The Hope probe is 25,000 kilometres above the Red Planet’s surface…

On February 9, 2021, the UAE successfully became the fifth nation in the world to reach the Red Planet after the United States, Soviet Union, China, the European Space Agency and India.

The UAE and many other countries from all parts of the world tuned in on February 9, 2021 and watched as the Hope probe successfully completed a crucial step – reducing its speed from 121,000kmph to 18,000kmph to successfully enter Mars’ orbit.

And now, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai has just shared the first picture of Mars captured by the Hope probe.

 

 

The tweet reads, ‘The first picture of Mars captured by the first-ever Arab probe in history, 25,000 kilometres above the Red Planet’s surface.’

On February 9, when the Hope probe successfully entered Mars’ orbit, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces along with Sheikh Mohammed were at the UAE Mars Mission command centre to congratulate the team on the historic achievement.

On the momentous occasion, Sheikh Mohammed tweeted two words, ‘Mission Accomplished’

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At the UAE Mars Mission command centre, speaking to the team Mohammed bin Zayed stated, ‘We congratulate the leadership and people of the UAE for this indescribable joy of the arrival of Hope Probe to Mars. We will not forget Sheikh Zayed, and this day reminds us of him. The journey to Mars began with Sheikh Zayed and his team.’ 

He later tweeted, ‘The entry of the Hope Probe into the orbit of Mars is a significant accomplishment in our nation’s history. This achievement was made possible by the Emirati pioneers whose work will inspire future scientists and engineers for generations. We are immensely proud of them.’

What happens now?

The Hope probe will explore the climactic dynamics of the Red Planet in daily and seasonal timescales for a full Martian year which is 687 earth days.

It will gather and send back the new Mars data to the Science Data Centre in the UAE via different ground stations spread around the world which will be catalogued and analysed by the Emirates Mars Mission science team. The data will be shared for free with the international Mars science community as a service to human knowledge.

The information will add new dimensions to human knowledge about how Mars’ atmospheres work and will help scientists and researchers evaluate distant worlds for conditions that might support life. Additionally, understanding the geographical and climate changes of Mars and the other planets will help us gain deeper insights to find solutions for key challenges facing mankind on earth.

Images: Sheikh Mohammed Twitter