UAE's Hope Mars probe will be crucial for future human missions, says ESA

While the United Arab Emirates (UAE) rescheduled its historic mission to Mars, the European Space Agency (ESA) said that the Hope Probe will be a ‘major contributor to the Mars science community’. The UAE’s Mars mission, also known as the Hope Probe, is expected to give a better understanding of global dust storms by studying those occurring on the Martian surface. According to reports, the knowledge of the dynamic of dust storms on Mars is crucial for the planning and execution of future human mission to the red planet. 

The UAE’s Hope would be lifted off on Japan’s H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. According to reports, the launch site director for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Keiji Suzuki had previously said that the final decision would be made before the launch of the historic mission. However, a seasonal downpour in the region was expected to cause lightening over the span of the next few days that posed a threat of delay to the Hope Mars Mission since the beginning.

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According to the statement released on July 16, the UAE Space Agency and The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre said that the launch site on Tanegashima Island is witnessing continued thunderstorms, clouds and unstable weather conditions in the coming days.

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Hope Probe to help study Martian atmosphere 

UAE’s Hope is set to reach the Red Planet in February 2021 which is also the year that the country would celebrate the 50 years of its formation. The first interplanetary mission from the country would mark the ‘history-defining moment’ for its oil-dependent economy that is now seeking a future in the outer space. Emirates Mars Mission Project Director Omran Sharaf noted that the mission is not similar to the ones lead by other countries, instead, it would be the first one to give a wholesome view of Mars’ atmosphere during various seasons.

Meanwhile, ESA, which is also one of the four space agencies that have successfully made it to Mars, said that the Hope Probe’s findings would complement and corroborate data from other Mars mission by giving a larger picture of the atmospheric dynamic of Mars. The space agency further added that the mission will help understand how the planet lost most of its atmosphere. It was also noted that UAE’s mission Hope is set to have the first comprehensive view of the Martian atmosphere at different times of the day and at different seasons. 

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