UAE Mars Mission: Hope probe makes first vital course correction

Spacecraft's six Delta-V thrusters fired for the first time to adjust path to Mars

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  The Hope probe launches from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre on July 20. AFP

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  It will take the spacecraft, which later detached from the rocket, about 200 days to reach the Red Planet, arriving in February 2021. Courtesy: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

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  The launch of the rocket is captured on video at Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Courtesy: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

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  The first homegrown Arab space mission drew in interest from across the globe. Courtesy: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

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  The launch of the rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Courtesy: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

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  Waiting for the launch in the morning light. MHI Launch Services twitter

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  Emirati journalists clap as they watch the launch of the Hope space probe at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AP

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  A broadcasting of the launch of the Hope Mars probe at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AFP

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  An Emirati man wipes a tear away with his face mask while watching the launch of the Hope space probe at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AP

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  Mohammed Al Mannaee, an announcer with Dubai TV, reacts as he watches the launch. AP

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  Sarah Al Ameeri and the UAE team watch the launch at at the Tanegashima Space Centre

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  The UAE team watch the launch of the Mars Hope probe at at the Tanegashima Space Centre.

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  Sarah Al Ameeri and the UAE team watch the launch at at the Tanegashima Space Centre

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  A screen broadcasts the launch of the Mars probe at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AFP

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  Solid rocket booster (SRB-A) was separated after burnout during the launch of the H-2A rocket carrying the Hope Probe, developed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the Mars explore, are recorded by cameras onboard the rocket after the lauch from Tanegashima Space Center on the island of Tanegashima, Japan. REUTERS

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  A screen broadcasts the launch of the Mars probe at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AFP

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  The launch of the rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Courtesy: MHI Launch Services

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  Omran Sharaf, the project director for the Hope space probe, speaks on his mobile phone at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AP

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  Sarah Al Ameeri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences of United Arab Emirates, celebrates with Naohiko Abe, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Senior Vice President, Head of Integrated Defence and Space Systems, after the successful launch of the H-2A rocket carrying the Hope Probe, developed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the Mars explore, at Tanegashima Space Center on the island of Tanegashima, Japan. REUTERS

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  Emiratis are pictured at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai ahead of the expected launch of the "Hope" Mars probe from Japan. AFP

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  The weather was clear over Tanegashima Island in southern Japan on Sunday after weeks of rain and cloudy conditions. Courtesy: Dubai Media Office

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  Emirati engineers wave in a picture taken on Sunday from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Courtesy: Emirates Mars Mission / UAE Space Agency

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  The launch of the rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Screengrab courtesy MHI Launch Services

The UAE's first spacecraft headed for Mars has successfully adjusted its trajectory to ensure the probe remains on course.

Completion of the probe's first trajectory correction manoeuvre involved firing the Hope probe's six Delta-V thrusters for the first time in its seven-month journey to the Red Planet.

Emirates Mars Mission project director, Omran Sharaf, described the event as a "major milestone for us".

"Not only because it is the first time we have deployed the spacecraft’s Delta-V thrusters but also because it defines our path to cruise Mars,” Mr Sharaf said.

The spacecraft is expected to make seven vital course corrections throughout its journey of 493 million kilometres to Mars.

Hope was launched from Tanegashima Space Centre in south-west Japan on July 20.

Engineers said the performance of the rocket and spacecraft during the launch and early stage of the probe's journey had achieved an "outstandingly accurate trajectory".

“Hope has exceeded our expectations and is now on target to reach its Mars orbit insertion, requiring less adjustment to its course than we had originally planned,” Mr Sharaf said.

As part of planetary protection protocols, Mars and other missions are typically launched on an initial flight path that is intended to miss the mission’s planetary target.

Once tests have confirmed the spacecraft is performing, and mitigating the chance of an unplanned crash and potential contamination with Earth pathogens, its path is adjusted.

Insertion into Mars's orbit is scheduled to take place early in February 2021.

When it reaches the Red Planet, Hope will collect data to help build the first full picture of its climate throughout the Martian year.

It will explore the atmosphere of Mars globally while sampling daily and seasonal timescales.

Understanding atmospheres of other planets will allow scientists to better understand our own and others in the universe.