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The planet Mars arouses the envy of all. Its conquest is a real challenge and few are able to meet it. Among the countries taking part in this extraordinary adventure, the United Arab Emirates, which launched the Al Amal probe, to study the red planet from all angles.
The interplanetary mission will take place over a period of approximately two years, after a long crossing of 493,000,000 kilometers between the red planet and Earth. The trip between the two planets should take place over a period of about 7 months, the arrival of the Al Amal probe is thus scheduled for next February.
The Emirati probe designed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, in partnership with several foreign institutes, was successfully launched from the Tanegashima Space Center.
It will be the first probe to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere and its layers when it reaches the orbit of the red planet in 2021. It will help answer essential questions about the Martian atmosphere, including the phenomenon of loss of hydrogen and oxygen in space, over a period of one Martian year.
The questions to which this mission will have to answer are numerous and eagerly awaited by the scientific community. The scientists will aim to study the dynamics of the Martian climate and to establish a meteorological map. In addition, the mission will attempt to explain the phenomena by which the Matian atmosphere loses hydrogen and oxygen over time.
Omran Sharaf, project manager for the United Arab Emirates Mars mission at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC), does not hide his joy at such a feat: “It was a defining moment in our six-year journey to build and launch the Hope probe. The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center team are thrilled and rejoiced, of course, but a lot of work remains to be done. We are in the launch and preliminary operations phase of the mission and begin our seven month cruise to Mars. The Hope probe has performed perfectly so far and we are in a very good position ”.
We wish every success to this mission which opens a new chapter in scientific research in the MENA region.
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