Arab Mars Probe Planned For 2020

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday May 17, 2015 @12:29AM from the more-planetary-science-is-always-good dept.

SpankiMonki sends word that the United Arab Emirates has announced plans to launch a Mars mission in July, 2020. They want to send a probe (named "al-Amal",or "Hope") that will orbit the Red Planet for several years. It will analyze the Martian atmosphere, observing clouds and dust storms to help scientists figure out how water gradually escaped from Mars over a long time scale. [A]fter being inserted into an elliptical 55-hour orbit in the first quarter of 2021, Hope will carry out its nominal two-year science mission at altitudes ranging between 22,000 to 44,000 kilometers. From there, the mission will investigate how the lower and upper levels of the Martian atmosphere are connected. One goal is to create the first global picture of how the Martian atmosphere changes throughout the day and between seasons.

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Re:This will be a historic mission. by Anonymous Coward · 2015-05-17 01:10 · Score: 5, Informative

Its being built in Colorado by CU
Way to go, UAE! by hey! · 2015-05-17 02:09 · Score: 4, Informative

Seriously. Good for you.
It sounds like you've got really interesting research goals for this mission, and I wish you great success.

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