Emirates Mars Mission unveils new insights into turbulent martian atmosphere

Emirates Mars Mission unveils new insights into turbulent martian atmosphere

Dubai, UAE - The Emirates Mars Mission, the first interplanetary exploration undertaken by an Arab nation, today released unique new images of Mars that challenge our existing conception of how the planet’s atmospheric gases behave and interact. Taken by the Mars Hope probe’s EMUS instrument, the observations show dramatic variations in the concentrations of both atomic oxygen and carbon monoxide in the dayside atmosphere of Mars. “These observations contain features that were completely unexpected and we believe will have far-reaching consequences for our existing models of the Martian atmosphere and our understanding of its behaviour. We simply hadn’t anticipated structures of this magnitude and complexity,” said Emirates Mars Mission Science Lead, Hessa Al Matroushi. The new findings are included in the first data release from the Mission, which was opened up to public access on 1 October 2021, and follow on from the Mission’s revolutionary observations of the Martian discrete aurora. Both new observations come early in the Mission’s lifetime and have significant implications for our understanding of the Martian atmosphere and its interaction with solar radiation. The observations confound scientist’s preconceptions of the distribution of ultraviolet light emitted from the upper atmosphere of Mars, showing vast structures at a