MANGALYAN-india's mars orbitary mission

MANGALYAN-india's mars orbitary mission:

One of the biggest accomplishment in Indian History is Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission – Mars). Indian Space Research Organization successfully launched a space probe that orbits Mars. The Mission was launched on November 5, 2013 for a 300 days journey to Mars. The fact in this mission is that India is the first in the world (Fourth after Soviet Space Program, NASa and The European Space Agency) to successfully launch the mission in the first attempt.

Mangalyaan is orbiting Mars with 5 main instruments:

• Photometer
• Methane sensor
• Instrument that analyzes Martian Exosphere
• Color Camera
• Thermal Infrared Spectrometer

An unbelievable fact about the mission is that it took only Rs. 454 crores to launch the mission. This is the cheapest Mars Mission ever (Rs. 12 per km). Any message that is sent to and fro takes 14 minutes to reach the receiver. The major objective of the mission is to prove India’s spacecraft building and operations capabilities to the world. The project aims at developing technologies of an Interplanetary Mission.

The secondary objective of the mission is to learn surface of Mars and its mineral composition  (to study Mineralogy and Morphology). The mission also aims to scan the atmosphere of Mars to availability of Methane which is a chemical strongly tied to life on Earth. Scientists are also determining the quantities of water in Martian atmosphere so as to learn the history of the Red Planet, Mars.

The success of Mangalyaan is a great achievement in the history of India and has strengthened the position of India in Space Science. The mission is a great motivation for budding scientists and gives ways for more successful mission from our country in future.  ISRO has planned a follow up Mission – Mangalyaan 2 which is likely to happen between 2018 and 2020 and it would consist of a Lander and a Mars Rover.