As the Hope Probe approaches Mars' orbit, the dream of the success of the first space mission led by an Arab country to explore planets is about to become a reality.
With this mission, the UAE will become the fifth country in the world to achieve this historic achievement, and although the probe was able to overcome many challenges, the next stages of its historic mission are the most difficult and most dangerous.
Since its inception as just an idea put forward in the government retreat held by the UAE government at the end of 2013, among other ideas to celebrate in a distinctive way the fiftieth National Day in 2021, the Emirates Mars Exploration Project, the "Probe of Hope", has gone through many challenges, risks and hardships, and has also witnessed a march A busload of qualitative achievements through which the work team was able to turn the challenges into success stations, adding to a record full of achievements written by the sons and daughters of the UAE from the young national cadres working on the project with letters of light in the history books.
Despite this busy march that the Hope Probe has gone through for 7 continuous years of overcoming difficulties and challenges and turning the impossible into possible, the probe, which is currently penetrating space at a speed of more than 121 thousand kilometers per hour, is a few days away from reaching its goal around orbit. The Red Planet will face the most difficult challenge, which is the process of slowing its speed automatically and without direct human intervention to 18 thousand kilometers per hour, in preparation for entering the capture orbit around Mars, before moving later - if this process succeeds - to the scientific orbit and then starting its scientific mission. In collecting data and information that humans have not reached before about the red planet, the most similar to Earth in the solar system.
The probe's mission continues throughout a full Martian year, which, according to Earth's calculations, is 687 days, during which it collects more than 1,000 gigabytes of data that will be shared free of charge with the scientific community and those interested in space from universities and research centers around the world.
The idea becomes a strategic plan
Since the birth of the "Probe of Hope" as a mere idea in the ministerial retreat 7 years ago, it was immediately adopted by the wise leadership of the state with its forward-looking vision, as Sheikh Mohammed directed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, studied the idea, and it turned into a strategic plan in which the project was planned in all its aspects to design, manufacture and launch the probe so that its arrival on the red planet coincides with the golden jubilee of the UAE.
The leadership of the UAE, in its direction to explore Mars, was inspired by the dream of the late founding father, God willing, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, when he said: “Space flights are proud of every person on earth, because they embody faith in God and his ability, and we feel that we are Arabs that we have a great role in this project and in these researches, and we are proud of the tremendous progress in space science, thanks to the rules established by Arab scientists hundreds of years ago, and we hope that peace will prevail and people will realize the dangers that threaten them because of the delay, "as Sheikh Zayed showed great interest in science Space and a passion to learn about its new achievements and applications, and this was embodied in his meeting in the early seventies of the last century with officials of the historic Apollo mission carried out by NASA to explore the moon.
A strategic national initiative
On the sixteenth of July 2014, sending a probe to explore Mars turned from an idea that was carefully studied and planned into a strategic national initiative announced by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President The UAE, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, under the name of the Emirates Mars Exploration Project, for which Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum chose the name "Probe of Hope" to be a message of hope from the UAE to the youth and peoples of the region. .
The launch of the Emirates Mars Exploration Project, the "Probe of Hope", was the culmination of knowledge transfer and development efforts that began in 2006 at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center, and is the result of close cooperation between a team of Emirati scientists, researchers and engineers and international partners to develop the capabilities necessary to design and engineer space missions. And the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center was assigned by the UAE government to manage and implement all phases of the project, while the Emirates Space Agency assumes general supervision of the project.
The Emirates Mars Exploration Project, the "Probe of Hope", represents the UAE's vision for a future in which knowledge will be the basis for investment in building human capabilities, building a sustainable knowledge economy, promoting the country's development process, addressing challenges by finding innovative solutions, and exploring opportunities for tomorrow. And developing new sectors to supplement the national wealth.
