As India prepares to launch its Rs 450 crore mission to Mars this year, a top space official says the country's first martian odyssey -- that has attracted some criticism -- is not just for pride but for undertaking "meaningful research".
The launch of India's Mars Orbiter Mission has been delayed by almost a week and a decision on the new date would be taken on October 22, the Indian Space Research Organisation said on Saturday. The launch window for the MOM mission was earlier slated from October 28 to November 19 and a decision on the launch date was to be taken on Saturday.
He said when India celebrates 75th year of Independence in 2022, "and if possible even before, an Indian son or daughter" will undertake a manned space mission on board 'Gaganyaan' "carrying the national flag".
India's successful launch of its Mars mission has been described by the mainstream American media as "technological leap" and "a symbolic coup" against China in this field.
India's Mars Orbiter Mission, which will look for scope of life on the red planet, will be a reality in either October or November as the Indian Space Research Organisation unveiled the mission on Wednesday.
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams retires after 27 years, completing three missions aboard the International Space Station and setting numerous spaceflight records. She is currently visiting India.
India's Mars orbiter has sent a picture of regional dust storm activities over the northern hemisphere of the red planet, Indian Space Research Organisation said on Monday.
NASA's Deep Space Networks will help India to track the Mars orbiter's journey, and will also help to track it when it will go around Mars, reports Ritu Jha from California.
A PSLV rocket carrying Earth observation satellite EOS-09 failed to launch from the Sriharikota spaceport early on Sunday.
'By pushing PSLV production to industry, the extra ISRO personnel available will be utilised to do projects like the human space mission.'
After having successfully completed three orbit raising manoeuvres, ISRO's Mars Orbiter mission on Monday suffered a glitch as it failed to achieve the targeted apogee (farthest distance from Earth) of one lakh km during the fourth orbit raising operation in the early hours.
The mission has been extended by another six months due to surplus fuel
With the Indian Space Research Organisation set to launch the Mars Mission on November 5, Chairman K Radhakrishnan, in an interview with Praveen Bose, talks about the complexities, the challenges and the benefits of the Rs 450-crore mission.
On Monday, ISRO scientists will run a test of the Mars orbiter satellite's main engine and make a small course correction. This is crucial because the engine has been idle for nearly 10 months. T E Narasimhan reports
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India's maiden mission to Mars has traversed beyond the sphere of influence of Earth extending about 9,25,000 km in its 10-month long voyage to the red planet.
Days after landing on the Moon, India will aim for the Sun on Saturday with its maiden solar expedition, as ISRO's trusted PSLV will carry the Aditya L1 mission on a 125-day voyage to the Sun.
After sending missions to the Moon and Mars, ISRO is now readying a spacecraft to orbit Venus to study what lies below the surface of the hottest planet in the solar system and also unravel the mysteries under the sulfuric acid clouds enveloping it.
India and the United States, after sending their own respective spacecraft into Mars' orbit, have now agreed to cooperate on future explorations of the Red Planet, which America said will yield "tangible benefits" to both the countries and the world at large.
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is among the most-tracked satellites in the world, according to N2YO, which provides a web-based real-time satellite mapping website.
Rediff.com takes a look at spacecraft that have successfully made it to Mars.
ISRO Chairman V Narayanan announces ambitious space program goals, including landing Indians on the Moon by 2040 and launching the 'Gaganyaan' mission in 2027. The agency is also working on a national space station and uncrewed missions.
Kwatra termed India's successful launch of an American communication satellite on Wednesday as a 'very important and big day' for partnership between Washington and New Delhi, saying it caps a series of achievements in 2025 in bilateral space cooperation between the countries.
'You can observe a lot of things from space.' 'Another thing is communication, in real time, especially in war-like situations.' 'During Operation Sindoor, we could play our part well.'
The Indian Space Research Organisation has released a series of beautiful images of a canyon named Ophir Chasma and other physical formations on the surface of the Red Planet taken by the country's Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter.
A day after India successfully launched the Mars Orbiter in the Red Planet on its first attempt, it tweeted the first image it took and captioned it, 'the view is nice up here'.
"Indeed, a satisfying feeling," K Radhakrishnan who as the then Chairman of Indian Space Research Oranisation (ISRO) led the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) team said on achieving the milestone.
The ISRO team worked tirelessly to make the Mars mission a success
India's launch preparations for the ambitious Rs 450 crore Mars orbiter mission achieved a major milestone with the successful thermo-vacuum test of the spacecraft with its payloads (scientific instruments).
It's been just a few hours since India's first interplanetary mission, the Mars orbiter, entered the red planet's orbit successfully and it is already hard at work.
A team of Indian Space Research Organisation scientists presented the first pictures of the Red Planet sent by Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
Amit Kshatriya, a decorated Indian-American and NASA veteran, has been appointed as NASA's new associate administrator, marking a significant step in the agency's exploration efforts.
ISRO said on Saturday the Aditya-L1 spacecraft has travelled beyond a distance of 9.2 lakh km from Earth, successfully escaping the sphere of Earth's influence.
The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars orbit in about 200 days from now and then begin its mission to study the Red Planet's atmosphere.
The Indian Space Research Organisation is now looking forward to two key dates -- December 1, when the MOM spacecraft leaves the earth's sphere of influence and September 24 next year, when it's captured by Martian orbit.
In terms of success rate, the PSLV rocket has an enviable record of 57 successful missions out of 58 commercial ones.
Congratulate ISRO and its brilliant scientists for positioning the country in an elite group of nations exploring outer space.
A symbol of self-reliance, India's space endeavours are a model for public-private partnership.
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The final countdown for India's historic Mars mission kicked off at 6.08 am today.
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