Attempting To Be Only The Fourth Entity To Reach The Red Planet

India on Tuesday launched a rocket carrying a spacecraft intended for orbit around Mars. If it is successful, India will become only the fourth nation or agency to have launched a Mars probe, joining NASA, the former Soviet Union, and the ESA.

India's Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced the successful launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre near Chennai. The journey is expected to last 10 months, according to a report from CNN.

The ISRO website indicates the main objectives of the mission are to develop the technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission; the design and realization of a Mars orbiter with a capability to survive and perform Earth bound maneuvers, cruise phase of 300 days, Mars orbit insertion/capture, and on-orbit phase around Mars; deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management, and; to incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations.

Once there, the scientific objectives are the exploration of Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.

But getting there is no sure thing. Japan, China, and Russia have all lost Martian probes enroute, and NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter was lost on orbital insertion in 1999.

(Image provided by ISRO)

FMI: www.isro.org