al-Amal

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al-Amal

Al-Amal mission emblem
NSSDC ID 2020-047A
Mission goal Exploring the climate and atmosphere of MarsTemplate: Infobox probe / maintenance / objective
operator Space Agency of the EmiratesTemplate: Infobox probe / maintenance / operator
Manufacturer University of Colorado BoulderTemplate: Info box probe / maintenance / manufacturer
Launcher H-IIA-202Template: Infobox probe / maintenance / carrier rocket
construction
Takeoff mass 1350 kgTemplate: Infobox probe / maintenance / launch mass
Instruments
Template: Infobox probe / maintenance / instruments

Infrared and UV spectrometer, high resolution camera

Course of the mission
Start date July 19, 2020, 21:58 UTCTemplate: Infobox probe / maintenance / start date
launch pad Tanegashima Space CenterTemplate: Infobox probe / maintenance / launch pad
Template: Infobox probe / maintenance / history
 
 19th July 2020 begin
 
 February 9, 2021 Entry into Mars orbit
 
 Mid-2021 Beginning of the primary mission
 
 Mid-2023 End of the primary mission
 
 Mid-2025 End of a possible extended mission

Al-Amal ( Arabic الأمل, DMG al-Amal  'the hope', English Hope , also known as the Emirates Mars Mission ) is a space probe of the United Arab Emirates that has been orbiting Mars as the first interplanetary space mission of an Arab state since February 9, 2021 and, from mid-2021, the To investigate the Martian atmosphere and climate. It was launched on July 19, 2020 with an H-IIA launcher from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center .

concept

The project was initiated on July 16, 2014 and presented to the public by Vice President Muhammad bin Raschid Al Maktum , the Emir of Dubai . On April 14, 2015, Muhammad bin Raschid Al Maktum first asked the Arabs of all countries to make suggestions for a name for the probe. A day later, “Zayid” emerged as the most popular name, after Zayid bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918–2004), Emir of Abu Dhabi and first President of the United Arab Emirates. In the end, Muhammad bin Raschid Al Maktum - the Mars mission is de facto a company of the Emirate of Dubai - then decided in favor of the name "al-Amal". He said he chose this name because it sends a message of optimism to millions of young Arabs. The results of the mission should be made freely available to the global scientific community. The mission was also intended to promote the interest of the Emirati population in science and technology.

A budget of 200 million US dollars, which was raised by the United Arab Emirates, was available over a six-year period to implement the project from planning to start. The management of the project is complete in Emirati hands while the probe itself under the leadership of Pete Withnell at the Laboratory of High atmospheres - and space weather research (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) of the University of Colorado Boulder was built, which from 2008 to 2013 already Mars Atmospheric Research Probe MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) had built. The official start of the project at LASP was in August 2014. Various concepts for a Mars mission were discussed there, until they finally agreed on a weather satellite which, unlike MAVEN with its orbit inclined at 75 °, should orbit Mars in an equatorial orbit and thus enable weather observation over the course of the day. Originally, a hexagonal satellite bus from the South Korean Satrec Initiative GmbH was to be used for the probe , as was also used for the earth observation satellites of the DubaiSat series financed by the Muhammad bin Raschid Space Center . In September 2015, the first specific drafts were worked on.

Around 150 technicians and engineers came from the Laboratory for High Atmospheric and Space Weather Research and 100 from two other partners, namely the Space Sciences Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley , which was already involved in MAVEN, and the Institute for Earth - and space exploration (School of Earth and Space Exploration) at Arizona State University . A few dozen scientists and engineers from the Muhammad bin Raschid Space Center took part in the development and construction of the probe in Boulder , Colorado , while the rest of the 200 MBRSC employees involved in the project worked in Dubai in a supporting role.

A cube-shaped model was later chosen for the probe bus, as it was built by Lockheed Martin for MAVEN, with an edge length of around 2 m and, when the two two-part solar modules are unfolded, a maximum width of 7.9 m Together with the parabolic antenna with a diameter of 1.85 m, the probe is 3 m high. The solar modules provide an output of 600 W for operating the payloads and for charging the accumulators for the time when the probe is on its equatorial orbit behind Mars. The launch weight of the filled probe is 1350 kg, so it is significantly lighter than MAVEN with its 2454 kg.

