The Emirates Mars Mission will undoubtedly be a watershed moment for both the nation and wider Arab world. But the journey transporting the hand-finished space orbiter from Dubai to an island in Japan was in itself a monumental and landmark mission, writes Jennifer Bell.
Amidst the global COVID-19 crisis, UAE engineers and experts collaborated around-the-clock to ensure the safe passage of the Emirates Mars Mission Hope Probe to its launch site in Tanegashima Island – 1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo – in April, ahead of the Arab world’s first deep-space mission.
The safe transportation of the probe during a global pandemic was an early reminder of the UAE’s slogan – that the impossible is possible.
While the transport process of any spacecraft carries lengthy complications – because of the nature of the craft, the instruments and their sensitivity to temperature, humidity, dust, and movement – the added issues triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic added extra layers of complicity.
The Emirates Mars Mission planning team had to be doubled to oversee the enhanced areas of security and infection measures, with the crew tag-teaming to meet quarantine requirements.
Shipping the probe first began on 20 April 2020, at 10am, with the space orbiter being transferred by road from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre to Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport.
It was a 12-hour process, with engineers spending five hours ensuring the probe was safely nestled in a shipping container, customised to work as a miniature portable cleanroom. Modifications to the container ensured a temperature and humidity-controlled environment, while a nitrogen purge system protected the probe from airborne dust particles.
The probe was then transported by road at very low speeds to minimise vibrations that could potentially damage sensitive parts.
Specialists spent a further three hours loading the aircraft onto an Antonov 124 heavy lifter – one of the world’s largest cargo planes – ahead of an 11-hour flight to Japan’s Nagoya Airport.
A team of experts accompanied the probe to carefully monitor its safety during the flight route, carefully selected to minimise turbulence, and keep a watchful eye on any weather conditions that could negatively impact the flight and its precious cargo.
When the probe reached Chubu Centrair International Airport in Nagoya, crew underwent rigorous infection-control measures to minimise the chance of COVID-19 infection as they handed over the orbiter to on-ground staff.
The next stage – shipping the probe from Nagoya Airport to the launch site in Tanegashima Island – was a three-day task.
The Hope Probe was carefully unpacked from the aircraft, undergoing vigorous health and safety checks, before a 44-hour trip by sea to Shimama port on Tanegashima Island. There, experts waited until nightfall to transport the probe along quieter roads from Shimama to the south side of Tanegashima Island to reach Tanegashima Space Centre.
The probe was then handed over to the launch team ahead of intensive final checks ahead of the Hope Probe launch on Wednesday 15 July, and its seven-month journey to Mars once it arrives in February 2021 – in time for the UAE’s golden jubilee.
Follow the countdown to launch at emiratesmarsmission.ae.