New Martian space probe is a joint achievement for the UAE and Colorado

After seven months of travel through 120 million miles of space, a small piece of Niwot is finally circling the Red Planet.

Launched on July 19, 2020, the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) reached Martian orbit on February 9. The unmanned mission is led by Emirati researchers and assembled by scientists at various research universities, including the University of Colorado Boulder.

The orbiter, officially named the "Mars Hope Probe," is a significant achievement for the Middle East. Hope is the scientific undertaking of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) based in Dubai, UAE, a governmental agency that over the last 15 years has made the country's first forays into space with an astronaut program and various space satellites launched into Earth's upper atmosphere. However, EMM marks the first interplanetary voyage made by any Arab country in history.

Though the project is an achievement for the United Arab Emirates, the physical components of EMM's Hope orbital received significant help from over 7,000 miles away - both from the CU campus and Niwot, CO.

When the mission was announced in 2014, the UAE turned to several American research universities for guidance on the manufacturing of a probe that would outlast the breach of Earth's atmosphere, followed by the harsh conditions of outer space for over half a year. While the University of California Berkeley and Arizona State University had significant roles in the orbital's construction in their respective research labs, the Emirati team was particularly drawn to a significant partnership with CU's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) due to its rich history of successful forays to the Red Planet, according to Pete Withnell, LASP director and a resident of Niwot.

Withnell's team of over 150 engineers made up a significant part of the design group, with his input directly influencing the probe's design and features. With a budget of over $200 million USD given to EMM by the Emirati government, significant portions were sent to LASP for the design, development and fabrication of various other components of Hope. One significant piece was the Emirates eXploration Imager (EXI), a state-of-the-art imaging software that has the power to transmit composite color images of the Martian surface to the research team. EXI has already returned promising results, such as high-quality images of Olympus Mons, Mars' highest peak.

EXI and its partner tools, two infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers that were also developed at LASP, are considered key tools aboard Hope. They will play a significant role in measuring the movement of water vapor and heat throughout the Martian atmosphere, seeking to answer still unanswered questions about the Red Planet's thin atmosphere.

Now that the hurdles of travelling to the Red Planet are done with, Emirati researchers have set their focus to Hope's main mission of studying daily and seasonal weather cycles in various regions of the Martian surface and atmosphere. According to EMM, the orbital is circling the planet in a unique pattern, which will allow it to capture thorough data from both higher and lower points of the Martian atmosphere, a unique feat for unmanned probes. One particular focus of the mission is to investigate the causes and impacts of the gas escape phenomena that leaves Mars with its uniquely thin atmosphere.

While the EMM team sets their sights on the data that the probe brings back to Earth, Hope's creators in Colorado, including Withnell's team, see rich opportunities through future partnerships with the burgeoning space programs of other nations, who may turn to Withnell's team at CU once again for expert guidance on the manufacturing of other unmanned vessels in the same way that the UAE turned to the university for aid in sound aeronautic engineering built under time, budget and resource constraints.

"There are multiple stories of Emirates engineers who started on the program with perhaps little experience in aerospace and ended up defending complex spacecraft subsystems and designs in front of seasoned review panels," Withnell noted in a CU press release following the mission's launch.

"This new Mars mission shows Colorado's growing leadership in the aerospace industry, both here at home and around the world," CU chancellor Phillip DiStefano said, applauding the university's role in the promising aeronautics industry. "That our scientists and engineers can share their knowledge with the next generation of space pioneers across borders is inspiring."