UAE's Mars Hope probe 'is safe and will begin sending key science data in two months'

First close-up image taken by spacecraft due in a week, says mission director

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid personally thank staff from mission control in Dubai after Hope probe's successful orbit entry on February 9. The National

A man celebrates at an event at Burj Park in Dubai to celebrate the Hope probe going into orbit around Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

People celebrate at an event at Burj Park to celebrate the Hope probe going into orbit around Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

An event at Burj Park to celebrate the Hope probe going into orbit around Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

People celebrate at an event at Burj Park to celebrate the Hope probe going into orbit around Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Guests arrive at the Burj Park event to mark the arrival of the Hope probe to Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

A guest attending the Burj Park event to mark the arrival of the Hope probe to Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Burj Park was set up for people to watch the Hope probe attempt its Mars orbit insertion. Courtesy: UAE Government Twitter

UAE Mars Mission engineer, Hessa Al Matroushi, was interviewed at a Burj Park event to mark the arrival of the Hope probe to Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, attended the event at Burj Park to mark the arrival of the Hope probe to Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Engineer Hessa Al Matroushi attended the event at Burj Park to mark the arrival of the Hope probe to Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

TV crews get ready at an event at Burj Park in Dubai to celebrate the Hope probe going into orbit around Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

An event at Dubai's Burj Park to celebrate the Hope probe's Mars orbit insertion attempt. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Guests arrive at an event at Burj Park to mark the Hope probe's Mars orbit insertion attempt. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Guests and media arrive at an event at Burj Park to witness Hope probe's Mars orbit insertion attempt. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Guests arrive at an event at Burj Park to mark the Hope probe's Mars orbit insertion attempt. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Guests arrive at an event at Burj Park to mark the Hope probe's Mars orbit insertion attempt. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Guests arrive at an event at Burj Park to mark the Hope probe's Mars orbit insertion attempt. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The Burj Khalifa lights up at an event at Burj Park in Dubai to celebrate the Hope probe going into orbit around Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The UAE Flag area on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi lights up in red to celebrate the success of the Hope probe going into orbit around Mars. Victor Besa / The National

The ADNOC Headquarters lights up in Abu Dhabi to celebrate the success of the Hope probe going into orbit around Mars. Victor Besa / The National

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed celebrates with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid at an event at Burj Park in Dubai to celebrate the Hope probe going into orbit around Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

People celebrate at an event at Burj Park in Dubai to mark the Hope probe going into orbit around Mars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The UAE's Hope probe is another step closer to begin capturing data from Mars after it moved into the transfer orbit.

On Tuesday, Hope was successfully placed in the planet's capture orbit. To collect data on the Red Planet, it must move into the science orbit but first pass through the transfer orbit – where the probe is now.

The spacecraft will spend two months in the transfer orbit as mission control at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre carries out a series of rigorous tests to ensure Hope's subsystems and instruments are working.

Omran Sharaf, Mars mission director, said the spacecraft will beam back the first image in a week.

A day after UAE made history by becoming the fifth country to reach Mars, Mr Sharaf described the tense orbit entry stage as nerve-racking.

He said support from the community helped motivate the team, who had spent the past six years working hard to ensure its success.

“Yesterday was one of the riskiest phases and we managed to succeed that stage – and by that I mean Emiratis and residents – whether you work in the space sector or not,” he said.

“The mission tested how much the team can handle and also us, as a society, on how we can deal with such difficult tasks. What was special was seeing ... all of the UAE community supporting this mission and that they understood, if the mission failed, we had already achieved success.”

Tuesday's successful orbit insertion came six years after the mission's inception, and after the probe had travelled through space for seven months. Hope defied a 50 per cent risk of failure to enter Mars orbit.

It will spend two years orbiting the planet and sending back data to fill a gap in research and provide the world with more information about Mars.

The probe will study how energy moves through the atmosphere during the day and through the seasons of the 687-day Mars year.