Update: Mars Hope Probe completes first major milestone

This is a proud moment for the UAE…

Curious for an update regarding the Mars Hope Probe? We have just received news that it has completed its first major milestone and is well on its way to Mars.

Announced by The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), the Hope Probe managed to successfully correct its first trajectory manoeuvre, a move it will have to do at least seven more times on its 493 million kilometer journey to the red planet.

Known as TCM1, the manoeuvre basically involves the firing of the probe’s six Delta-V thrusters, which will correct the course of the Hope Probe putting it on the path to Mar’s orbit.

You may ask, ‘Why was it on the wrong path to begin with?’

Well, according to the team at EMM, all missions are planned this way, in order to meet planetary protection protocol.

The path to Mars is not simple as you can imagine and several disturbances can slowly throw the orbiter completely off track. To help put it back on track, several corrections will be done during the mission.

The Hope Probe is expected to reach Mars orbit early in February 2021 where it will loop the planet for one Martian year, which lasts 687 days.

The unmanned probe will join two probes already in place. The other probes come from NASA who is studying the upper atmosphere of Mars, and the other from India who is analysing the lower atmosphere. The UAE probe will study how the upper and lower layers interact with one another and will aim to build the first full picture of Mars’ climate throughout the Martian year.

According to EMM, understanding the atmosphere of other planets will allow us to to better understand our own planet (since there is another sample to compare with) and better understand other planets in the universe.

Images: provided