from understanding the Martian climate will add new dimensions to human knowledge about how atmospheres work, which will help scientists and researchers evaluate distant worlds for conditions that might support life.

A global picture

Once it reaches Mars’ orbit, the Hope probe will provide the first-ever complete picture of the Martian atmosphere, monitoring weather changes throughout the day during all seasons, which has not been done by any previous mission.

The mission will provide deeper insights on the climatic dynamics of the Red Planet through observing the weather phenomena in Mars such as the massive famous dust storms that have been known to engulf the Red Planet, as compared to the short and localised dust storms on earth. It will focus on better understanding the link between weather changes in Mars’ lower atmosphere, with the loss of hydrogen and oxygen from the upper layers of the atmosphere.

The probe, for the first time, will study the link between weather change and atmospheric loss, a process that may have caused the Red Planet’s surface corrosion and the loss of its upper atmosphere.

 

Exploring connections between today’s Martian weather and the ancient climate of the Red Planet will give deeper insights into the past and future of Earth and the potential of life on Mars and other distant planets.