tony4563

Bryan.. Japanese rocket by the sounds of it but UAE project.

The spacecraft, dubbed Hope, launched July 19, 2020, atop a Japanese H-IIA rocket, then spent seven months trekking to the Red Planet. Today (Feb. 9), Hope needed to fire its thrusters for nearly half an hour straight to slow down enough to slip into orbit around the Red Planet, from 75,000 mph to 11,000 mph (121,000 kph to 18,000 kph). Mission personnel on the ground could only watch what happened and hope for the best.

"This has been a remarkable journey of humanity," UAE Space Agency chairperson Sarah Al Amiri said during preparations for the orbital insertion maneuver. With the successful Mars orbit insertion, the UAE becomes the fifth entity to reach the Red Planet, joining NASA, the Soviet Union, the European Space Agency and India. Today's success also puts the $200 million Hope spacecraft on the bright side of grim Mars mission statistics: About half of flights to the Red Planet fail. Mars orbit insertion was a critical step that, for Hope, required a 27-minute burn of its six thrusters that the mission team could not precisely practice in advance. Hope is now in a temporary orbit that it will retain for a few months as it powers on its instruments and settles into its new home.

Mission personnel plan to relocate the spacecraft to its science orbit in May. That science orbit will see the spacecraft circling high over the planet's equator every 55 hours, a new orbit for a Mars spacecraft that will give Hope a unique opportunity to study large-scale atmospheric phenomena on Mars. The Hope mission is scheduled to last for a full Martian year (687 Earth days) The Hope spacecraft carries three instruments that will allow scientists to study the weather near the surface of Mars, the connections between different layers of the atmosphere, and how Mars loses atmosphere to space. Scientists leading the mission hope that this data will help them understand, for example, how dust storms at the surface of Mars affect atmospheric loss and how weather systems around the globe relate to each other.

The UAE has sped into the space sector: Hope launched a little more than a decade after the nation's first Earth-orbiting satellite, DubaiSat 1, did so. The nation has pushed space exploration as a way to develop its science and technology know-how and to buffer its economy, which is largely built on oil. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates has made history as the first Arab country to reach Mars.

The Emirates Mars mission, named the Hope probe, reached the red planet at 7:42 p.m. Tuesday, Emirates time, sent its signal back to Earth just over half an hour later. The ground control team at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai erupted in cheers.

“204 days and more than 480 million kms later, the Hope Probe is now in the Capture Orbit of #Mars,” the official Twitter account of the Hope Mars Mission tweeted shortly afterward, with the hashtag 

The feat is monumental. Experts estimated the chance of successfully entering Mars’ orbit at about 50%, since more than half of all Mars missions actually fail. The crucial time window was a terrifying and suspenseful 27 minutes during which the Hope probe had to dramatically slow down from its speed of 100,000 kilometers per hour (62,137 mph) to 18,000 kph by firing its six thrusters for 27 minutes exactly. 
WATCH: Mars Cam Views from NASA Rover during Red Planet Exploration & NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing 
 

Hope it's ok to post this.

Amazing real time live stream from Japanese spacecraft "Hope" which was launched last July and has just reached the planet Mars.

Absolutely stunning to watch and see just what has been achieved

Was fed up of being a contortionist trying to polar align, so I bought a Skywatcher 90 degree  Polar scope.

Great bit of kit which comes highly recommended. So simple and effective to use.

Northern Optics service was Brilliant. Great communications and free delivery. The item came less than 24 hrs after ordering

Big thank you to Nigel. 👍
 

Don't underestimate yourself... These are superb shots!

Great timing!

Wow! She's Beautiful! What a tail!

Taken with a Canon G5X Mk2 in Handheld Night Scene Mode

I've always kept my Dobs (10" and 12'') in the garage in all weathers, without any problems

I cover the top and bottom of the scopes with large elasticated shower caps available from ebay. This protects the mirrors from any spiders etc crawling in

I then cover with a fabric dust cover

Ah!   🙄

I did have the right time, didnt I?  lol 

9.32pm Tuesday was the info I was told

What time does it go past Wednesday if I missed actually did miss it?

That's weird John.

I was out from just after 9.30pm tonight (Tuesday) looking Westerly towards Orion.

Saw the first go by, but took another couple of minutes to see the next, which had the same path.

They looked no brighter than any normal satellite seen in the night sky.  Again, the next one took a couple of minutes to see.

It was a clear night and the skies here in Driffield are rated as Bortle 4.

i eventually went in disappointed. It was nothing like the you tube video i saw of them earlier

They could only have been bright for one night.

I've been out last couple of nights at the correct time of passing, and  hardly saw them at all.

Dim and very well spaced apart by around 3 or 4 minutes.

I was looking up thinking what the heck all the fuss about

OK.. I've just purchased a Celestron C8 XLT OTA. ( Was thinking about buying an SCT/Mak at a later date but this came along and I got it for a great price compared to a new one) The seller says its only been used once and looking at its condition I believe him. Used it properly for the first time yesterday but found collimating it pretty difficult and frustrating (Bought some Bobs Knobs to replace the screws) as the tiniest turn loses the object (in my case, Polaris) from view. I was constantly turning and adjusting to get it right. Eventually I did and the views I got were very nice, however I don't think I let it cool down long enough as there seemed to be thermal plumes spoiling my diffraction ring testing. Anyway, it came with no instructions but I managed to get some from the Celestron website. On reading the instructions I came across this:

" Note... Before turning the focus knob, remember to loosen the two mirror locking knobs located on the rear cell of the telescope. These knobs connect a screw to the primary mirror mounting plate and prevent the mirror from moving when locked down. These screws should be locked down when transporting the scope "

Which screws are these? There are 3 small screws that attach the focusser to the rear cell... I don't think it's them...and thats it! There are two black screws just to the right of the finderscope. Could that be them? If they are, how loose should they be? The scope still seems to focus with them screwed all the way down.

Can any C8 owners (I know there are a few) enlighten me about this?