Tuesday, February 9, 2021

[U: SUCCESS!] "Dare Mighty Things!" -- UAE Edition: In About An Hour From Now... Mars Orbital Insertion Burn


Update -- orbital capture achieved; a complete success.

Yep. This is white knuckle time, for a first ever leap from ground operations -- all the way to a fully automated breaking burn, to go from a 75,000 mile an hour cruising speed, to below 11,000 miles an hour -- and let the gravity of Barsoom gently bend the craft into a stable orbital curve, around her copper clad face. Then fifteen minutes of silence, while Hope makes her first pass over the dark side of Mars. It will be a high adreneline hour or two, in the UAE control room.

I have every confidence in the science-team, and the space science they relied on, there -- as it was truly a multinational space science review. The live TV stream -- in multiple language formats, of course -- may be accessed here, then. And a bit, from The Verge, reporting:

. . .Over the next two months, Hope will carry out a few more maneuvers to jump into a closer orbit around Mars. This will be key for carrying out its main objective: scanning the Martian atmosphere and capturing a global snapshot of the planet’s weather patterns. Hope will orbit Mars every 55 hours and capture a complete snapshot every nine days.

The Emirates Mars Mission’s Twitter account will be tweeting updates throughout the mission. The UAE space agency will also host a live feed of mission control in Dubai starting at 9AM ET before the maneuver begins at 10:30AM ET. Tune in then, to see if UAE nails its first interplanetary mission. . . .


I just know they will -- as they are led by. . . a wise Arabian Princess. Smile. . . LIVE:

नमस्ते

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