Free Astronomy Magazine July-August 2015

ASTRONAUTICS haviour of gaseous masses in the presence of particular conformations of the Martian surface. The Emirates’ interplanetary mission, be- sides being the first in the entire Arab world, it will also be the first ever to study the dynamic variations of the Martian at- mosphere during daily and seasonal cycles. The instruments of the probe, named Hope after a survey conducted among the Arab population, will enable scientists to observe weather phenomena of various kinds, from simple clouds to storms, from ice formation at different altitudes to the distribution of gaseous masses and of the elements consti- tuting them, with special attention to water T he trajectory that Hope will follow on its jour- ney toward Mars. The probe will enter into an ellipti- cal orbit with a minimum distance from the planet of 22,000 km and pe- riod of 55 hours. [Mohammed bin Rashid Space Cen- tre] On the side, the major proponents of the Emirates Mars Mission, the President of the United Arab Emir- ates, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (left), and (right) the Vice-Pres- ident, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Ra- shid Al Maktoum, the governmental authority most di- rectly involved in the aerospace pro- jects of the Emirates.