Dubai: The Emirates Mars Mission “Hope Probe,” the first Arab-led planetary exploration mission, has announced its transition to a new orbit. The orbital transfer will allow the Hope Probe to fly within approximately 150 kilometres and collect data on Deimos, the smaller and outermost of the two natural satellites of Mars.
The historical manoeuvre will help the Hope Probe transition into a new elliptic orbit around Mars, following a Lambert orbital transfer manoeuvre that takes advantage of the change in its velocity. In addition to collecting data on Deimos, the new orbit will allow the Probe to continue its original mission and capture data on Mars’ atmosphere.
“The Deimos campaign aims to provide the international scientific community with previously unseen observations and data. The Hope Probe will capture high-speed images and data of the irregularly shaped, crater-heavy moon during fly-bys at different times,” Ms. Hessa Al Matroushi, Emirates Mars Mission Science Lead, shared.
The first Deimos fly-by began in late January 2023 and continued through February 2023. As the Probe moves to its closest approach to the moon, its Emirates Exploration Imager (EXI), Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS), and Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMUS) will be able to capture high-cadence images and detailed observations of the moon.
To enable the orbital transfer maneuver, the Hope Probe completed two out of three maneuvers using its main thrusters in September 2022 and January 2023, marking the first time the thrusters were activated remotely to make the necessary orbital corrections.
The Hope Probe orbits Mars is currently in its elliptic orbit between 20,000 and 43,000 km with a 25-degree incline towards the planet, allowing it to complete one revolution around the planet every 55 hours, and capture comprehensive data every nine days. The slight change in the Probe’s orbit will allow it to capture new observations of Deimos.