Almost a year and a half ago, the United Arab Emirates announced an ambitious mission to deep space to explore the asteroid belt. The Arab country plans to meet seven different asteroids in this region to be precise.
According to Orez Technica reportThe UAE plans to launch the discussed mission in 2028 in cooperation with the University of Colorado Boulder, USA. The Emiratis see the asteroid belt exploration mission as a fitting follow-up to their successful Mars rover, Omid; A probe that reached the orbit of Mars in 2021 And since then, he has been studying the thin atmosphere of the Red Planet and its seasonal climate changes.
Sara AmiriThe head of the UAE Space Agency, when announcing the country’s second interplanetary mission, said: “The new mission we are carrying out to explore the asteroid belt again takes us to another level of complexity and growth of capabilities and represents a huge leap forward for the development of the space sector. It is the Emirates.”
However, what was not detailed in 2021 were the specific asteroids that the Emirates probe will visit. But now, thanks to a poster to be presented at the Asteroids, Comets and Meteors conference next month, we know the names of these asteroids.
Emirates spacecraft after receiving gravity assistance from Venusland and Mars, will encounter seven main asteroid belt asteroids. Among these, the spacecraft will visit six asteroids at high speed and will finally reach the asteroid 269 Justisha. The list of seven asteroids targeted by the UAE probe is as follows:
- Flyby: Asteroid 10253 Westerwald
- Flyby: Asteroid 623 Chimera
- Flyby: Asteroid 13294 Rocax
- Flyby: Asteroid 23871
- Flyby: Asteroid 59980
- Close Encounter: Asteroid 269 Justisha
Asteroid 269 Justisha is relatively large and its diameter reaches about 53 km. As astronomers from the Infrared Telescope Facility Center and Astronomical Observatory of Seoul National University discovered a few years ago, the interesting thing about this space rock is its reddish color.
The red color of 269 Jastisha is probably due to the presence of organic compounds called thulin on its surface. Tulane in Pluto And other icy bodies located in the outer part of the solar system are found in abundance. As a result, it is likely that this asteroid will reach the inner part of the solar system in the range beyond Neptune formed
If the origin of Justisha does indeed go back to the farthest reaches of the solar system, the Emirates Asteroid Mission will give scientists a front-row seat to learn more precisely about the nature and properties of large objects that reside beyond Neptune.
