Space & Astronomy

India's first Mars probe arrives in orbit

By T.K. Randall
September 25, 2014

Image: OSIRIS Mars True Color
Credit: ESA and MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) The mission has been hailed as an unparalleled success as it marks the first time that any nation has managed to put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars on its first attempt.

India's achievement is all the more impressive because it cost only $74 million, a remarkably cheap figure for a mission of this kind. NASA's Maven spacecraft, which arrived a couple of days before, cost 10 times as much and even recent hit movie Gravity cost more to produce with its budget of $100 million.India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the success as a "historic occassion". "We have gone beyond the boundaries of human enterprise and innovation," he said.

The probe's objective will now be to map the planet's surface and study its atmosphere while keeping a special look out for traces of methane - one of the major telltale signs of life.

What is red, is a planet and is the focus of my orbit? pic.twitter.com/HDRWjOcPus

— ISRO's Mars Orbiter (@MarsOrbiter) September 24, 2014

Source: BBC News

Tags: India, Mars, Mangalyaan