UAE’s hope probe completes halfway journey to reach destination February 9-10

 In July, the United Arab Emirates became the first Arab nation to aim for Mars with its mission Hope probe. The Hope probe was launched in a H2-A rocket from Tanegashima spaceport, Japan.

Recently there have been reports suggesting that the Hope probe has completed its journey halfway to Mars having started its journey 79 days ago. The total distance to be covered to Mars is 495 million kilometers and till now the orbiter has completed 215.5 million kilometers

As per Emirates Mars Missions website, the orbiter is scheduled to reach the destination on February 9 or 10 next year. While on its way, there certains things that need to be taken care of and the engineers are gearing up to correct the third course correction maneuver as it nears the halfway mark. 

The aim is get data and information on upper and lower atmosphere through the weather satellite sent on the planet where the satellite will be staying in the science orbit of the planet for two years. Through this procedure, one terabyte of data will be gathered which will further be shared with scientists and education and research institutions all over the world.

In an exclusive report by the National, it was stated that the engineers at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre's ground control have carried out two course correction manoeuvres also known as trajectory correction maneuvers. The first TCM took place on August 11 while the second took place on August 28.

This is done in regular intervals to ensure that the orbit is on the right path and this is done by firing its thrusters and bringing it back on the correct path. “The reason why [TCM 3] is critical is because we are almost halfway through the journey,” said Omran Sharaf, project director of the mission while talking to the National.

Till now, the journey for Hope probe seems smooth and stable but once it enters outer space and gets closer to mars, the journey will become more unstable. The engineers revealed that apart from solar radiation, one of the most challenging parts is Mars Orbit Insertion. Apart from India, no other country has been successful in achieving the milestone in its first attempt.