India made a history today by successfully orbiting around Mars. Its mission called “Mars Orbiter Mission”  (MOM) created a history by making India the world’s first country to orbit around the red planet in its first try and the first Asian country to orbit the red planet. The orbiter is called “Mangalyaan” who’s objective is: Exploration of Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments. Here are few facts about this Mission of India!
MOM’s launch picture.
1)Â The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) which is also known as Mangalyaan is a planned Mars orbiter, was launched in November 2013 by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The mission aims to develop the technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission.
2) This was India’s first mission to Mars and the official countdown for blast-off of the Indian orbiter, Mangalyaan, began at 06:08 am on November 3, 2013.
3)Â Assembly of the PSLV-XL launch vehicle, designated C-25, started on 5 August 2013. The integration of the five scientific instruments was completed at ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, and the finished spacecraft was shipped to Sriharikotta on 2 October 2013.
4) The satellite’s development was completed in a record 15 months.
5) On October 19, 2013, ISRO chairperson K Radhakrishnan announced that the launch had to be postponed by a week due to delay of a crucial telemetry ship reaching Fiji Islands. The launch was rescheduled for November 5, 2013.
Model of the orbiter held by the chairperson of ISRO :K Radhakrishnan.
6)Â The main objective of this mission is to develop the technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission, comprising the following major tasks like design and realisation of a Mars orbiter with a capability to perform Earth bound manoeuvres, cruise phase of 300 days, Mars orbit insertion / capture, and on-orbit phase around Mars.
7)Â The satellite will also help in deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management and will also incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations.
8) The spacecraft’s dry mass is 500 kilogrames and it will carry 850 kilograms (1,870 lb) of propellant and oxidiser. The main engine uses the bi-propellant combination mono-methylhydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide for orbit insertion and other manoeuvres. The probe is expected to arrive in Mars orbit in September 2014 approximately at the same time as NASA’s MAVEN orbiter.
9)Â On September 24, the Mangalyaan entered Mars orbit in its very first attempt. India joins the elite club of nations, i.e., the US, Russia and Europe to reach Mars Orbit.
10)Â The Mission was executed in 15 months at a cost of Rs 450 crore ($74 million).
 Thanks for visiting and reading. Congratulations ISRO for the big success! Keep up the good vibes 🙂Â