On February 9, 2021, at 3:30 p.m. UTC, the probe began a 27-minute, fully autonomous braking maneuver with its six 120-N engines so that the probe would not be caught by the force of gravity of Mars, and then swiveled into an orbit of initially 1000 × 49,380 km around Mars; the cycle time is 40 hours. During this braking maneuver, 400 kg of the 880 kg of fuel on board were used. Over the next three months, the probe is expected to enter an equatorial orbit measuring 22,000 × 43,000 km and then begin scientific observations. In contrast to the current Mars missions from China ( Tianwen-1 ) and the USA ( Mars 2020 ), a landing on Mars is not planned.

Scientific task

The scientific director of the mission is the computer scientist and Minister of State for Natural Sciences Sarah al-Amiri , who was already responsible for the software of the earth observation satellites DubaiSat 1 and DubaiSat 2, which were launched in 2009 and 2013 . The mission is to study the atmosphere and climate of Mars over the seasons. The investigation is said to be more complete and holistic than with all previous Mars probes. One expects information on the interaction of different atmospheric layers and different climatic factors such as temperature, wind, dust and clouds. The knowledge gained is intended to help understand the earth's atmosphere and predict its future development. In addition, they should also contribute to the understanding of exoplanets . It is hoped that the investigation of atmospheric hydrogen and oxygen will provide answers to the question of why Mars is losing its upper layer of the atmosphere and why its surface water evaporated. The probe carries the following instruments as payloads to achieve these goals:

Emirates Exploration Imager (EXI)

The EXI is a camera with a monochrome CMOS sensor and separate lens passages for ultraviolet radiation and visible light . Specifically, the system uses the wavelengths 245–275 nm (UV-C) and 305–335 nm (UV-A) in the ultraviolet range as well as 625–645 nm (red), 506–586 nm (green) and 405–469 nm ( blue) in the visible area. The 12-megapixel 12-bit sensor with an aspect ratio of 4: 3 is able to record 180 frames per second and can thus deliver 4K film recordings .

The aim of the EXI is to investigate the lower layers of the atmosphere , in particular their water and ozone content . The EXI also provides high-resolution images of the surface of Mars. It was developed in a collaboration between the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and the Muhammad bin Raschid Space Center.

Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS)

The EMUS is a UV spectrometer with a resolution of 1.3 nm and 1.8 nm in the range of 100–170 nm and a spatial resolution of 0.36 °. The resolution was deliberately chosen so that carbon monoxide remains detectable in the presence of oxygen . The aim of this probe is then also to measure the carbon monoxide and oxygen content in the thermosphere (at an altitude of 100–200 km) and their subseasonal changes. The EMUS will also be used to map the hydrogen and oxygen content in the exosphere (over 200 km altitude) and examine their changes over time.

The EMUS was also developed in a collaboration between the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and the Muhammad bin Raschid Space Center.

Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS)

The EMIRS is an interferometric-thermal infrared spectrometer with the function of measuring the global temperature distribution as well as the content of water ice, water vapor and dust in the lower layers of the atmosphere. The device is able to scan the atmosphere via a mirror. In combination with the data from EMUS and EXI, these data will be used to investigate energy flows, planetary circulation and daily and subseasonal changes.

The AMIR was led by Philip Christensen of the Department of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and Christopher Edwards of the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences of Northern Arizona University along with the Muhammad-bin Rashid Space Center-developed.

Ground segment

The Muhammad bin Raschid Space Center only has a parabolic antenna with a diameter of 11.3 m, which is sufficient for the operation of the earth observation satellites, but is not suitable for deep-space missions. That is why al-Amal uses the American Deep Space Network (DSN) for telemetry, path tracking and control with its powerful antennas distributed across three locations around the globe. Its data goes directly to the control room in the Muhammad bin Raschid space center in Dubai and to the Mission Support Facility in the laboratory for high-atmospheric and space weather research in Colorado. KinetX Aerospace in Tempe , Arizona , the headquarters of Arizona State University, uses the orbit tracking data of the DSN to calculate the necessary orbit correction maneuvers in order to maintain the flight path predicted by Advanced Space in Boulder, Colorado. The control signals for this are then sent back to the probe via the DSN.

