ISRO’s Mangalyaan successfully Enters Martian Orbit

Bangalore, 24 September 2014

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), which was launched on Nov 5, 2013 from Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota, has successfully entered the Red Planet’s orbit on Wednesday.

At 7:10 am (IST), state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed the forward rotation of the MOM, bring it closer to Mars. When the clock struck 7:25 am, Mangalyaan, the orbiter weighing 475 kg, was completely behind the Red Planet. Then arrived the much talked-about moment, the main engine of the Mars orbiter was fired 24 minutes from Mars to enter the Martian orbit, which will be about 500 km from its surface and 215 million km away from the Earth in radio distance.

After Mangalyaan entered the Mars orbit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was present at the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network, said, “History has been created today. We have dared to reach out into the unknown and have achieved the near impossible.”

The Prime Minister congratulated Indians and ISRO scientists for the success, adding that the success of India’s mission to Mars “will go down as landmark in history.”

With the help of five scientific instruments on board, the Rs 450-crore Mangalyaan will study the Martian surface, its mineral composition and scan its atmosphere for methane gas.

ISRO has now become the fourth international space agency after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US, Russian Federal Space Agency (RFSA) and European Space Agency to undertake a mission to Mars.

India made history by becoming the first country in the world to enter the Martian orbit in its maiden attempt and this ends the much-anticipated rendezvous of Mangalyaan with the Red Planet.

PM witnesses historic successful insertion of Mars Orbiter Mission into Martian orbit

-PM: All Indians are proud of our space scientists. Let us all celebrate their success today.
-PM: Success of the space programme is a shining symbol of what we are capable of as a nation

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated the space scientists for successfully inserting the Mars Orbiter Mission into Martian orbit. The Prime Minister was addressing scientists after witnessing the insertion procedure at ISRO in Bangalore. The Prime Minister said history has been created by the Indian scientists reaching Mars in the first attempt. He said India is the first to have succeeded in the very first attempt.

The Prime Minister said that Indian scientists, through their hard work and dedication, have stretched the boundaries of human enterprise and imagination. He described the Mars Orbiter Mission as an indigenous pan-Indian effort, stretching from Bangalore to Bhubaneswar, and Faridabad to Rajkot.

Praising the scientists, Shri Narendra Modi said, the hunger of exploration and the thrill of discovery are not for the faint hearted. He remarked that he had chosen to be present at ISRO today, unmindful of success or failure of the mission. He exhorted scientists to set even more challenging targets for themselves, and said he had confidence that they would be able to achieve even those targets. You have “made a habit of achieving the impossible,” the Prime Minister said. He said Modern India must continue playing its role of Jagadguru Bharat.

Shri Narendra Modi said the success of the space programme is a shining symbol of what we are capable of as a nation. A successful space programme generates applications across multiple domains, he added. He said the efforts of India`s space scientists are deepening our governance, strengthening our economy and improving our lives. Noting that the whole nation celebrates when the cricket team wins a tournament, the Prime Minister described the success of the Mars Orbiter Mission as a thousand times greater, and said all Indians must celebrate the success of our space scientists today. Let India celebrate the achievements of its scientists. Let students in every school and college applaud their efforts, he added.

The Governor of Karnataka, Shri Vajubhai Vala, the Chief Minister of Karnataka Shri Siddaramaiah, and Union Ministers Shri Ananth Kumar and Shri Sadanand Gowda were present on the occasion.