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The first image of Mars taken by the Al Amal, or Hope spacecraft. The photo was captured at a distance of 15,500 miles from the planet’s surface.
Emirates Mars Mission / Mohamed Bin Zayed
Mars is the place to be this month. Two spacecraft have already entered orbit around the red planet: China’s Tianwen-1 arrived there on February 10. And a day earlier, the United Arab Emirates made history by sliding the Al Amal (Hope) spacecraft into Martian orbit and become the fifth country to reach Earth’s dusty and arid neighbor.
the first arab interplanetary mission has taken a couple of images of Mars during its trip so far, but nothing like what it delivered early Sunday. From a distance of approximately 15,500 miles (25,000 kilometers), the probe’s camera, officially known as the Emirates eXploration Imager (EXI), captured a picturesque view of Mars as a yellowish semicircle against the black curtain of space.
Some of the most famous features of Mars are visible in the image. Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, looks out over the terminator, where the sunlight fades, while the three volcanoes of Tharsis Montes dazzle under a dust free Darling.
Olympus Mons is barely visible in the terminator, where night meets day. It’s circled here, in red.
Emirates Mars Mission
The image was shared in a tweet by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the factor ruler of the United Arab Emirates.
“The transmission of the first image of Mars from Hope Probe is a watershed moment in our history and marks the United Arab Emirates joining the advanced nations involved in space exploration,” he said. tweeted Sunday.
The transmission of the first image of Mars from Hope Probe is a watershed moment in our history and marks the UAE joining advanced nations involved in space exploration. We hope this mission will lead to new discoveries on Mars that benefit humanity. pic.twitter.com/TCM5yHTapH
– Mohammed bin Zayed (@MohamedBinZayed) February 14, 2021
The Al Amal mission hopes to provide the most complete picture of the Martian atmosphere yet. Its instrument suite includes the EXI camera and an ultraviolet and infrared spectrometer. Detailed observations will allow researchers to determine how particles escape from Mars’ gravity and reveal the mechanisms of global circulation in the lower atmosphere.
Previous images of the Hope probe can be found on the Emirates Mars Mission website.
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