The Emirates Mars Mission team just announced that the Hope Probe, which successfully entered the orbit of Mars last Tuesday, has sent the first image of the Red Planet.
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan shared the first image on his Twitter.
“The transmission of the Hope Probe’s first image of Mars is a defining moment in our history and marks the UAE joining advanced nations involved in space exploration. We hope this mission will lead to new discoveries about Mars which will benefit humanity,” wrote His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces on Twitter.
The Probe travleled more than 493 million kilometres over the past seven months.
“The image will be immortalised in history as the first image of an Arab probe to reach Mars,” said a statement from UAE state news agency WAM.
Titled ‘EMM catches Olympus Mons at Sunrise’, the picture was taken by the EXI digital exploration camera, one of EMM’s three scientific instruments. It is a multi-wavelength radiation tolerant camera that can take 12-megapixel images and took the image from an altitude of around 25,000 km above the Martian surface, according to WAM.
The North pole of Mars is in the upper left of the image. EMM captured the largest volcano in the solar system, as well as Olympus Mons, emerging into the early morning sunlight.
The transmission of the Hope Probe's first image of Mars is a defining moment in our history and marks the UAE joining advanced nations involved in space exploration. We hope this mission will lead to new discoveries about Mars which will benefit humanity. pic.twitter.com/TCM5yHTapH
— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) February 14, 2021
More prominent are the three large shield volcanoes of Tharsis Montes: Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Arisia Mons.
Further to the East or right of the volcanoes lie Noctis Labyrinthus and the Valles Marineris system of canyons, filled with clouds. Ice clouds are present over the southern highlands (lower right) as well as surrounding the volcano Alba Mons (upper left), according to WAM.
Clouds can also be seen above the limb (top of image and middle right, when looking between the planet and space). These clouds, seen in different geographic regions and at different times of day, provide a preview of EMM’s contributions to understanding the Martian atmosphere.
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says that the atmosphere could lead to answers on whether Mars can support life.
The picture is the first of more than 1,000 GB of new Mars data that the Probe will send back to earth and that will be shared for free with more than 200 academic and scientific institutions around the world, said WAM.
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