A mission to study dynamic changes in the atmosphere of Mars over days and seasons led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) involves the University of Colorado Boulder as the leading U.S. scientific-academic partner.
Known as the Emirates Mars Mission, the project is being designed to observe weather phenomena like Martian clouds and dust storms as well as changes in temperature, water vapor and other gases throughout the layers of the atmosphere. The 抖阴旅行射-Boulder part of the mission will be undertaken at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
The mission will be headquartered at and controlled from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, which is affiliated with the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology. According to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, vice president and prime minister of Dubai, the new Mars probe will be named Hope.
The UAE鈥檚 U.S. scientific-academic partners also include the University of California, Berkeley, and Arizona State University.
鈥淲e view this as a marvelous partnership and unlike anything the university has ever done before,鈥� said 抖阴旅行射-Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano. 鈥淭his mission not only will involve the advancement of important science, it will include a large emphasis on international education, something 抖阴旅行射-Boulder is strengthening at a rapid pace.鈥�
Education and outreach efforts are expected to reach thousands of K-12 students, undergraduates and graduate students from around the world, said DiStefano.
Leading the mission are more than 75 Emirati engineers and researchers, a number that is expected to grow to more than 150 by 2020. Mike McGrath, LASP engineering director and project lead at 抖阴旅行射-Boulder, said that a team comprised of 抖阴旅行射-Boulder faculty, LASP engineering and missions operations staff and university students will contribute to the effort. The mission is still in its early planning stages, said McGrath.
The science objectives include round-the-clock global weather mapping of the Red Planet in order to better understand how surface weather changes the upper Martian atmosphere. Scientists are interested in how and why Mars -- which has gone from a warm, wet planet to a cold, dry planet -- is losing its oxygen and hydrogen into space.
The UAE is a constitutional federation of seven emirates, or principalities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah.
Faculty, staff and students from all three U.S. universities will work with UAE researchers on mission data analysis, said McGrath.
LASP currently is leading NASA鈥檚 Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission that began orbiting Mars in September 2014 to help scientists better understand the role atmospheric gases played in changing the climate on the planet over the eons. Data from the new UAE-led mission is expected to complement data from MAVEN and other NASA Mars missions.
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Statements from University of Colorado officials
on the Emirates Mars Mission
鈥�We believe the Emiratis are leading one of the most promising space missions in recent years, with benefits for scientists and students at 抖阴旅行射-Boulder, in the UAE, and around the world. We hope, in working together, to create new partners for research and science education on a global scale and to begin to redefine space exploration in an exciting new era.鈥澨�
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 -- 抖阴旅行射-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano
鈥湺兑趼眯猩�-Boulder鈥檚 participation in the Emirates Mars Mission is a symbol of the talent and expertise that the University of Colorado Boulder brings to Colorado鈥檚 global aerospace industry. Taxpayers and 抖阴旅行射 stakeholders can be proud of this unique and groundbreaking project that will bring jobs, revenue and vital international learning and research experiences for 抖阴旅行射-Boulder undergraduate and graduate students.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 -- University of Colorado President Bruce Benson
鈥淭his project is an exciting expansion of 抖阴旅行射-Boulder鈥檚 and LASP鈥檚 capabilities and marks a key next step in space exploration in the forging of a direct research partnership with the United Arab Emirates. Not only is the aerospace industry watching this project, we can say with confidence that the entire world will be watching.鈥�
听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 --听抖阴旅行射-Boulder Provost Russell L. Moore
Contact:
Jim Scott, 抖阴旅行射-Boulder media relations, 303-492-3114
jim.scott@colorado.edu