The story follows two characters in parallel universes, both with dreams of Mars exploration: a retired Estonian cosmonaut and a young Indian labourer.
[5] F. Brett Cox, in an August 2002 review of Mars Probes for Locus Online, praised the short story's characterization and hard science fiction aspects, as well as the way McDonald fitted those elements together.
Horton however thought that story did not quite live up to the standards set by McDonald's previous work Ares Express, the 2001 sequel to his 1988 novel Desolation Road.
[3] James Schellenberg, reviewing Mars Probes for Canadian science fiction magazine Challenging Destiny [Wikidata] in September 2003, called McDonald's story a tour de force, commending the world-building and the sense of melancholy conveyed.
[2] Robert Crossley [Wikidata], in his 2011 non-fiction book Imagining Mars: A Literary History, calls the story a "wonderful fable" and commends it for taking what he considers a novel approach to the subject.