India's maiden Mars mission with its satellite kicked off with,
Mangalyaan's lift-off from the balmy space port of Sriharikota in
coastal Andhra Pradesh. PSLV C-25 will put Mangalyaan weighing 1,340
kilograms in the earth orbit. To reach Mars, the spacecraft has to enter
three phases, the earth centered phase, the helio centric phase and
finally the Martian phase. According to reports, Mangalyaan, the first
inter-planetary mission to the red planet is primarily a technological
machine. (courtesy: space.com)
1. India's first mission to Mars, if successful, will place the country in an exclusive club of nations capable of sending probes to the Red Planet.
2. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched the Mars orbiter mission at 2.38 pm (IST) from a pad at the agency's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 80 km from Chennai.
3. The Rs 450-crore ($73.5 million) Mars mission will send the Mangalyaan spacecraft (the name is Hindi for "Mars Craft") on an 11-month trek to Mars to study the planet's atmosphere and surface from orbit.
4. PSLV C-25 will put Mangalyaan weighing 1,340 kilograms in the earth orbit. To reach Mars, the spacecraft has to enter three phases, the earth centered phase, the helio centric phase and finally the Martian phase. (Courtesy: ANI)
5. The spacecraft carries five instruments to study Mars, but its primary purpose is to serve as a technology demonstrator for future Indian interplanetary probes, ISRO officials have said.
6. It has been configured to carry out observations of the physical features of the Mars and also to carry out a limited study of the Martian atmosphere. (Photo courtesy - ISRO)
7. According to reports, Mangalyaan, the first inter-planatory mission to the red planet is primarily a technological machine.
8. "Orbiting Mars itself is a challenge," said ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan, according to the Times of India. "This is our first interplanetary mission. There will be bigger missions later." Mangalyaan will be 365 km away from the surface of Mars at its nearest point from the planet.
9. The risks for the mission are high. It's tough to reach Mars with spacecraft, and more than half of the 40 missions launched to the Red Planet since 1960 have failed
10. India would be only the fourth country or space agency to deliver a probe to Mars after Russia, the United States and the European Space Agency if the Mars Orbiter Mission succeeds. By coincidence, NASA is planning to launch its own mission to Mars this month on Nov. 18.
11. The Mangalyaan spacecraft will launch toward Mars atop an enhanced version of India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket. If all goes well, India's Mangalyaan spacecraft should arrive at Mars on Sept. 24, 2014, ISRO officials said.
12. The mission was initially slated to launch on Oct. 28, but was pushed back when bad weather delayed the ships that will track the spacecraft after it separates from its rocket, ISRO officials said.
13. As the centerpiece of India's Mars Orbiter Mission, the Mangalyaan probe is a 2,976 lb. (1,350 kilogram) spacecraft powered by solar arrays and packed with five instruments to study the surface and atmosphere of Mars. Those instruments include a color camera for photographic imaging, a spectrometer for surface composition and mineralogy analysis and a methane sensor.
14. The methane sensor in particular is a stand-out instrument as it is designed specifically to seek out methane gas in the Martian atmosphere. Methane has been a target of Mars scientists because while it can be created through geologic processes, it can also be a potential sign of microbial life.
15. India is not the only country with its eyes set on Mars. NASA currently has two active rovers - the 1-ton Curiosity rover and smaller Opportunity -on the planet's surface. Orbiters from the U.S. and European Space Agency are also monitoring the planet from orbit.
16. India's first mission to Mars follows the country's Chandrayaan 1 moon orbiter mission, which helped detect evidence of water ice on the lunar surface. ISRO officials are also developing a second moon probe, Chandrayaan 2, as a follow-up lunar flight.
