UAE’S Mars probe reveals higher than expected oxygen levels in the planet’s air

Dubai: The Emirates Mars Mission’s unmanned Hope Probe spacecraft in the Martian orbit has discovered higher than expected amounts of oxygen on the planet.

The announcement came on Saturday in a tweet also showing spring season in the northern part of Mars, posted by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Hope Probe is studying Mars’ atmosphere is unprecedented detail using a variety of sensors and cameras.

The UAE on Saturday began sharing the scientific data it obtained on Mars so far with the rest of the global research centres, Sheikh Mohammed said.

“These observations, and our previously announced observations of Mars’ discrete aurora, are part of the first data release that went out in Oct 1st . From now onwards, we will be releasing new data sets every three months without embargo and free for use to the community,” the Mars mission also said in a series of tweets on Saturday.

Speaking about the discovery of greater than expected concentrations of oxygen in the Martian atmosphere, the tweets added: “The EMM team had expected to observe a relatively uniform emission from oxygen at 130.4 nm across the planet and yet here we are, faced with unpredicted variations of 50% or more in the brightness [in the images showng the oxygen concentrations].”

The findings were spotted using the probe’s ultraviolet spectrometer.

Emirates Mars Mission Science Lead Hessa Al Matroushi said: “These observations contain features that were completely unexpected and we believe will have far-reaching consequences for our existing models of the Martian atmosphere and our understanding of its behaviour. We simply hadn’t anticipated structures of this magnitude and complexity."