Tomorrow, Wednesday, marks the one-and-a-half year anniversary of the start of the Emirates Mars exploration project, the “Hope Probe”, its scientific missions, which were launched on February 10, 2021.
Since then, the scientific community around the world has been in a state of suspense and anticipation for the scientific data packages issued by the project, which contributed to removing many of the mystery about the Red Planet.
Since the beginning of its scientific missions, the “Hope Probe” has achieved many achievements that astonished the world, including the capture of the first comprehensive image of the phenomenon of separate aurora in the atmosphere of Mars at night using far ultraviolet rays.
The probe also provided first-of-its-kind information about the atmosphere of the red planet at different times, and sent pictures of the “Olympus Munis” volcano, which is the largest volcano in the solar system, in addition to its success in recording unique observations about Martian dust storms and the way they develop and spread in vast areas of the planet. planet.
The Emirates Mars Exploration Project has so far published 4 packages of scientific data collected by the probe, with a total size of 688.5 gigabytes, as part of its commitment to share this data and make it freely available to the scientific community around the world.
The first set of data included unique images of Mars that make unprecedented observations about the behavior of the gases in the atmosphere of the red planet and the interactions that occur between them. The observations showed significant differences in the abundance of both atomic oxygen and carbon monoxide in the upper atmosphere of Mars on the day side of the planet.
And the new discoveries provided by the first set of data contributed to changing the previous perceptions of scientists about the distribution of ultraviolet light emitted from the upper atmosphere of Mars, as it shows the presence of vast structures of the abundance of atomic oxygen that differ in its levels from what is expected.
It also indicates unusual atmospheric disturbances, especially since the pictures were taken at a time when Mars was close to the top of its orbit “most far from the sun”, while solar activity was low, as the pictures showed the exceptional scene of oxygen emissions at the wavelength of 130.4 nanometers.
The second package revealed important information that helps the global scientific community to develop more accurate scientific models of the Martian atmosphere and contribute to a deeper understanding of its changes.
The Emirates Mars Exploration Project confirmed that it will continue to provide and publish new batches of data every 3 months for the benefit of all specialists and those interested in space science and exploration around the world.
The second package included 76 GB of information, images, and scientific data collected by the scientific devices carried by the “Hope Probe” on board during the first months of its scientific mission around the Red Planet, specifically between May 23 to August 31, 2021.
In early April, the Emirates Mars Exploration Project published the third package of data of 29 GB, which the probe collected between September 1 and November 30, 2021, which will help experts and scientists to expand their understanding of climate change on the Red Planet.
The digital exploration camera monitored 9 photos on November 22, 2021, each of which was taken with a time difference of 5 minutes from the previous one; With the aim of studying wind movement, observing the phenomenon of cloud formation, and the movement of dust storms.
The fourth set of data presented a new set of scientific observations of the atmosphere of Mars, most notably the observations made by the Ultraviolet Spectrometer “EMUS” of the Hope Probe, which provides better coverage of the Martian aurora.
The ultraviolet spectrometer also detected solar energy particles and galactic cosmic rays through an experiment that it conducted by observing what the device captured when it was turned off. The scale also showed the possibility of working with higher sensitivity and accuracy if needed when capturing scientific notes.
And the probe’s digital exploration camera “EXI” was able to take special high-resolution images, as the camera, which was specifically designed to capture movements and changes in the atmosphere, monitored the movement of dust on January 9 and 29 and February 23 of this year and also monitored Draw will take place on December 42, 2021 and January 7 and 25 of this year.
It is worth noting that the scientific mission of the Emirates Mars Exploration Project, “Probe of Hope”, focuses on collecting data and monitoring observations that help study the relationship between the upper and lower layers of the Martian atmosphere, allowing the scientific community to form a comprehensive picture of the Martian climate and atmosphere at different times of the day. Through the seasons of the Martian year.
The “Hope Probe” carries three innovative scientific devices, the EXI digital exploration camera, which captures high-resolution color images of Mars, and is also used to measure ice and ozone in the lower atmosphere.
In addition to the infrared spectrometer EMIRS, which measures temperatures and the distribution of dust, water vapor and ice clouds in the lower atmosphere.
The EMUS ultraviolet spectrophotometer measures oxygen and carbon monoxide in the Martian thermal layer and hydrogen and oxygen in the outer atmosphere of Mars.