Hope Probe to move to new Mars orbit and observe Deimos

Hope Probe to move to new Mars orbit and observe Deimos

DUBAI - The Emirates Mars Mission 'Hope Probe', the first Arab-led planetary exploration mission, is transitioning to a new orbit.

The orbital transfer will allow the Hope Probe to fly within approximately 150 km and capture unprecedented data on Deimos, the smaller and outermost of the two natural satellites of Mars.

The new historical move will allow the Hope Probe to transition into a new elliptic orbit around Mars, following a Lambert orbital transfer maneuver utilising the change in its velocity. The new orbit will facilitate gathering data on Deimos, while allowing the Probe to continue its original mission and capture data on Mars’ atmosphere.

Deimos is the least observed compared to the red planet’s second moon, Phobos, which has been widely observed since its discovery in 1969. Orbiting Mars on a larger orbit, Deimos completes a revolution around the planet every 30 hours.

“The Deimos campaign aims to provide the international scientific community with previously unseen observations and data. The Hope Probe will capture high cadence images and data of the irregularly shaped, crater-heavy moon, during fly-bys at different times,” said Hessa Al Matroushi, Emirates Mars Mission Science Lead.

The first Deimos fly-by began in late January and continues through February 2023, as the