Landmarks in the UAE are on red alert for the Hope probe's historic journey to Mars.
Dubai Frame, the emirate's Museum of the Future, Dubai Canal and Dhayah Fort in Ras Al Khaimah are among the attractions that will be bathed in red each night until the probe's planned arrival in Mars orbit on February 9.
The Hope probe will attempt to enter the Red Planet's orbit at 7.42pm GST, in the Arab world's maiden mission to Mars.
While the mission has gone smoothly since its launch on July 20 last year, the most challenging part of the journey is fast approaching.
Statistics show that only 50 per cent of Mars missions succeed, with orbit insertion being one of the most complex stages.
It requires the spacecraft to decelerate incredibly quickly to be captured by the planet’s gravity. Because of an 11-minute communication delay between mission control and the orbiter, Hope will carry out the process autonomously.
The craft will use its six thrusters to propel itself into the orbit, but if two or more of the thrusters fail during the attempt, it will mean mission failure. Hope has only one shot at orbit insertion.
The National visits Dubai's mission control – in pictures
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'The National' visited mission control at Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre to learn how engineers are preparing for Hope probe's Mars orbit insertion, set for February 9. All photos by Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Omar Abdelrahman Hussain, mission design and navigation lead, said mission team will mostly be observers on the day. There is an 11-minute communication delay because of the distance between the two planets, so live commands will not be sent -
The Hope probe is close to completing a distance of 493.5 million kilometres. It launched on July 20, 2020 aboard a Japanese rocket and will study the upper and lower atmosphere of the Red Planet. Emirates Mars Mission -
Pre-programmed manoeuvers have been set into the spacecraft so it can perform an automated entry into orbit -
The programming includes firing the probe's six thrusters for 28 minutes to slow it down from about 100,000 kph to 18,000 kph to get captured into Mars' orbit -
There will also be a brief period when communication is lost when the spacecraft travels behind Mars, blocking the signal. Engineers will do a full evaluation of how orbit entry went once contact is restored -
Khalid Mohammad Badri, instrument science engineer, said the scientific instruments aboard the spacecraft will remain safe during orbit entry and will be tested after completion of this critical stage -
All communication with the probe has been made possible through Nasa's Deep Space Network. Their massive ground radio arrays in California, Spain and Australia are the first to send and receive telemetry from the spacecraft. The antenna in Madrid will be the first to know how orbit entry went -
Mahmood Abdulaziz AlNasser, mission operations control development lead, said the team remains confident the orbit entry will go as planned. This stage is equally challenging as the rocket launch stage -
The probe will spend 40 hours in the capture orbit and then be transferred into the science orbit, where it will spend two years gathering data on the planet's dynamic weather conditions. It is the first time a spacecraft will be positioned so high above the Red Planet, allowing it to capture different weather patterns throughout a single day. Nasa -
If orbit entry is successful, the UAE will become the fifth nation worlwide to reach Mars
