The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United Arab Emirates Mars mission will share scientific data to study the Martian atmosphere.
On April 12, local time, NASA announced that NASA's Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission and the UAE Hope probe mission will cooperate to pave the way for scientific cooperation and data exchange between the two Mars orbiters. Two spacecraft are orbiting Mars, collecting atmospheric data on the Red Planet.
Uae Hope probe
Launched from Earth on 20 July 2020, the UAE Hope Mars rover successfully entered orbit around Mars last February, changing orbit several times under ground control and orbiting Mars in an elliptical orbit (science orbit) with a diameter of about 43,000 km. Hope is studying the relationship between the upper and lower layers of the Martian atmosphere to understand the atmosphere of Mars at different times of the day and different seasons.
NASA MAVEN probe
Launched in November 2013 and entering Mars orbit in 2014, MAVEN aims to investigate the upper atmosphere and ionosphere of Mars, providing clues to understand how the Martian climate changes over time. Highlights of its scientific exploration include the identification that much of the Martian atmosphere has been lost to space over time, which drives changes in the Martian climate and the ability of the Martian surface to sustain life; a description of the mechanism by which gases are stripped from the atmosphere into space; and the role of solar storms in increasing escape rates.
NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission and the UAE Mars Mission both explore different aspects of the Martian atmosphere and upper atmosphere system. Shannon Curry, principal investigator at MAVEN at the University of California, Berkeley, said combining the two would better understand the coupling between the two, as well as the impact of the lower atmosphere on the upper atmosphere's escape into space.