UAE Hope Probe reaches Mars tomorrow: 27 'dark' minutes to determine mission success

The UAE waits with bated breaths for the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission to reach Mars in under three days. As at 11am on February 6, the Hope Probe has already travelled a mind-boggling 475 million kilometres, with a little over 5.2 million kilometres left to cover.

DON'T MISS:

>> Your guide to the UAE's Hope Probe to Mars

>> Hope Probe-inspired space fountain in the works

>> UAE's Hope Probe crew now at work 24/7

The probe carrying the dreams of millions of Emiratis, Arabs and expatriates in the UAE is scheduled to enter orbit on February 9 at 7.42pm (UAE time).

On the day, there will be a “dark” half an hour that will determine the fate of six years of continuous work spent on the probe.

The Hope Probe’s Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI), the most critical phase of the mission, will last an uninterrupted 27 minutes. Nail-bitingly, its destiny is at stake with a success rate of 50 per cent.

The Hope Probe approaches Mars with such a velocity that it will slingshot around it and continue into deep space if it isn’t slowed down to the level that it can be captured by Mars’ gravity.