UAE Mars Mission: what happens to the Hope probe after lift-off?

The July 15 launch from Japan’s Tanegashima Island will be streamed live

The Hope probe was placed inside this payload fairing last week and was transferred to building where the rocket is kept. Courtesy: Shoma Watanbe

The launch pad is ready to receive the H-IIA rocket, which will deliver the Hope probe to space. It will take 30 to 40-minutes for the rocket to be transported to the launch pad. Courtesy: Yoshiaki Sakita

The payload fairing, which is holding the spacecraft, has been mounted on top of the rocket. The structure is meant to protect the probe from dynamic pressure and aerodynamic heating it experiences during its launch into an atmosphere. Courtesy: Shoma Watanbe

The probe was already fuelled with 800kgs of hydrogen for its seven-month-long journey to Mars. Courtesy: Emirates Mars Mission

The H-IIA rocket that will carry the Hope probe into space. Dubai Twitter account

All launch viewing events in Tanegashima have been suspended as part of the Covid-19 safety measures. Signs have been up in all of popular spots, asking the public to keep a 3km distance from the Tanegashima Space Centre on launch day. Courtesy: Yoshiaki Sakita

The most popular launch viewing site is the Rocket Hill. It is a five-minute drive from the main building of the Tangashima Space Centre and offers a clear view of the launch. It remains closed to the public. The National

The free bus tour and exhibition at the Tanegashima Space Centre has also been suspended in efforts to contain the Covid-19 spread. Signs were placed outside of the centre, alerting the public. Courtesy: Yoshiaki Sakita

Engineers at the launch site in Tanegashima island, Japan. Courtesy: Emirates Mars Mission

The completed Hope spacecraft. It will study the lower and upper atmosphere of Mars. Courtesy: Emirates Mars Mission

An anxious group of Emirati engineers will be looking on from ground control in Dubai when the Hope probe finally lifts off for Mars later this week.

For two hours after the launch, the spacecraft's on board communication systems will remain silent as it is carried up into outer space by a Japanese-built H-IIA rocket.

Once outside Earth's orbit, however, and if all runs smoothly, the probe will then begin transmitting its first signals home.

Lift-off is scheduled for 12.51am (UAE time) on July 15 and here, The National explains exactly what happens after the probe, the Arab world's first mission to Mars, takes off.

Lift-off, Stage 1

On the day of the launch, a group of Emirati engineers will gather at both the launch site on Japan’s Tanegashima Island and at a mission control room inside the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai.

The lift-off is expected to have the world’s first Arabic countdown and will be streamed live in Arabic and in English.

If final checks are given the go-ahead, including a suitable weather window, the two-stage rocket will blast-off from its launch site with a remarkable 1,100 kilonewtons of thrust.

It will soar up over the Pacific Ocean and accelerate away from Earth at speeds of up to 34,082km/h. Later, the rocket's fairing – including its nose cone – will be jettisoned.

Lift-off, Stage 2

Following the smooth completion of Stage 1, the rocket will continue on into Earth's orbit.

There controllers will ensure its correct trajectory before taking the decision to release the Hope probe.

This is a critical moment in the launch process and has been timed to provide Earth's ideal alignment with the Red Planet, which only occurs every two years.

Communicating with Hope

Hope's computers have been programmed to perform certain set functions once it is released from the rocket.

Its first instruction will be to turn on its heaters to ensure its fuel does not freeze. Temperatures can reach as low as -270 Celsius.

The probe's two solar panels will then be deployed with the aim of beginning to charge the spacecraft's on board batteries. Hope is estimated to switch on at exactly 2.51am, at which point it will send its first transmission to Earth.

Once the data is received by the operations room at MBRSC, engineering teams will begin checking the spacecraft’s status.

“We are going to receive the first signal at our operations room at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre," said Zakareyya Hussain Al SHamshi, the deputy manager of mission operations at MBRSC.

"We will receive all of the telemetry to check its health and then we will continue testing for 13 days to measure its health.

“We expect to receive the first signal at about 2.51am or 2.54am. Then we’ll ensure the solar panels are facing the sun properly.”

Hope will then begin its 200-day journey to the Red Planet.