For quite some time the news of India planning for a Martian mission had been making rounds. It came true on November 5, when at the stroke of 1438 hours, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C25 (PSLV-C25) blasted off majestically in the blue at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The 295 ton rocket carries 1.3 ton satellite whose weight will be reduced to 5.15 kilograms when it reaches Martian orbit. The period of journey for the satellite is 300 days which is 24 September 2014. At the time of reaching the Martian orbit, the Indian space communication system will connect with the NASA deep space navigation and communication system for guiding the satellite in its journey.
This is a moment of pride and jubilation for our country and our distinguished space scientists. So far only USA, Russia, EU, China and Japan have sent their satellites into Martian orbit but only the first three have been able to reach the planet. India has now joined the club of Martian explorers and it is a matter of pride for us. The Martian mission has showed that Indian space science is far advanced and capable of matching the most developed countries. We cannot as yet say whether the satellite will succeed in entering the orbit of the Mars and land at the planet. What is important is that a successful attempt has been made to reach the orbit, which is the first stage of the entire project.
The satellite is loaded with various gadgets that are supposed to do the Martian probing like measuring the loss of water from Mars in the exosphere and upper atmosphere, measuring the neutral composition and density distribution of the exosphere, capturing images of the surface of Mars and its composition. This will be useful to monitor atmosphere, weather and to provide a big picture of the mission.
In short, the mission is one in a long line of space research exercises to keep pace with modern scientific technology. A number of auxiliaries are supplementing the space research and the monitoring of the spacecraft on its flight in the space has been assigned to communication and monitoring system on board a ship in the Bay of Bengal. Let us salute our eminent space scientists and our policy planners for thinking and doing big in this country.
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