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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) – The first Arab space mission, the UAE’s “Hope” probe, is expected to reach orbit around Mars on Tuesday, making it the first of three spacecraft to reach the eastern Red Planet. month.
The United Arab Emirates, China and the United States launched projects to Mars last July, taking advantage of a period when Earth and Mars are closer together.
If successful, the wealthy Gulf state will become the fifth nation to reach Mars, a venture slated to mark the 50th anniversary of the UAE’s unification, and China’s mission will become the sixth the next day. .
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Landmarks in the UAE have been lit red at night, government accounts are adorned with the hashtag #ArabstoMars, and on the big day, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world, will be at the center of a celebratory show.
“Hope”, known as “Al-Amal” in Arabic, will orbit the planet for at least one Martian year, or 687 days, while China’s Tianwen-1 and the US Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will land in Mars. ‘surface.
Only the United States, India, the former Soviet Union, and the European Space Agency have successfully reached the Red Planet in the past.
Risky maneuver
Emirati men watch the launch of the ‘Amal’ or ‘Hope’ space probe at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, July 20, 2020 (AP Photo / Jon Gambrell)
After taking off from Japan last July, the Hope mission now faces its “most critical and complex” maneuver, according to Emirati officials, with a 50% chance of successfully entering an orbit of Mars.
The spacecraft must significantly slow down to be captured by Martian gravity, spinning and firing the six Delta-V thrusters for 27 minutes to reduce its cruising speed from 121,000 kilometers (about 75,000 miles) per hour to about 18,000 km / h.
The process, which will consume half its fuel, will begin on Tuesday at 15:30 GMT and it will take 11 minutes for a signal on its progress to reach ground control.
Omran Sharaf, project director for the UAE mission, said it was a “great honor” to be the first of this year’s missions to reach Mars.
Omran Sharaf, project manager for the Emirates’ Hope to Mars space probe, speaks on his mobile phone at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on July 19, 2020 (AP Photo / Jon Gambrell).
“It is humbling to be in such an auspicious and qualified company as we all embark on our missions,” he said. “It was never a race for us. We approach the space as a collaborative and inclusive effort ”.
While the Hope probe is designed to provide a complete picture of the planet’s meteorological dynamics, it is also a step toward a much more ambitious goal: building a human settlement on Mars within 100 years.
While consolidating its status as a key regional player, the UAE also wants the project to serve as a source of inspiration for Arab youth, in a region all too often ravaged by sectarian conflicts and economic crises.
Hope will use three scientific instruments to monitor the Martian atmosphere, and is expected to begin transmitting information to Earth in September 2021, with the data available for scientists around the world to study.
Close behind
In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a Long March-5 rocket carrying the Tianwen-1 Mars probe lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s Hainan Province on July 23. 2020 (Guo Cheng / Xinhua via AP).
China’s Tianwen-1, or “Questions to Heaven,” has already submitted its first image of Mars: a black-and-white photo showing geological features such as Schiaparelli Crater and the Valles Marineris, a vast stretch of canyons in the sea. surface.
The five-ton Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a solar-powered rover that for three months will study the planet’s soil and atmosphere, take photos, map and search for signs of past life.
China hopes to land the 240-kilogram rover in May in Utopia, a massive impact basin on Mars. Your orbiter will last for one Martian year.
Tianwen-1 is not China’s first attempt to reach Mars. A previous mission with Russia in 2011 ended prematurely when the launch failed.
NASA’s Perseverance, which will land on the Red Planet on February 18, will become the fifth rover to complete the trip since 1997, and all so far have been Americans.
In this photo provided by NASA, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on July 30, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Joel Kowsky / NASA via AP)
He is on an astrobiology mission to search for signs of ancient microbial life and will attempt to fly a 1.8 kilogram helicopter-drone on another world for the first time.
Capable of autonomously navigating 200 meters (650 feet) per day, Perseverance will collect rock samples that could provide invaluable clues as to whether there was ever past life on Mars.
Roughly the size of a small SUV, it weighs a metric ton, has 19 cameras and two microphones, which scientists hope will be the first to record sound on Mars.
The mission is scheduled to last at least two years.
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