(Image: UAE Space Agency)
The Al Amal (Hope) spaceship has successfully completed the third and final trajectory correction maneuver on its way to Mars.
This means that the device should arrive at the Red Planet at the evening of February 9, 2021, the estimated time.
The United Arab Emirates is actively engaged in its space program, which provides for both the development of near-earth orbit and flights of vehicles to the Moon and Mars.
As part of this program, the probe Al Amal was launched to the Red Planet in July this year. This was the first mission of the country.
The total mass of the probe, including fuel, is 1350 kilograms; and its dimensions are 2.37 by 2.9 meters.
Al Amal is equipped with 2 solar panels, 6 main and 8 attitude motors, a multispectral camera, two spectrometers, and communications and navigation systems.
It is assumed that the probe will study the lower layers of the atmosphere of Mars, the dynamics of seasonal heat flows, and the influence of climate on the rate of loss of hydrogen and oxygen by the upper layers of the atmosphere of the Red Planet.
Al Amal is currently traveling at a speed of nearly 93 thousand kilometers per hour and has flown about 65% of the way to Mars.
On November 8, 2020, the station completed the last of three trajectory correction maneuvers and is aimed at the Mars capture orbit. Thus, it should arrive on time at the planet.
This will be followed by a 6-week testing period for the equipment, after which the station will enter an elliptical working orbit with a 55-hour orbital period around Mars; and begin a scientific program for two years.
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Thanks for the post! It's amazing how many countries are running space programs now. I would not have guessed the UAE would have Moon and Mars missions. The more the merrier.
Maybe someone other than NASA will make a run at colonizing Mars directly, without using the Moon as a staging area...
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Yeah. India, China, Europe. If there's one way to become multiplanetary is with a multinational joint effort.
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