Lunar Atmospheric and Dust Environment Explorer...LADEE !!!

An unmanned NASA exlporer has blasted into space to collect detailed information on the Moon's atmosphere and its surface conditions. It will unmask the mystery surrounding the Moon's thin atmosphere and the reason behind its glow on its horizon.

This six month mission is having Lunar Atmospheric and Dust Environment Explorer(LADEE) orbit into the Moon and giving NASA engineers more understanding of environmental influences on lunar udust by giving a better picture of the structure and composition of the moon.

Launched from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia a cacophony of cheers from onlookers, taking 30 days for the explorer to reach its destination, performed  an engine burn last week taking its orbit around the moon.

LADEE made three elliptical orbits around the Earth moving into a higher orbit on each pass around the planet, before setting in Lunar orbit.

"The Moon's tenuous atmosphere may be more common in the solar system than we thought", John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science in Washington said before the launch last month. "Further understanding of the Moon's atmosphere may also help us better understand our diverse solar system and its evolution", said Grunsfeld.

LADEE was built using a general purpose spacecraft design that allows NASA to develop, assemble and test multiple modules at the same time.

Boomerang Nebula..Coldest Place in Universe.. Can even Freeze Atoms !!!

The coldest place in the universe- temperature at which atoms freeze- Boomerang Nebula, astronomers in Chile said.

About 5000 light years away in the Centaurus Constellation, the scientist at the ALMA Observatory said.
The nebula is "colder than the faint afterglow of the Big Bang, which is the natural backsround temperature of the space", the statement explained. It runs at a temperature of one degrees Kelvin (-272 degrees Celcius or -458 degrees Farenheit), making it "the coldest known object ink the universe,"the ALMA said.


The Boomerang Nebula is a relatively young planetary nebula, which is a glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from the outer layers of a sun like star in its final stages. It is expandly rapidly, and using up energy in the process, creating a cooling effect, permitting it to stay colder than the temperatures around it.

The image was captured by the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array-ALMA-a telescope installed on a plateau 5000 metres(16400 feet), high in the Atacama desert, where almost no humidity or vegetation to block its view of the heavens.

This nebula is colder than the microwave radiation which prevades all the space. The radiation being remnant of the Big Bang, the explosion which forged the universe in trillion degree temperatures.

"One can say that Boomerang acts as refrigerator," said astronomer Lars-Ake Nyman , who measured its temperature using the European Southern Observatory radio telescope in Chile. He did this by comparing the signals received from Carbon monoxide in the nebula with signals from the background radiations.

Normally the cosmic microwave background photons would excite the gas to at least its own temperature. But the gas shields itself, and the photons from the microwave background do not penetrate deep into the outflow. The low temperature of the gas in the outflow therefore stays low.

This installation is a joint effort among North American, European and Asian agencies.

Mars Orbital Mission--Ready to launch on Nov 5..2013 !!!

The  final countdown for the much awaited launch of India's Mars Orbiter Mission(MOM) will start at 6 pm on November 3, an ISRO official said. The launch is slated for 2.36 pm on November 5.
The postponement of the launch from October 28 to November 5 has come as an advantage because the spacecraft will be less exposed to Van Allen radiation belt.

The 56 and a Half hour final countdown will consist of filling liquid propellants in the second and fourth stage of the rocket, and checking the electrical system and the communication network. PSLV-XL, the rocket which will be used for the launch is an advanced version of four stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The American NASA/JPL is providing communications and navigation support to this mission with their Deep Space Network facilities. The 18 metre antenna at Byalalu was tailored for Chandrayan-1 mission, the 32 metre antenna can support other planetary mission including Mars. To augment the mission, we have increrased the power from 2 to 20 kilowatts. While Chandrayan-1 was powered by a 2 kw charge, Mangalyan will have 20kW power for the command operations, the ISRO Chairman explained and added that the other up graduation have done to improve the accuracy of the position determination of the spacecratft. Apart from this, the three ground stations Jet Propulsion Labaratory of NASA will also be tracking various phases of the flight  and its visibility. 

The propulsions systems for the spacecraft was provided comlpletely by the Liquid Propulsion System Centre at Indira Nagar while the entire mission operations control of Mangalyaan will be taken over by ISTRAC once PSLV injects the spacecraft around the earth's orbit.

Seven Planet Solar System Discovered...!!!

The discovery of a seventh planet around a distant star makes it one of the richest planetary systems discovered. The discovery at the Dwarf Star KIC 11442793, which is some 2,500 light years away from earth, recorded by two separate teams of researchers, could be a record, they said.

Using data from the Kepler Space Telescope, which recently stopped working, a team of researchers volunteering for the Planet Hunters website and another European Team discovered the seventh planet which is Fifth Furthest from the star having an orbit of 125 days. Described as "super-Earth", the seventh planet is around 2.8 times the size of earth.

Kepler uses the transit method to discover new planets, which entails looking for the dip in light as an alien world passes in front of its host star. But there is simply too much data for mission scientists to examine every light curve, so they developed computer programmes to search for the signature of a planetary transit.

