UAE's Hope Probe commences critical transition to science orbit

The Emirates Mars Mission's (EMM) Hope Probe has commenced the crucial transition from its capture orbit to its science orbit with the successful completion of a 510-second burn of its thrusters.

Barring the requirement for a minor course correction, the spacecraft is now in its final orbit of the Red Planet and ready for its two-year science data gathering phase, the core aim of the mission.

"The Transition to Science Manoeuvre (TSM) was critically important and I can say was the last truly scary moment for the mission because there was a very real risk of losing the spacecraft during this last burn," said Omran Sharaf, EMM Project Director.

"We’re now assessing the results of that burn, but I can say we are confident that we will not need a further large correction manoeuvre."

The transition saw the Hope Probe move from its 1,063 by 42,461 capture orbit to a 20,000 by 43,000 science orbit.

The manoeuvre was the last scheduled ‘big burn’ in the spacecraft’s journey from its launch on the July 20, 2020.

The science phase will commence on April 14 with a number of calibration and test runs that aim to establish a sound baseline for the accurate and efficient management of the measurements from the spacecraft’s three instruments. The mission’s two-year science data collection will formally commence on May 23, with data being made available globally in October.

"Once we have established our stable science orbit and deployed our instruments, we can start building datasets and testing our systems with the live data," said Hessa Al Matroushi, EMM Science Lead. "This is the data we will be processing, formatting and sharing with the world’s science and academic communities openly through our website."

The painstaking process of science data gathering consists of making repeated ‘passes’ around Mars and mapping each set of measurements to build a dynamic picture of the movement of dust, ice and water vapour throughout the planet’s atmospheric layers.

As well as measuring Hydrogen, Oxygen, Carbon Monoxide and Ozone, the probe will capture variations in temperature. The unique elliptical 25-degree orbit of the Hope probe enables a planet-wide, high resolution sample to be taken each 225 hours (9.5 days).

"If you imagine spinning a basketball on your finger and then wrapping it with wool as it spins, you get an idea of how Hope covers the whole planet over consecutive orbits. While we’re doing that, we’re constantly measuring with two spectrometers and an imager. These three data streams combine to give us a holistic, powerful and unique picture of Mars’ atmosphere that we hope will answer many, many questions we have about the planet and our theories regarding its atmospheric loss," said Al Matroushi.

The EMM transitioned from the capture orbit to science orbit with the completion of a 510 second burn of its thrusters. The Probe is now in its final orbit & ready for its 2 year science data gathering, the core aim of the mission. The science phase will commence on 14 April.

— Hope Mars Mission (@HopeMarsMission) March 29, 2021