Sri Harikota: The First Phase of Indian Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan has been successful after PSLV C25 Rocket placed it into a highly elliptic orbit around the Earth. The Lift off took place today at around 2:39 PM from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sri Harikota in Andhra Pradesh. After 43 minutes, the Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft separated from the Rocket and was successfully put in the Orbit around Earth.
Also Read: 10 Less known Facts about Magalyaan – Mars Orbiter Mission of India
What follows in the next 10 days would be six crucial “orbit raising operations,” in the wee hours of November 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 16. And then, at 12.42am on December 1, the orbiter will leave the earth’s orbit for a 300-day journey to the Red Planet.
The 350-tonne launch vehicle carrying an unmanned probe was monitored by dozens of scientists in the control room who face their most daunting task since India began its space programme in 1963.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the ISRO Chief K Radhakrishnan, and congratulated his team on successful launch of Mars mission.
In his message the Prime Minister said, “I congratulate all scientists of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch today of the Mars Orbiter mission, the most complex space mission of the country. The successful launch is the first step towards a successful mission and is testimony to ISRO’s mastery of the launch vehicle technology”.
President of India Pranab Mukherjee said in a message to ISRO Chief, “I congratulate you and your team on the successful placing in earth’s orbit of the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft following its launch on PSLV – C 25. India’s first dedicated Mars Orbiter Spacecraft is a significant milestone in the progress of our space programme and space applications. This day shall go down as a landmark in our space programme, a day which will inspire our scientists to make even greater strides in achieving our national goals in the field of space”.
Planning Commission members and former Isro chairman K Kasturirangan says it is “unbelievable” that Isro scientists put together a mission of such complexity in just 15 months.
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director S Ramakrishnan says the success of the Mars mission shows India is ready for any mission.
Apart from ISRO, NASA would also launch its Maven Mars Probe on November 18. Both these probe would reach the Mars Orbit around same time.