The former chief scientist of the US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Metavisionaries Company, Dr. Jim Green, stressed the importance of the scientific achievements achieved by the Emirates mission to explore the surface of Mars, through the launch of the Emirati “Hope Probe”, which lasted in Mars orbit for more than one Martian year. Kamel, describing the Emirati mission as a “very special mission,” because it is in fact the first of its kind to orbit around the Martian atmosphere.
In a video broadcast by the Emirates Space Agency on its official page on the “X” platform, Green highlighted the most prominent scientific outcomes of the Emirates Mars Exploration Project mission, as it is the first mission to revolve around the atmosphere of Mars. He pointed out that the “Hope Probe” when it entered its orbit… Around the planet Mars and remaining for three years, it provided the opportunity for scientists to study the entire surface of the planet Mars, observe all the seasons of the year on it, and watch the daily changes that occur on it, stressing that the “Hope Probe” succeeded in discovering new and unexpected phenomena, such as the aurora that was not expected. One has seen it before on the red planet.
The Emirates Space Agency confirmed that the Emirates Mars Mission project, “Hope Probe,” was able to record a series of new and unique explorations derived from the first measurements of the Martian atmosphere over the course of a full Martian year (three years), during which the probe continued to collect scientific data about the red planet, to achieve its goals. The announced scientific nature of the mission, noting that the “Hope Probe” mission has greatly exceeded its basic scientific objectives.
She explained that the mission of the Emirates Mars Exploration Project was designed to achieve three scientific goals, the first of which is to answer the questions posed by scientists in the Analysis and Planning Group for Mars Exploration, and the second is to monitor seasonal and diurnal changes in the atmosphere and annual changes, including those resulting from solar influence, which leads to the disappearance of… The upper layer of the Martian atmosphere, especially hydrogen and oxygen, and third, studying the temporal and spatial behavior of the red planet.
She stated that the “Hope Probe” flight contributed to achieving new and unique scientific discoveries, including the detection of new forms of Martian aurora, in addition to providing new and more comprehensive images of the smaller and lesser-known Martian moon (Demos), pointing out that the probe’s unique elliptical orbit supports this. Unique discoveries, providing a complete picture of the planet’s atmospheric dynamics every nine days.
The agency indicated that this image greatly helped in obtaining a very clear depiction of the changes in the Martian atmosphere day and night, across the seasons, and over the course of a full Martian year. The “Hope Probe” carries three innovative scientific devices, namely: the “Digital Exploration Camera,” which It captures high-resolution color images of the planet Mars, and is also used to measure ice and ozone in the lower layer of the atmosphere, as well as the “infrared spectrometer,” which measures temperatures and the distribution of dust, water vapor, and ice clouds in the lower layer of the atmosphere, and finally the “infrared spectrometer.” Ultraviolet, which measures oxygen and carbon monoxide in the Martian thermosphere and hydrogen and oxygen in the Martian exosphere.
