HOPE: UAE’s Mars Mission
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has put a probe called Hope in the orbit around the MARS. By doing so, UAE has become the fifth country to launch the spacecraft into the orbit of MARS after United States, Soviet Union, Europe and India.
Highlights
- The spacecraft had left the Earth seven months ago.
- It then made a braking manoeuvre in order to be captured by Mars’ gravity on February 9, 2021.
- With the successful launch of spacecraft in orbit, UAE scientists can now study the planet’s atmosphere.
- The spacecraft carries three instruments with it to observe how neutral atoms of Oxygen and Hydrogen leak into space. The hydrogen and oxygen came into the MARS’ atmosphere are the remnants from Mars’ once abundant water.
- The Hope spacecraft will bring the spectacular, high-resolution, full-disk images of MARS.
Emirates Mars Mission
It is a UAE Space Agency space exploration mission to Mars. In the process UAE had launched the Hope orbiter 19 July 19, 2020. The orbiter reached Mars on February 9, 2021. It was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. The orbiter was launched with the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA launch vehicle which is a Japanese launcher.
Design and Development
The design, development, and operations of the MARS mission are led by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC). It was developed by MBRSC in collaboration with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulde. The mission was also developed with the help of Arizona State University (ASU). Lastly, the spacecraft was assembled at the University of Colorado.
Purpose of the Mission
The space mission will carry the study on daily and seasonal weather cycles and weather events such as dust storm in the lower atmosphere. It will study how weather varies in different regions on the MARS. The spacecraft also seeks to study why the planet is losing the hydrogen and oxygen into space.
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Month: Current Affairs - February, 2021