2023-05-31 10:05:01
The United Arab Emirates space agency has given more details on the mission to explore the main asteroid belt, which is scheduled to take off in 2028. The mission will consist of six flybys and one landing using a small on-board lander.
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The Arab Emirates do not hide their ambition to one day become a great space power: they have deployed the Al-Amal probe (Hope in English) in orbitorbit around Mars in February 2021, and attempted to taxi on the Moon with the Rashid mini-rover (lost in the Hakuto-R crash). Currently with a astronautastronaut Emirati on boardISSISSthere is no doubt that the country is now trying to go further.
The mission MBRMBR Explorer was named following Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Emir of Dubai and Prime Minister of the Emirates. The latter also specified that the mission will also serve to boost the Emirati space sector, promoting the creation of businesses and the training of new graduates. The mission was announced following the successful launch of Hope.
A single-window painstaking journey
The journey’s destination is the main asteroid belt, located between the orbits of Mars and JupiterJupiter. The trip is therefore much longer than to go to Mars, with a total of regarding 5 billion kilometers!
Several flyoversflyovers are planned to reach the main belt: VenusVenus in July 2028, and the Earth in May 2029. Thanks to these gravitational assistsgravitational assists, the probe will have picked up enough speed to reach its targets. This will also be an opportunity for the Emirates to visit Venus for the first time. However, the flight plan suffers from a downside: a single windowwindow shooting, for three weeks from March 3, 2028. If this window is missed, the flight plan will have to be reviewed and some targets will be missed.
As was already the case for the development of Hope, the Emirati space agency called on the prestigious University of Boulder (Colorado, United States), which has extensive experience in the development of interplanetary probes. MBR Explorer will weigh a total of 2,300 kilos, including a lot of fuel that will essentially be spent on the interplanetary journey. To feed on energyenergy, the probe will rely on two very large circular solar panels. It takes a considerable area to collect the lightlight of SoleilSoleil which is very far from the main belt.
Six flyovers and one landing
The flight plan is precise. The overflights are as follows:
- February 2030: (10,253) Westerwald;
- June 2030: (623) Chimaera;
- January 2031: (13,924) Rockfox;
- September 2031: Gravitational Assist Flyby of Mars;
- July 2032: (88055) 2000 VA28;
- December 2032: (23871) 1998 RC76;
- Aug 2033: (59980) 1999 SG6.
The overflights will take place at a speed of nearly 33,000 km/h at a minimum altitude of 150 kilometers. The probe will study these asteroids using two cameras and two spectrometersspectrometers. The main goal is to find traces of water. Finally, the climax of the mission will be reached in December 2034, when the probe will arrive close to the asteroid. (269) Justice. MBR Explorer will drop a small lander there on the surface in May 2035. The asteroid is particularly targeted because it might come from further away than Pluto! Studying it closely will serve to better understand the formation of our Solar systemSolar system.
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