As a national project, its prospects and results will include all citizens of the country. In conjunction with that, and from the outset, the UAE government has confirmed that the project's goal is not only to reach the Red Planet, but also to be a symbol of hope in the region by providing a model for youth empowerment in the Arab world. In the scientific and technical fields, making them a positive force that works to serve their countries and contribute to building a more stable and prosperous global community.
The Emirates Mars Exploration Project "Probe of Hope" aims to promote the growth of the space, science and advanced technology sectors in the United Arab Emirates and contribute to building and strengthening the knowledge economy in the country.
Transforming a dream into a tangible reality
As soon as the Mohammed bin Rashid Center received the assignment to start implementing the project, the journey of transforming the dream and idea into a tangible reality was launched, and work teams were formed from young national cadres from Sons and daughters of the country who continued day and night to accomplish this historic national mission within the time period set by the wise leadership, which is 6 years, so that the arrival of the probe coincides with the country’s celebrations of its fiftieth National Day, while similar space missions take between 10 to 12 years to be implemented, and it was This is a major challenge for the work team, which they turned, thanks to the unlimited support of the wise leadership, into an additional incentive that pushes them to do more.
Since the first day of the project, the directive of the leadership was clear, which is that the probe be developed and not purchased ready-made, and this was a new challenge, which turned into opportunities to build the capabilities of national cadres working in the project through a program that combines the experience gained by engineers who have worked since 2006 in Developing satellites and transferring knowledge and experience to Emirati researchers and engineers, in cooperation with international knowledge partners, so the approach in developing the probe was to build on what others had concluded, rather than start from scratch, and this enabled the team to formulate unique scientific goals that would provide Scientists around the world with never-before-captured information about the planet.
The Emirates Mars Exploration Project team at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center worked on the design and development of the probe with knowledge transfer partners at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Arizona State University and the University of California Berkeley. It is worth noting that knowledge partners worked for the first time with the UAE in developing A complete probe into space, which enhanced the experience of the Emirati work team by being involved in all stages of project development and leading them to develop systems in the probe.
The Laboratory of Aerospace and Aerospace Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder is a knowledge transfer partner specializing in the development of systems engineering and instruments for the UV spectrometer and detection camera, Arizona State University is a knowledge transfer partner for the development of infrared spectrometer instruments, and Berkeley Lab of Space Sciences at UCLA, a knowledge transfer partner for the science team, and the UV spectrometer sensor.
In order to speed up the completion of the national mission, the project work team was divided into 6 sub-teams: the project management team, the scientific team, the probe development team, scientific devices, the probe control team, and the educational programs team. Necessary, probe design processes began, and careful planning for all phases of the project.
The construction of the probe began inside the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center to be completed in February 2020, and this coincided with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum attending the installation process of the last piece of the probe, which constitutes the last external part of it and bears the names of the members of the Supreme Council of the Federation, Rulers of the Emirates It also bears the phrase "The power of hope shortens the distance between earth and sky", in addition to the flag of the UAE and its motto "Nothing is impossible".
Victory over Corona
After the Hope Probe team overcame the challenge of building the probe efficiently in a record time less than half the usual in similar space projects, until a new challenge emerged, representing this time How to transfer the probe to the launch station in Japan in conjunction with the global outbreak of the new Corona virus “Covid 19”, which resulted in the closure of airports and ports around the world, and the imposition of strict restrictions on movement between countries as part of the precautionary measures to combat the spread of the virus.
The work team had to develop alternative plans to move the probe on time in light of this new challenge, so that it would be ready for launch at the predetermined time in mid-July 2020, and here the team recorded a new achievement in the process of overcoming challenges, as it succeeded through a precise plan that took into account All precautionary measures were taken in transferring the probe to the Japanese station, Tanagashima, in a success story that deserves to be told and passed down from generation to generation.
The story of moving the probe to the launch station in Japan is an inspiring experience in itself, especially since it took place under difficult and unprecedented conditions in the world that humanity had not witnessed before throughout its modern history, and the consequent technical and logistical challenges. Nevertheless, the probe team succeeded. The hope is that the transportation process will be completed according to the scheduled schedule, in a journey that took more than 83 hours by land, air and sea, and passed through three main stages, during which strict logistical measures and procedures were taken to ensure that the probe reaches its final destination before launch in an ideal position.