The lead researcher for the Planet Hunters team, Chris Lintoff, of the University Of Oxford, said,"This is the first seven planet system from Kepler, using a transiting search. We think the identification is secure. With a transiting system, once you get multiple planets, the odds of them being false positives are very small." He also added that all seven planets of that system are packed quite closely together, with all seven planets orbiting their star within the same distance of that between the sun and the earth.

Other stars have also been identified , but as yet not confirmed to house at least seven planets, with the HD 10180 assumed to have seven to nine planets, while GJ 887C also believed to have seven planets.

Commenting on the paper by Planet Hunters team, Andrew Coller Cameron, professor at astronomy at the University of St Andrews, said: "It's intriguing that a system as well studied as KOI-351 can still harbor hidden surprises that can only be winkled out by human eyes."
He added:"This is a perennial problem in transit hunting, of which we are only too acutely aware in our ground based searches. The best transit signal detection algorithms developed to date still come a very poor second to the human visual system when it comes to patters recognition,. Still we have to rely on machines, because of the sheer volume of data produced by enterprises like transit searches."

The two researches are available on www.arvix.org .

Huge Asteroid could Destroy Earth in just NINETEEN years

2013 TV135

An asteroid  50 times more powerful than the biggest nuclear bomb could destroy the entire population of Earth in 2032.

Astronomers from Ukraine Discovered 1,345 foot(410m) rock or so called asteroid has the potential the earth in Nineteen Years time, 26 August 2032, as predicted.

2013 TV135 as named by the International Scientific Community could be the most dangerous rogue asteroid ever recorded. If it hits Earth, would create 2500 megatons of TNT energy- enough to frazzle all living things on planet.

NASA Experts too Confirmed about the collision.

Chief Astronomer, Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Gennady Borisov said:"U was watching the Giraffe Constellation , monitoring it as part of our comet search program. The first observation show that it moves quickly and is relatively close. But with a one in 63000 chance of hitting, the most likely outcome is that the asteroid will just miss our planet by just TWO kilometres."

Don Yeoman, of NASA said: "The current probability of no impact in 2032 is about 99.998%."

This Asteroid 2013 TV135 has been given a danger rating of 1 out of 10 on the Torino Scale.

It is one of the 10,322 near-Earth objects  been discovered. Since discovered Its movement in continuously monitored and accurate details are updated.

Steps Again To Mars.. MAVEN by NASA..!!!

MAVEN(Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution)

Launching on- Nov 18- Dec 7, 2013 

Mars Orbit Insertion- Sept 22, 2014

It is the 2nd  mission for NASA's Mars scout program, an initiative for smaller, low cost, completed missions led by a principal investigator. In response to high priority science goals listed in the National Academy of Science's 2003 decadal survey on planetary exploration, MAVEN will obtain critical measurements of Martian Atmosphers to help understand dramatic climate changes on Red planet.

Mars once had a denser atmosphere that supported liquid water on the surface. At that time, Mars might have had environmental conditions to support microbial life, as the long term presence of water is necessary to life. However due to dramatic climate change most of the Martian atmosphere was lost to space long ago. Features such as dry channels and minerals that typically form in water remain

to provide a record of Mars watery past, but the thin Martian atmosphere no longger allows water to be stable at the surface.

MAVEN will provide information on how and how fast atmospheric gases are being lost to space today, and infer from those detailed studies what happened in the past. Studying how the Martian atmosphere was lost to space can reveal clues about the impact that change had on the Martian climate , geologic, and geochemical conditions over time, all of which are important in understanding whether Mars had an environment able to support life.

The first spacecraft ever to make direct measurements of the Martian atmosphere, MAVEN will carry eight science instruments that will take measurements of the Upper Martian atmosphere during one Earth Year, equivalent to about half of a Martian year. MAVEN will also dip an altitude 80 miles above the planet to smaple Mars entire upper atmosphere. The spacecraft may also provide communications relay support for future landers and rovers on the Martian surface, such as Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissancs orbiter have done for the Mars Exploration Rovers and Phoenix.

Inter Stellar Probe.. Journey Begins !!!

The first-ever interstellar probe may cruise through space like a boat through the ocean, propelled by super-focused light beamed onto a sail the size of Texas.
Solar sailing is perhaps humanity's best bet for reaching star systems beyond our own in the foreseeable future, some scientists say, though they caution that the first robotic interstellar flight is not exactly around the corner.

"I think it's 300 to 500 years [away], personally," said Les Johnson, deputy manager of the Advanced Concepts Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "I think before we ever really undertake sending something to another star, we will probably have to be masters of our own solar system."

The vastness of space

Humanity will need to employ new propulsion technology if it hopes to launch spacecraft to other stars, because the distances involved are just too huge for traditional chemical rockets to handle. 

For example, the closest star system to our own is the three-star Alpha Centuari, which lies 4.3 light-years away, or more than 25 trillion miles (40 trillion kilometers). It would take a traditionally powered spacecraft about 40,000 years to reach Alpha Centuari if it blasted off today, scientists say.

