Update — orbital capture achieved; a complete success.

Yep. This is white knuckle time, for a first ever leap from ground operations — all the way to a fully automated breaking burn, to go from a 75,000 mile an hour cruising speed, to below 11,000 miles an hour — and let the gravity of Barsoom gently bend the craft into a stable orbital curve, around her copper clad face. Then fifteen minutes of silence, while Hope makes her first pass over the dark side of Mars. It will be a high adreneline hour or two, in the UAE control room.

I have every confidence in the science-team, and the space science they relied on, there — as it was truly a multinational space science review. The live TV stream — in multiple language formats, of course — may be accessed here, then. And a bit, from The Verge, reporting:

…Over the next two months, Hope will carry out a few more maneuvers to jump into a closer orbit around Mars. This will be key for carrying out its main objective: scanning the Martian atmosphere and capturing a global snapshot of the planet’s weather patterns. Hope will orbit Mars every 55 hours and capture a complete snapshot every nine days.

The Emirates Mars Mission’s Twitter account will be tweeting updates throughout the mission. The UAE space agency will also host a live feed of mission control in Dubai starting at 9AM ET before the maneuver begins at 10:30AM ET. Tune in then, to see if UAE nails its first interplanetary mission….

I just know they will — as they are led by… a wise Arabian Princess. Smile… LIVE:

नमस्ते