UAE’s Hope probe reveals Mars’ moon, previously thought as asteroid

In a recent revelation by Emirates Mars Mission, the space object which was thought to be an asteroid earlier, is now being considered as the tiny moon Deimos of the planet, reported The National News on Monday.

The UAE Hope probe spacecraft released science readings and images on Monday of the tiny moon orbiting Mars by flying 100 kilometres close to the moon’s surface. It gathered information about its composition that challenges the theory of Mars’ captured asteroids.

It is the second time that a space mission has been this close. For the first time, in 1977 Nasa’s Viking mission in has got that close.

Hessa Al Matroushi, the science lead of the mission, said: “We are unsure of the origins of both Phobos [the larger moon of Mars] and Deimos.”

“How exactly they came to be in their current orbits is also an active area of study, and so any new information we can gain on the two moons, especially the more rarely observed Deimos, has the potential to unlock new understanding of Mars’s satellites,” he said.

He also added: “Our close observations of Deimos so far point to a planetary origin rather than reflecting the composition of a type D asteroid as has been postulated.”

The Hope was launched in July 2020 and entered the orbit of Mars in February 2021. It has been sending back data since then about the red planet’s upper atmosphere and weather.

Unprecedented view from space

The Hope probe has been studying Mars for two years from an elliptical orbit. It started to observe Mars and Deimos by making a slight change in its orbit.

After that, it carried out fly-bys that eventually brought it closer to the moon’s surface — which was largely unexplored.

Sarah Al Amiri, minister of state for public education and future technology and chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, told The National that only a few images of Deimos exist.

She was of the view that “Phobos is better mapped as the larger moon and also the one that’s observed from the surface of Mars itself,” while adding “the level we reached is up to 100 kilometres from the surface of Deimos, which is considered quite close to be able to map it.”

“Mapping it using other wavelengths and instrumentation makes this significant from a science perspective,” she said.

“So, it’s not only a beautiful image and the far side captured, but a bit of insight into the make-up of the moon itself as well,” the minister remarked.

UAE space discovery

The new revelations of details about the red planet’s moon could unlock further study in tracing its history and origins.

Justin Deighan, the mission’s deputy science lead, said: “We have a unique opportunity with Hope to characterise the composition, thermophysics and detailed geomorphology of Deimos with these new observations.”

Deighan also added: “We expect to build a better understanding of both Phobos and Deimos’ origins and evolution and advance our fundamental understanding of these two satellites of Mars.”

The infrared spectrometer instrument in the space vehicle has been able to gather spectral data of nearly a complete surface of Deimos. The information show changing surface temperature, and details about the surface’s physical properties and composition of the moon.

According to their findings, Deimos’ surface is not perfectly homogenous but does have a fine-grained regolith and roughness. Its surface also has similarities to Phobos’ and suggests a basaltic origin for the body.

The new findings back the explanation that Deimos may be formed of coalesced pieces of Mars possibly ejected from a large impact rather than a captured carbonaceous D-Type asteroid.

Hoping for more details

Al Amiri said the Hope mission has now been extended for one more year because the “data is valuable”.

“Characterising the atmosphere, the spacecraft is ideally located and the data that’s coming out of the mission will allow the observations to continue on into another year to give us more in-depth details into that,” she noted.

She also highlighted: “The team is expanding the number of partnerships with universities and researchers across the UAE to help maximise the scientific outcome of the mission.”

Scientists all across the world have benefited from the data and the findings have also been incorporated into several peer-reviewed scientific journals.