After the probe has started its actual mission in May 2021, the data received via the DSN will be stored in a data processing center located in the Muhammad bin Raschid space center and processed into three product levels : Quicklook, Level 1, Level 2 . the processed data, but not the original raw data of the probe, the scientific community will be made available after a certain time.

See also

Web links

Commons : Emirates Mars Mission  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

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  5. ↑ Staff Reporter: UAE unveils mission plan 'Hope' for first Arab space probe to Mars. In: www.khaleejTimes.com . Galadari Brothers Group , May 8, 2015, accessed September 25, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Stephen Clark: United Arab Emirates successfully sends its first mission toward Mars. In: SpaceflightNow.com. July 19, 2020, accessed September 25, 2020 (American English).
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  8. ↑ MAVEN. In: lasp.colorado.edu. University of Colorado Boulder , accessed September 25, 2020 (the MAVEN mission was $ 485 million, more than double that of al-Amal).
  9. ↑ Kareem Shaheen: First Mars mission from UAE aims to inspire a new generation of space scientists. In: www.nationalgeographic.com. National Geographic Society , July 25, 2020, accessed September 5, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Mike McGrath: United Arab Emirates to partner with CU-Boulder on 2021 Mars mission. In: lasp.colorado.edu. University of Colorado Boulder , May 7, 2015, accessed September 25, 2020 .
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  12. ↑ Heather Reed: Emirates Mars Mission launching this month in partnership with LASP at CU Boulder. In: lasp.colorado.edu. University of Colorado Boulder , July 14, 2020, accessed September 25, 2020 .
  13. ↑ a b Chris Gebhardt and Tyler Gray: United Arab Emirates begins historic first interplanetary mission. In: www.nasaspaceflight.com. NASA , July 19, 2020, accessed September 25, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Omran Anwar Alsayed Mohd Ali Sharaf et al .: Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) 2020. ( PDF ; 36.4 kB) In: iafastro.directory. May 3, 2017, accessed September 25, 2020 .
  15. ^ Daniel Strain: Emirates Mars Mission to begin journey to the red planet. In: www.colorado.edu. University of Colorado Boulder , July 15, 2020, accessed September 25, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Mission Highlights. In: emiratesmarsmission.ae. Retrieved September 25, 2020 (Arabic, English).
  17. ↑ Chris Gebhardt and Tyler Gray: UAE makes history as Al-Amal arrives at Mars for two-year mission. In: www.nasaspaceflight.com. NASA , February 9, 2021, accessed February 9, 2021 .
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  23. ↑ a b c d e f UAE Space Agency: Instruments. In: EmiratesMarsMission.ae. Retrieved September 25, 2020 (Arabic, English).
  24. ↑ Doug Messier: Emirates Mars Mission to Launch with ASU-designed Instrument. In: parabolicarc.com. July 19, 2020, accessed on September 25, 2020 .
  25. ↑ DubaiSat-1. Ground segment. In: directory.eoportal.org. Retrieved September 25, 2020 (English).
  26. ^ Deep Space Network Now. In: eyes.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory , accessed on September 25, 2020 (Al-Amal is here referred to as “EMM” (for “Emirates Mars Mission”)).
  27. ↑ Sarwat Nasir: UAE Mars Mission: inside the Dubai control center tracking the Hope probe. In: www.thenational.ae . July 28, 2020, accessed on September 25, 2020 .
  28. ↑ Command and Control Center. In: my.matterport.com. Retrieved September 25, 2020 (English, virtual tour of the control room).
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  30. ^ The Emirates Mars Mission. Ground segment. In: emiratesmarsmission.ae. Retrieved September 25, 2020 (Arabic, English).