Saturday, November 02, 2013

Mangalyaan: India's November 5th Attempt to Beat China to the Red Planet


MUCH goes bang over India at this time of year, amid celebrations for Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. By one estimate, Indians spend over $800m a year on fireworks. But, in cosmic terms, they barely leave the ground. How much more exciting that a single, 4.5 billion-rupee ($74m) rocket is set to whoosh high into the sky on November 5th.

This one is not intended to explode, though in December 2010 scientists had to blow up a rocket that went haywire after a launch. Instead the idea is to send a craft to Mars. If all goes well, the rocket will lift Mangalyaan (“Mars vehicle”), which looks like a big box of gold foil, into orbit round the Earth. After stretching its solar wings and fiddling with its trajectory, it will set off on the nine-month trip to Earth’s neighbour.

link.

2 comments:

  1. Hindusthani10:52 PM

    and it did reach the Mars' orbit today. A proud moment for every Indian, and fitting reply to sarcasm towards Indians and Hindus.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3:09 AM

    Mangalyaan successfully enters Mars orbit. India is now the first country to succeed at a Mars Mission in the first attempt & cheapest cost.

    For your information: The one and only one Mars mission rocket which went to Pacific Ocean was launched on 8 November 2011 and its name is Yinghuo-1. :D

    ReplyDelete