February 6th, local time, the UAE “Hope” Mars mission team held a press conference to announce that “Hope” was about to approach Mars and start the orbiting mission.
If everything goes well, Hope is expected to enter orbit around Mars at about 19:42 Dubai time on February 9 (23:42 Beijing time).
According to the UAE “Hope” Mars mission team, “Hope” has flown more than 400 million kilometers since its launch on July 20, 2020, during which it has been operated by the ground many orbits.
At present, all flight data are normal. Due to the delay of about 10 minutes when the signal is transmitted back to Earth, it is impossible to control Hope in real time from Earth.
Now Hope has switched to flying entirely by automatic programs. The next step is about to usher in the biggest challenge after launch.
At about 19:30 Dubai time on February 9, Hope will launch six thrusters and quickly slow down its speed from 121,000 kilometers per hour to 18,000 kilometers per hour during the 27-minute window period.
If everything goes well, “Hish “Wang” will be successfully captured by the gravity of Mars and is expected to enter orbit around Mars at about 19:42 Dubai time on February 9
Orman Ahmed Al Hammadi, a scientist of the UAE’s Hope Mars mission team, said that Hope will then carry out some reorbiting operations, which will take about eight weeks, after which Hope will be in a diameter of 200.
Flying around Mars in an elliptical scientific orbit between 00 kilometers and 43,000 kilometers, while analyzing Mars’ atmosphere, UAE scientists said that the Hope team will publish all the data obtained in a timely and public way through the website.
