UAE “Hope” probe successfully reaches Mars, two more following shortly

Enlarge / Dubai's Burj Khalifa is lit up in red with a slogan reading in Arabic, "Mission accomplished" on February 9, 2021 as the UAE's Hope probe successfully entered Mars' orbit. (credit: GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Mars month began in earnest on Tuesday, with the arrival of the United Arab Emirates' "Hope" spacecraft at the red planet. It is due to be followed in short order by spacecraft from China and the United States over the next 10 days after these missions all launched from Earth last summer.

The UAE spacecraft, built in conjunction with several US-based universities, successfully completed a maneuver to enter Mars' orbit on Tuesday, firing its six Delta-V thrusters for 27 minutes. This significantly slowed the spacecraft from 121,000km/hour to about 18,000km/hour, allowing it to become captured into a Mars' orbit.

Some weeks remain while the spacecraft will test out its scientific instruments and then enter into a final "science" orbit. Once there, it will collect data about weather on the red planet for an entire Martian year.

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