The decisive moment
Then came the decisive moment that the work team has been impatiently awaiting throughout 6 years of hard work, which is the launch moment that is set at the first hour of the morning on July 15 2020 UAE time, but the series of difficult challenges returned to its head again, as it was found that the weather conditions were not suitable for launching the missile that will carry the probe, so the work team rescheduled the launch date within the “launch window” that extends from July 15 to August 3, noting that the lack of The team's success in completing the launch within this period meant that the entire mission was delayed by two years.
After careful studies of weather forecasts, in cooperation with the Japanese side, the team decided to launch the Hope Probe on the twentieth of July, at 01:58 am UAE time.
For the first time in the history of space missions to explore space, the countdown resounds in Arabic, marking the launch of the Hope Probe, amidst hundreds of millions of people from the country, the region and the world watching, and everyone held their breath waiting for the decisive moments during which the missile will ascend, penetrating the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 34,000 km per hour. The watch is pregnant with the Hope Probe, and it is only minutes until the success of the launch operation is confirmed, then the probe separates from the launch missile successfully.
Subsequently, the probe received the first signal from the probe on its 7-month journey, during which it traveled 493 million kilometers, and the probe also received the first order from the ground control station in Khawaneej in Dubai to open the solar panels, operate the satellite navigation systems, and launch the reverse propulsion systems, effectively marking the beginning of the probe's journey. space station to the Red Planet, a translation of Zayed's dream, and a signal for the UAE to enter history with an unprecedented space achievement at the level of the Arab world, and for the "Probe of Hope" to be the first space mission to explore planets led by an Arab country.
Challenges overcame by the project team
The challenges did not stop at this point after the successful launch of the Hope Probe, but challenges of another kind emerged that were more difficult and dangerous, such as the nature of exploratory space missions that are always fraught with dangers. Where the probe’s journey to the Red Planet passes through six stages, in addition to the launch stage: the stage of early operations, navigation in space, entry into the orbit of Mars, the transition to the scientific stage, and the scientific stage, and each of these stages has its own nature and specific challenges that require dealing with them carefully. Accuracy and efficiency on the part of the work team.
In the first stage of the launch process, the missile accelerated away from the ground, and during this stage, solid-fuel missile engines were used, and as soon as the missile penetrated the atmosphere, the upper cover of the missile, which protected the "probe of hope" during the missile's penetration, was removed. to Earth's atmosphere.
In the second stage of the launch process, the engines of the first stage were discarded, and the probe was placed in Earth's orbit, after which the engines of the second stage worked to put the probe on its path towards the Red Planet through a precise alignment process with Mars, and the speed of the probe was at this stage 11 kilometers per second, or 39,600 kilometers per hour. Then the Hope probe moved to the second stage of its historic journey, known as the early operations stage, during which a series of pre-prepared commands began to operate the Hope probe. the sun.
After that, a maneuver began to adjust the position of the probe and direct the panels towards the sun, in order to start the process of charging the batteries on board the probe. Immediately after the previous operations were completed, the “Probe of Hope” began to send a series of data, which is the first signal to reach the planet Earth, and this signal was completed. It was captured by the Deep Space Monitoring Network, especially the station located in the Spanish capital, Madrid.
Track guidance maneuvers
As soon as the ground station in Dubai received this signal, the work team began conducting a series of checks to ensure the safety of the probe, which lasted for 45 days, during which the operations team and the team checked The probe engineers all instrumentation to ensure that the systems and devices on board the probe are working efficiently. At this stage, the Hope Probe team successfully overcame the challenge of directing the probe to be in the best path towards the Red Planet, and the team succeeded in conducting the first two maneuvers, the first on August 11 and the second on August 28, 2020.
