Indias spacecraft successfully begins journey to Mars by Gulab Chand, Agence France-Presse Posted at 12/01/2013 3:43 PM | Updated as of 12/01/2013 3:43 PM BANGALORE - Indias first mission to Mars left Earths orbit Sunday, successfully entering the second phase of its journey that could see the country win Asias race to the Red Planet, scientists said. The spacecraft was successfully flung into outer space and now embarks on a 10-month journey towards Mars that takes it around the sun, with arrival scheduled for next September. Everything went off well. We took stock of the Mangalyaans health and everything is normal, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan said in a tweet, using the Indian name for the Mars Orbiter Mission. ISRO said in a statement the spacecraft was on course to encounter Mars after a 10-month journey around the sun. While Mangalyaan takes 1.2 billion dreams to Mars, we wish you sweet dreams! the orbiter mission said in a tweet. Mangalyaan could still face hurdles before reaching Mars. More than half of all missions to the planet have ended in failure, including Chinas in 2011 and Japans in 2003. So far, only the United States, the European Space Agency and Russia have succeeded in sending probes to Mars. India, which has never before attempted inter-planetary travel, is aiming to promote its low-cost space program, with the bill for the project only 4.5 billion rupees ($73 million). The figure is just over one tenth of the $671 million earmarked for NASAs unmanned spacecraft for Mars. It launched on November 18 to search for clues in the planets atmosphere as to why it lost its warmth and water over time. Both probes are expected to arrive at Mars in September. Indias gold-colored probe, the size of a small car, will try to detect methane in the Mars atmosphere, which could provide evidence of some sort of life form on the fourth planet from the sun. Indias Mangalyaan blasted off on November 5 and is using an unusual slingshot method for interplanetary journeys. Lacking enough rocket power to blast directly out of Earths atmosphere and gravitational pull, it was orbiting the Earth until the end of November while building up enough velocity to break free. Radhakrishnan said the spacecraft slingshoted early Sunday out of Earths orbit towards Mars, which has an elliptical orbit -- meaning it is between 50-400 million kilometers from Earth. Radhakrishnan hailed the successful move as a major step forward in Indias space program. (It is) a turning point for us, as India will foray into the vast interplanetary space for the first time with an indigenous spacecraft to demonstrate our technological capabilities, he told AFP. Two out of three critical phases of the mission have now been accomplished -- with the third being a successful entry into Marss orbit, said ISRO spaceport director M.Y.S. Prasad. Mangalyaan, which is carrying a camera, an imaging spectrometer, a methane sensor and other instruments, will carry out five experiments, Prasad said from the spaceport of Sriharikota in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The Mangalyaan project was disclosed only 15 months ago by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, shortly after Chinas attempt to reach Mars flopped when it failed to leave Earths atmosphere. The timing and place of the announcement -- in an Independence Day speech -- led to speculation that India was seeking to make a point to its militarily and economically superior neighbor, despite denials from ISRO.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 11:13:41 +0000
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