The space race continues as the United Arab Emirates prepares for its 4:50pm EDT launch of the Al Amal Mars mission, or “Hope” mission on July 14.[1] The probe is expected to reach Mars in February of 2021! The mission was first announced in July of 2014 by the president of the United Arab Emirates.[2]
The mission will be launching from Japan on the 15th, local time, and will mark the first Mars mission from West Asian, Arab, or Muslim countries! However, if the launch window is missed, it will be another 2 years before the mission will be able to launch again! No pressure.[2]
The Cargo
Constructed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, the University of Colorado Boulder, Arizona State University, and the University of California, Berkeley, the Hope space probe will be studying the daily and seasonal weather cycles on Mars, including sand storms, why whether conditions vary across Mars, and why the Martian atmosphere is losing hydrogen and oxygen into space.[2]
The probe is of hexagonal design, built with an aluminum honeycomb structure, and measures in at about 2.37m wide and 2.9m tall with an approximate mass of 1350kg. Part of it’s size is a result of its two solar panels, generating 1800W to keep the probe functioning after it’s 7-9 month journey to the red planet! The probe will communicate via a high-gain antenna 1.5m in diameter and will determine its position with the help of it’s star trackers.[2]
Learn more about the probe’s scientific tools and devices here!
The Rocket
Al Amal will will launch from Japan in the H-IIA (H-2A) expandable launch system, a medium-lift launch vehicle operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. H-IIA has flown since 2001 and has maintained a no-failure streak of 35 since November of 2003, with 41 launches in total! [3] H-IIA comes in at 53m tall and 4m in diameter, weighing up to 445,000kg! The cost per launch of this 2 stage rocket can reach around $90 million USD and can carry a payload of 15,000 kg
Header image: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. (2020). [Photo of United Arab Emirates March mission Hope spacecraft]. https://mk0spaceflightnoa02a.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/hope_emm_colors.jpg
Al Amal image: UAE Space Agency. (2000). [Depiction of Hope spacecraft in front of Mars]. https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/07/Hope-Fixed.jpg
H-IIA image: NASA, & Bill Ingalls. (2014, February 27). [H IIA No. F23 with GPM on its way to the launchpad]. Wikimedia Commons. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/H_IIA_No._F23_with_GPM_on_its_way_to_the_launchpad.jpg
1: Spaced Company. (2020). Space launches — Spaced. Spaced. Retrieved July 9, 2020, from https://www.spacedcompany.com/space-launches
2: Wikipedia. (2020, July 8). Hope Mars mission. Retrieved July 9, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Mars_Mission
3: Wikpedia. (2020, May 21). H-IIA. Wikipedia. Retrieved July 9, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-IIA
Project Starman 