Today's Edition
The UAE Mars Exploration Project, the “Hope Probe”, unveiled the ninth batch of scientific data it gathered on the Martian atmosphere, after exploring the planet’s surface to its outer edges on a daily basis.
The project’s intricate data was gathered due to the efficiency of three scientific instruments: the Exploration Digital Camera (EXI), the Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS), and the Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS). After completing its basic mission of collecting atmospheric data for a full Martian year - equivalent to two years on planet Earth - the project announced that the mission would be extended for an additional earth year in order to gather further information on annual changes in the Martian atmosphere.
The mission is continuing to exceed expectations, as in the case of its discovery of new types of Martian auroras. The mission also successfully captured high-quality images of the smaller of the two Martian moons, “Deimos”. Scientific ObjectivesThe three scientific objectives of the mission cover increasing humanity’s understanding of the lower Martian atmosphere, the loss of the upper atmosphere, and the link between the two. These goals will help reveal the secrets of the atmosphere of Mars, and how it loses its envelope to space.
The Hope Probe’s unique orbit allows the international scientific community to observe changes in the atmosphere of Mars on a daily and seasonal basis. The recently-released ninth batch of data, collected from March 1 to May 31 this year includes a set of high-resolution cloud images captured by the Exploration Digital Camera on April 11 and 25 and May 6, 13, 18, and 22.
These monitoring operations allow the scientific community to study changes and movements in cloud formations in the Martian atmosphere over short periods of time. As the sun approaches the peak of its 11-year activity cycle, Martian auroras have become more prominent in the observations of the Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) during the night, with a particularly stunning display of the discrete aurora above the strongest crustal magnetic fields in the southern hemisphere on April 27-28. The ninth batch of data amounted to 3.3 terabytes about the Martian atmosphere, shared via the mission’s scientific data centre.
The UAE Mars Exploration Project was awarded the 2023 Laurels for Team Achievement Award by the International Academy of Astronautics during the 74th session of the International Astronautical Congress held in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, in recognition of the mission’s efforts and contributions to enriching the international scientific community with a large quantity of high-quality data about the Martian atmosphere.
Mission data was gathered using three key instruments: the Exploration Digital Camera, the Infrared Spectrometer, and the Ultraviolet Spectrometer The mission successfully captured high-quality images of the smaller of the two Martian moons, ‘Deimos’
