HOPE: Mars Mission! A big leap toward space exploration

United Arab Emirate launched its first interplanetary mission on 19 July 2020. The mission dubbed as Emirate Mars Mission or EMM launched HOPE probe to explore Mars. It is an orbiter mission which aims to study Martian atmosphere’s dynamics. It was developed by UAE in collaboration with the University of Colorado Boulder, Arizona State University, and the University of California, Berkeley. HOPE was launched from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center using H2A202 rocket. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries developed the Launch vehicle.

The probe was aimed to launch on 14 July but delayed multiple time due to bad weather conditions. The lifetime of the probe is one Martian year or two Earth year. HOPE mission cost around $200 million. The probe will travel a journey of 7 months in deep space and reach the red planet in February 2021, the 50th anniversary of UAE.
For UAE it is not only the Mars mission. It marks the beginning of ambitious space programs of the UAE. This mission aimed to showcase the science capabilities of UAE, to encourage young citizens of Arab, hence name HOPE justified. UAE also wants to diversify its industry and wants to reduce over economy dependence on the oil industry.

Specifications of Probe:

• Weight: 1350 kg (including fuel)
• Dimensions: 3m x 7.9m (with open solar panel)
• Power: 600-watt solar panel

Objectives of Mission:

• It will provide the first complete picture of the Martian atmosphere.
• Study the dynamics of Martian climate and mapping the global weather map.
• Effect of weather changes on hydrogen and oxygen concentration.
• Answer why Mars is losing its atmosphere.

Scientific Instruments:

To perform the above objectives HOPE carries three science instruments. These instrument cover IR, Visible and Ultra Violet range of the electromagnetic spectrum.

• Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS): It is an interferometric thermal IR spectrometer which will study the source and sink of energy, thus will create a heat map and help in the understanding lower atmosphere.
• Emirates Exploration Imager (EXI): Designed to study the lower atmosphere in the visible region and capture high-resolution images. It will also study the optical depth of ice and water. In addition, it will measure the concentration of ozone.
• Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS): It will provide the abundance and variability of carbon monoxide and oxygen in thermosphere and exosphere.

Why Mars is so interesting?

Mars soil contains water, day to night ratio on Mars is equivalent to earth, gravity is adaptable and it receives enough sunlight to stay alive. So, it is a pretty interesting target for humans to a setup space colony. Also, previous studies show that Mars once was a habitable planet. But over the course of time Mars lost its atmosphere and turned to a dusty red planet. The study of the cause of climate change on the red planet will also help human to avert potential disaster on Earth.

This summer is quite a delight, especially for space enthusiastic people. UAE had already launched its Mars mission on 19 July. China is next in line to launch Tianwen-1, which is scheduled to launch on 23 July 2020. China’s Mars mission include orbiter, lander and rover. After China, NASA is aiming to launch its Mars mission on 30 July. It also contains orbiter, lander and rover. In addition, the rover will carry a tiny helicopter, which will make a test flight in Mars’ thin atmosphere.

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