Day: 6th November 2013
Time: 2.38 pm
Mangalyaan ('Mars craft' in Hindi) , the Indian mission to the Red Planet, also called Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launched successfully, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the eastern coastal island of Shriharikota. The mission is the first by ISRO to aim to reach the Red Planet. No other space agency has been fully successful with first attempts at similar programs.
The ambitious project aims to search the Martian atmosphere for methane, which is crucial to life on Earth. The satellite will carry out science experiments and surface imaging studies on the Red Planet. The probe, which weighs 1,350 kilograms (3,000 pound), was to be catapulted towards Mars after a series of short burns to raise its orbit.
The Mangalyaan vehicle must travel 780 million kilometers (485 million miles) over more than 300 days to reach an orbit around the planet September 2014. There, it will be assisted by NASA's MAVEN-mission which is also on the way to the Red Planet.
Source: http://www.isro.org
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