Hope Probe: Launches of the fifth edition of “Mars Exploration Competition”
The UAE Mars Exploration Project launched the “Hope Probe” on Sunday, the fifth round of the “Discover Mars” competition.
The competition provides university students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics with an opportunity to explore Mars using scientific data from the Hope Probe scientific data center.
The fifth cycle of the Contest requires participating students to prepare a preliminary scientific analysis, using data collected by one or more of the three scientific instruments that the Probe of Hope carries on its ongoing scientific mission to explore Mars.
Students can work in teams of up to three people to produce a scientific poster, which the contest’s jury will evaluate based on its scientific content, design and presentation.
The top three winners will receive 10,000 dirhams, 7,000 dirhams and 5,000 dirhams. The jury will evaluate the entries to determine the winners of the competition.
The application is open for students until Saturday, November 20, 2021. For competition and registration instructions, please contact [email protected].
Omran Sharaf, director of the UAE Mars Exploration Project, said that organizing the “Discover Mars” competition for the fifth year in a row proves our commitment to motivate and involve students and to highlight educational and development opportunities in the space sector. Young people are the greatest asset the UAE has, and they are the key to the future who will continue the process of scientific progress for the homeland.
The “Discover Mars” contest motivates students to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics in order to strengthen national capacities in fields related to advanced science and technology, he said.
He added: “By providing students with an opportunity like this to explore space and Mars and develop their skills, it helps equip them to participate in creating a knowledge, competitive, and innovation-based economy over the next 50 years.”
Hissa al-Matrouchi, deputy director of the Emirates Mars Exploration Project, said that the launch of the fifth edition of the competition after the probe made the first batch of scientific data collected on the Red Planet available to the scientific community and the public would increase the interest of students in space science and technology.
Through this competition and other activities and programs, the UAE Mars Exploration Project “The Hope Probe” continued to implement its commitment to inspire a new generation of students and young people to lead the national space sector in the future towards further progress and prosperity.
The Mars Exploration Competition aims to hone students’ research skills by giving them the opportunity to benefit from the Hope Rover science data center.
The Hope Probe is currently orbiting Mars and collecting unprecedented data on the Red Planet’s atmosphere. The probe’s data is shared free of charge with the international scientific community as a contribution by the UAE to the scientific advancement of humanity.
The Hope Probe carries three scientific devices: EXI is a digital camera for capturing high-resolution color images of Mars. It is also used to measure ice and ozone in the lower atmosphere and the EMIRS infrared spectrometer, which measures temperature, distribution of dust, water vapor and ice clouds in the lower stratosphere of the red planet, as well as the EMUS spectrometer, and measures oxygen and carbon monoxide in the Mars thermal layer and hydrogen and oxygen in the outer atmosphere of Mars.
