1st Arab Mission to Mars Set for Liftoff July 19: Watch Live

1st Arab Mission to Mars Set for Liftoff July 19: Watch Live
Artists concept of UAE Hope Mars Orbiter. Credit: UAE

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The first Arab mission to Mars that is sponsored by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ) is set for liftoff today, Sunday, July 19, on a Japanese rocket after a series weather delays postponed the mission to study the planets weather and climate by nearly a week already from July 14.

The UAE mission is called the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) and also known as the Hope Mars Orbiter will study the Red Planet and “aims to build the first full picture of Mars’ climate throughout the Martian year” says the team.

Launch on the Japanese H-2A  rocket is scheduled to take place today, Sunday, July 19  US time at 5:58:14 p.m. EDT (2158:14 GMT), or Monday July 20th, 2020 at 01:58 am UAE local time, 6:58 a.m. Japan Standard Time from Launch Pad No. 1 at the Yoshinobu launch complex located at the Tanegashima Space Center.

You can watch the launch live here:

 

The 174-foot-tall (53-meter) H-2A rocket is manufactured and supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).

Artists concept of UAE Hope Mars Orbiter launch on Japanese H-2A rocket. Credit: UAE

Hope counts as the first H-2A launch to Mars

The countdown is proceeding well at this time says MHI:

“Under the beautiful starry sky, the terminal countdown operation is proceeding smoothly as planned. We can see Mars well tonight,” MHI tweeted.

If all goes well the Hope Mars Orbiter will be the first mission from the Arab world to orbit another planet

EMM or Hope is funded by the UAE Space Agency and The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre to the tune of about $200 million.

In addition to the science another goal is to “Get a probe to Mars by the Emirates’ 50th anniversary in 2021.”

Artists concept of UAE Hope Mars Orbiter. Credit: UAE

The Mini Cooper sized probe has a mass of approximately 2,976-pound (1,350-kilogram).

After a seven-month 493,500,000 km interplanetary journey the EMM Hope Mars Orbiter will arrive at the Red Planet in Feb. 2021 – around the same time as NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission.

The Emirati Mars Mission, or Hope spacecraft, is pictured inside a clean room during ground testing. Credit: MBRSC

Science Goals:

Hope’s mission is focused on atmospheric dynamics. It will explore the atmosphere of Mars globally while sampling both diurnal (daily) and seasonal timescales. (Never been done by any previous Mars mission). Understanding atmospheres of other planets, allows us to better understand our planet (since there is another sample to compare with) and better understand other planets in the universe.

Hope is equipped with three science instruments:

EXI – The Emirates eXploration Imager is a digital camera that will capture high resolution images of Mars  along with measuring water ice and ozone in the lower atmosphere through the UV bands.

EMIRS – The Emirates Mars InfraRed Spectrometer will to measure global distribution of dust, ice cloud, and water vapor in the Martian lower atmosphere.

EMUS – The Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer will measure oxygen and carbon monoxide in the thermoshphere and the variability of hydrogen and oxygen in the upper atmosphere.

Partners on the EMM team:

The Hope Probe was designed and developed by the EMM team at MBRSC together with Knowledge Transfer partners at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Arizona State University and the University of California, Berkley.

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at University of Colorado, Boulder is the primary knowledge transfer partner for mission design, spacecraft, and EXI/EMUS instrument development, testing, science team/apprenticeship, and operations

Arizona State University is the knowledge transfer partner for EMIRS instrument development and science team/apprenticeship

The University of California, Berkeley Space Sciences Lab (SSL) is the knowledge transfer partner for Science team/apprenticeship & EMUS detectors

Hope Mars Mission infographic

Watch for full details in our post launch story.

Watch Ken’s continuing reports about Commercial Crew and Artemis and onsite for live reporting of upcoming and recent SpaceX and ULA launches including Demo-2, Starlink, X-37B, Solar Orbiter, Mars 2020 and more at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
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Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken Kremer

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news. Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics. Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events.

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