1. Mangalyaan has reached a crucial stage and is now in uncharted territory as far as ISRO is concerned. No Indian spacecraft has ever travelled so far!
2. The
mission was launched on November 5, 2013, from Sriharikota, in Andhra Pradesh. It
revolved around the Earth till the end of November.
3. On
December 1st, it left the Earth's orbit and began its journey
towards Mars after a crucial and tricky midnight operation to give it a nudge
to escape the Earth's gravity.
4. It was
about 2.9 million km away from the Earth when the mid-course correction was
done. It involved first re-orienting the spacecraft and then firing its smaller
rockets to give it a nudge.
5. The Trajectory
Correction Manoeuvres or TCMs are done to fine-tune the mission, so that it
keeps on the precise intended track. This was the first of four TCM, which will
be carried out as the Mars Orbiter Mission heads towards the Earth's red
neighbour.
6. The Rs.450 Crore
mission is expected to reach Mars on September 24, 2014. If it does that
successfully, India will become the first Asian nation to do this.
7. No
country has succeeded in reaching Mars on the first attempt. More than half of
all missions to Mars have ended in failure, including China's in 2011 and
Japan's in 1998.
8. The Mars
Orbiter Mission is not taking the shortest route to the Red Planet. ISRO
explained that it is travelling about 680 million km in an elliptical orbit as
this requires the least amount of fuel. On the shorter route, scientists said,
a large amount of fuel would be needed to accelerate and later decelerate to
match the planet's speed.
9. Once it
reaches Mars, the Mangalyaan will revolve around the 'Red Planet' for six
months and announce India's triumph. The mission has made international
headlines, at least in part for its cost-efficiency.
Courtesy: NDTV Website
Courtesy: NDTV Website
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