Dubai: Several monochromatic images of Mars — taken by Hope Probe at various altitudes — were tweeted by the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) on Monday.
The images shared were taken by one of Hope Probes three scientific instruments — Emirates eXploration Imager (EXI). Using its 635 nm (nanometre) filter during an orbit of Mars on May 5-6 this year, EXI took images of Mars from different altitudes. These images are processed and then used to understand the lower atmosphere of Mars.
“Before using these images for scientific analysis, corrections have to be made where possible for any impacts associated with the detector and optics, as well as those that occur as part of being in orbit around Mars such as cosmic rays,” EMM tweeted.
Quick look
“These monochromatic images shown here are “Quick Look” products and are generated as part of the EXI data processing pipeline. Their role is intended to offer an efficient way to assess whether the observations were made as planned,” EMM added.
EMM also posted a video showing the location of where the monochromatic EXI images have been captured around Hope’s orbit around the Red Planet
Portrait of Martian atmosphere
Hope Probe is the first Arab interplanetary mission that was launched from Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan on July 20. As a planetary orbiter, its is expected to collect more than one terabyte (1,000GB) of new data, which will be shared with more than 200 academic and scientific institutions around the world for free. Hope Probe, with its three scientific instruments, will map a complete portrait of the Martian atmosphere and evaluate its seasonal and daily changes.
Scientific instruments
Attached to Hope Probe are three scientific instruments:
EXI — The Emirates eXploration Imager is a 12-megapixel digital camera that captures high-resolution images of Mars along with measuring water ice and ozone in the lower atmosphere through the UV bands.
EMIRS — The Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer measures the global distribution of dust, ice cloud, and water vapour in the Martian lower atmosphere.
EMUS — The Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer measures oxygen and carbon monoxide in the thermosphere and the variability of hydrogen and oxygen in the upper atmosphere.
