1. 10 THINGS YOU DID NOT
KNOW ABOUT INDIA’S
MARS MISSION
India's first mission to Mars blasted off
successfully on Tuesday, completing the first
stage of an 11-month journey that could see the
country's low-cost programme win Asia's race to
the Red Planet. Here are 10 key facts about the
mission.
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2. 1. Mangalyaan’s Tuesday launch coincides with Mangalvaar,
the day of Mars, called Mangala in Indian astronomy.
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3. 2. The 1,350-kg orbiter weighs much less than
an average sports utility vehicle.
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4. 3. At Rs. 450 crore ($73 million) India’s
mission is the cheapest — Nasa’s MAVEN
(launch: November 18) costs nine times as
much ($679 million i.e. Rs. 4,188 crore); Mars
Rover cost $400 million; Curiosity, $2.5 billion.
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5. 4. Mangalyaan was completed in one- and-ahalf years; Nasa took five years for MAVEN.
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6. 5. In ISRO’s 44-year history, this is its first-ever
launch outside the Earth’s sphere of influence.
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8. 7. A day before the mission, Isro chief K
Radhakrishnan placed a scale model of the
launch vehicle, the PSLV-C25, at Lord Vishnu’s
feet in Tirumala.
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9. 8. Mangalyaan will search for methane (marsh
gas), the main component in natural gas and a
possible indicator of life.
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10. 9. Other objectives are atmospheric and
particle environment studies and surface
imaging.
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11. 10. The probe is expected to arrive in Mars
orbit in September 2014, approximately at the
same time as MAVEN.
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