UAE’s Hope probe successfully spots Mars for the first time

NIRMAL YESODA

It was on July 19, 2020, that the United Arab Emirates launched its first Mars probe named Hope from Japan. According to the latest updates, the spacecraft is one-fifth of its way, and now, it has spotted Mars for the first time. To celebrate this milestone achievement, the space probe has also sent some photos of the Red Planet from the darkness of the space. The image sent back by Hope shows Mars as a tiny dot, a portrait very similar to the iconic ‘pale blue dot’ image taken by the Voyager 1 space probe.

“The Hope probe is officially 100 million km (60 million miles) into its journey to the Red Planet. Mars, as demonstrated in the image captured by the probe’s star tracker, is ahead of us, leaving Saturn and Jupiter behind. The Hope probe is expected to arrive at Mars in February 2021,” said His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE.

The Hope probe is considered a very challenging space mission, and during its course to the Red Planet, it should perform about six trajectory correction maneuvers. Earlier this month, the first trajectory correction maneuver was carried out successfully by the probe.

“We have accomplished our first trajectory correction maneuver, which was the first test of Mars Hope’s propulsion and trajectory control systems, as well as the first time the spacecraft’s six Delta-V thrusters have been activate,” said Omran Sharaf, project director of the Hope Mission.

If everything goes well, the Hope probe will study the climate of Mars, and the data obtained by the mission will help humans to know more about the weather pattern that prevails in the Red Planet.

In the meantime, NASA’s Perseverance probe is also en route to Mars. The ultimate aim of this mission is to detect signs of ancient alien life on the Red Planet.