The Emirates Mars Mission, the first interplanetary exploration undertaken by an Arab nation, has finalised a science data analysis collaboration initiative with NASA’s MAVEN Mars Mission, which will pave the way towards greater scientific collaboration and data exchange between the two missions.
The partnership enables the sharing and collaborative analysis of data and observations made by the Emirates Mars Mission’s (EMM) Hope Probe and NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) project and will enhance scientific returns from both spacecraft, which are currently orbiting Mars and observing the Red Planet’s atmosphere. The arrangement is expected to add significant value to both EMM and MAVEN and the global scientific communities analysing the data the missions are collecting.
MAVEN completed its Mars orbit insertion in 2014. Its mission is to investigate the upper atmosphere and ionosphere of Mars, offering an insight into how the planet’s climate has changed over time.
“MAVEN and EMM are each exploring different aspects of the Martian atmosphere and upper-atmosphere system. Combined, we will have a much better understanding of the coupling between the two and the influence of the lower atmosphere on escape to space of gas from the upper atmosphere”, said Shannon Curry, Research scientist in planetary sciences at the University of California, Berkeley and MAVEN Principal Investigator.
The Emirates Mars Mission’s Hope Probe, which entered Mars orbit on 9 February 2021, is studying the relationship between the upper layer and lower regions of the Martian atmosphere, giving the international science community full access to a holistic view of the planet’s atmosphere at different times of the day, through different seasons.
EMM was designed to answer a number of objectives defined by the global grouping of Mars scientists and researchers, MEPAG – the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group. Following on from MAVEN and other previous missions, Hope set out to measure the global, diurnal and seasonal response of the Martian atmosphere to solar forcing; the atmospheric conditions relating to the rate of atmospheric escape – particularly of Hydrogen and Oxygen and the temporal and spatial behaviour of Mars’ exosphere. With early results showing exciting observations of Mars’ discrete aurora and additional bandwidth and resources available to encompass additional observations, further measurements of auroral phenomena have been brought into the mission’s goals, extending its capabilities beyond Hope’s planned goals.
Also published on Medium.
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