After successfully completing the two trajectory guidance maneuvers, the third stage of the "Hope Probe" journey began, through a series of routine operations, as the team communicated with the probe via the ground control station two to three times a week, each for a period of 6 days. to 8 hours. And on the eighth of last November, the Hope Probe team successfully completed the third trajectory guidance maneuver, to determine - as a result - the exact date of the probe's arrival in the orbit of Mars on February 9, 2021 at 7:42 pm Emirates time.
Operation of scientific instruments in space
Also, during this stage, the work team operated scientific instruments for the first time in space, examined and adjusted them, by directing them towards the stars to ensure the integrity of their alignment angles and ensuring that it is operational once it reaches Mars. And with the end of this stage, the "Hope Probe" approached Mars, to begin the most important and most dangerous stage of its historical mission to explore the Red Planet, which is the stage of entering the orbit of Mars.
The hardest 27 minutes
The stage of entering Mars orbit, which takes 27 minutes before the probe successfully reaches its specified orbit around the red planet, is one of the most difficult and dangerous stages of the mission, especially since controlling the probe It will be automatically without any intervention from the ground station. The probe will operate all this time by itself.
Despite all the challenges, difficulties and risks that the Hope Probe project has faced since its inception, these minutes are the most difficult and dangerous, as their success depends entirely on the programming operations carried out by the work team when building and designing the probe, which are difficult to experience in similar conditions on the planet Earth, and at this stage the work team will focus on inserting the Hope probe into the capture orbit around Mars safely, and in order to complete this task successfully, half of the fuel in the probe's tanks will be burned to slow it down to the extent that allows it to enter the capture orbit.
The process of burning fuel using reverse propulsion engines (Delta V) continues for 27 minutes to reduce the speed of the probe from 121,000 km/h to 18,000 km/h, and given that it is a precise process, control orders have been developed for this stage through a deep study by the team. In all the scenarios that can happen, in addition to all the improvement plans, so that today the orders are ready for this critical moment.
After the success of this mission, the probe will enter its initial elliptical orbit, and the duration of one revolution around the planet will reach 40 hours, and the probe will range from 1,000 km above the surface of Mars to 49,380 km.
The probe will continue in this orbit for several weeks to re-examine and test all sub-instruments on board the probe before moving to the science phase during which the probe will make its first contact with the Earth station via the communications network in Spain.
Later, the sixth and final stage begins, which is the scientific stage, during which the "Hope Probe" will take an elliptical orbit around Mars at an altitude ranging from 20,000 to 43,000 km, and the probe will take 55 hours to complete a full orbit around Mars.
The orbit chosen by the Hope Probe team is very innovative and unique, and will allow the Hope Probe to provide the scientific community with the first integrated picture of the atmosphere and weather of Mars for a full year. The number of contacts of the Hope Probe with the ground station will be limited to only twice a week, and the duration of one contact ranges between 6 to 8 hours. This scientific data will be provided to the scientific community through the Scientific Data Center of the Emirates Mars Exploration Project.
And here the journey of the Hope Probe does not end, with all its challenges, difficulties and dangers, but begins another journey of challenging the impossible and overcoming it, and consolidating this approach as a basic value in the identity of the state and the culture of its people.
Whatever scenarios the Hope Probe mission will witness when it approaches Mars, the work team of young national cadres is proud that they have proven to the world that the sons and daughters of the UAE, like its leadership and people, do not know the impossible, as they worked for 7 years to complete the project, starting from design. Equipping and transporting the probe to Japan despite the conditions of Corona, then launching it successfully and controlling the flight path by conducting maneuvers to guide the path efficiently, and all of this is a great Arab-Emirati achievement by all standards.
In conclusion, the journey of the Hope Probe, from its inception as an idea until approaching Mars, through preparation, design and launch - and whatever its results - confirms that hope will remain renewed and that the impossible will remain possible on the land of the UAE and in the dictionary of its leadership and people.