EARTH to MARS via HOPE
HOPE, the latest one among few others preparing to travel to Mars in 2020 on a 7 month long journey, is a probe from the UAE Space Agency on a mission to study the Martian Atmosphere in detail for a period of 1 Martian year, nearly 2 Earth years (1.88 earth years to be exact).
If successful, UAE would become the first nation in West Asia and also the whole of the Arab World to insert a probe in Martian orbit in its maiden attempt. It would also become the 5th country in the world to join the Mars after Soviet Union(Now Russia), USA, European Union and India.
The probe has been in the works since 2014 when the President of United Arab Emirates - Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced the plan for Mars Exploration to the world. The 'Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre' is the organization over-seeing the 'Emirates Mars Mission' of which the probe is a part of.
The mission is carried out by scientists from UAE and also in collaboration with various foreign Institutions across the globe. The probe is poised to reach during February 2021 which coincides with the country's 50th National Day. It is the time during which UAE got independence from the British.
A total of three scientific instruments sits in the probe. The instruments will be deployed post insertion into the Martian orbit and are to perform mission specific analysis of the Martian Atmosphere.
Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer(EMIRS): Study lower atmosphere in IR band, measure distribution of particles in the atmosphere - dust, water vapours, ice-clouds
Emirates Exploration Imager(EXI): Study lower atmosphere in Visible and UV band, High-Res Imaging, measuring Ozone
Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS): Detect UV wavelength, determine abundancy and variability of CO and O2 in Exosphere
The journey of HOPE to Mars starts from Tanegashima island in Japan, where the probe is set to be launched aboard Mitsubishi H-IIA rocket. The latest update on the time of launch is set at 20th July 2020 01:58:14 AM UAE Time. The 2020 launch window is from mid-July till mid-August, during which Earth and Mars come in close proximity to each other.
Launching to Mars? Here are few things to know...
Well, simply mounting a probe on top of a rocket and firing the engines pointing to mars wouldn't really help you in reaching your destination. For starters - Rocket fuel isn't cheap, they cost a ton of money. Hence, launching whenever we wish isn't feasible at all. This is where the 'Launch Window' comes into picture. There is a typical launch window period of 30 days every 26 months to travel to Mars. This is the time when the two planets Earth and Mars come close to each other.
When launched during this time window, the spacecraft would be able to reach Mars and would be in a position to get captured by the Martian gravity and then into the Martian orbit.
See below to understand why the launch window is important.
If a spacecraft is launched too early or too late, it will arrive in the planet’s orbit when the planet is not there. So, if in-case the launch window is missed, you have to wait for another 26 months to launch your spacecraft in the next window.
The other launches to Mars during the July-2020 window, apart from the HOPE probe are NASA is sending a rover 'Perseverance' and a helicopter 'Ingenuity' - the mission being - search for signs of past life analyzing the surface of Mars. Launch date of NASA's Mars Mission is set at 30th July 2020. The other is from CNSA (China) - which is sending a host of things to Mars - an orbiter, a lander, and a rover. Expected launch date of CNSA's is between 20-25th July 2020.
HOPE the HOPE brings HOPE to MANKIND
Comments