Engineers are currently researching a number of different alternative-propulsion technologies, including space-bending "warp drives" and engines that harness the power of matter-antimatter reactions. But Johnson thinks the most attractive options at the moment are nuclear fusion drives and gigantic solar sails.

A fusion-powered probe is a long way off, since researchers are still trying to figure out how to build fusion reactors here on Earth that produce more energy than they take in.

"Not only do we have to solve that problem, but we've got to get a lot more out than we put in, and we've got to miniaturize it all dramatically so you can even consider launching it on a spacecraft," Johnson told SPACE.com.

Solar sailing has its own mix of promise and problems, which researchers are still trying to work through.

A light breeze

Solar sails take advantage of the curious fact that light particles, called photons, have momentum even though they possess no rest mass.

When photons hit the sail's reflective surface, they impart their momentum to the sail and the spacecraft, providing a slight push. The effect builds up over time, potentially accelerating a sail-equipped probe to tremendous speeds without the need for propellant. 

The technology has already been tested in space, with Japan's Ikaros probe deploying a 46-foot-wide (14 meters) sail in June 2010 and NASA launching an even smaller craft called NanoSail-D five months later.

These demonstrators may be first steps toward an interstellar mission, but they're halting and tiny ones. A solar sail would have to be far bigger to capture enough photons to reach another star system within a reasonable time frame — a few centuries, say.

"The physics tells us it's going to be the size of Texas," Johnson said.

The sail material would also need to be much thinner than a human hair, posing serious manufacturing, handling and deployment challenges, he added.

Beaming energy from afar 

A spacecraft on an interstellar journey would ideally deploy its enormous sail relatively close to the sun — perhaps near the orbit of Mercury — to get the biggest photon push possible at the outset, Johnson said.

Intrstellar Probe Spacecraft- Voyager

That push will drop off as the probe gets farther and farther from the sun, of course. So humanity will have to pick up the slack if the vehicle is to make good time, shining a space-based laser on the sail as it recedes into the dark depths. But that's easier said than done, to put it mildly. "You'd have to point [the laser] more accurately than we can point anything today to keep it focused on the sail," Johnson said. "And you'd have to put a lot of energy into it, so that the beam doesn't spread out and lose all that energy. The estimates I've seen are that you'd have lasers that have a power output basically comparable to the whole of humanity today."

The energy beam could be pretty much any type of electromagnetic radiation, including microwaves, said Richard Obousy, president of Icarus Interstellar, a nonprofit group devoted to pursuing interstellar spaceflight.  

"You can actually reach reasonable fractions of the speed of light, a few percent of the speed of light," Obousy told.

Strange Lonely Planet Found without a Star..

 A newly young and exotic planet has been discovered that is not orbiting a star. This free-floating planet  is  dubbed PSO J318.5-22, is just 80 light years away from Earth and has mass only six times that of Jupiter. This Planet was formed merely 12 million years ago-newborn in planet lifetimes.

It was identified from its faint and unique heat signature by PAN-STARRS 1(PS1), wide field survey telescope on Haleakala, Maui. Follow up ovservations using other telescopes in Hawaii show that it has propertiess similar to those of gas giants planets found orbiting around young stars. And yet PSO J318.5-22 is all by itself, without a host star.

"We have never seen an object free-floating in space that looks like this. It has all the characteristics of young planets found around other stars, but it is drifting out there all alone," explained team leader Dr.Michael Liu if Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "I had often misunderstood if such solitary objects exists, and now we know they do."

During the past decade , extrasolar planets have been discovered at an incredible pace, with about a thousand found by indirect methods such as wobbling or dimming of their host stars induced by the planet. However, only a handful of planets have been directly imaged, all ow which are around young stars(less than 200 million years old). PSO J318.5-22 is one of the lowest mass free floating objects known, perhaps the very lowest. But its most unique aspect is its similar mass, color, and energy output to the directly imaged planets.

"Planets found by directing imaging are incredibly hard to study, since they are right next to their much brighter host stars. PSO J318.5-22 is not orbiting a star so it will be much easier for us to study. It is going to provide a wonderful view into the inner workings of gas-giant planets like Jupiter shortly after their birth," said Dr.Niall Deacon of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany and a co-author of the study.


"We often describe looking for rare celestial objects as akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. So we decided to search the biggest haystack that exists in astronomy, the dataset from PS1," said Dr.Eugene Magnier of the institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a co author of the study. Dr.Magnier leads the data processing team for PS1, which produces the equivalent of 60000 iPhone photos every night. The total dataset to date is about 4000 Terabytes., bigger than the sum of digital version of all movies made, all books published , and all music albums ever released.


By regularly monitoring the position of PSO J318.5-22 over two years with the Canada-France Hawaii Telescope, the team directly measured its distance from earth .Based on this distance, about 80 light years , and its motion through space, the team concluded that PSO J318.5-22 belongs to a collection of young stars called the Beta Pictoris moving group that formed about 12 million years ago. In fact, the eponymous star of the group , Beta Pictoris , has a young gas giant planet in the orbit around it. PSO J318.5-22 is even lower in mass than the Beta Pictoris planet and probably formed in a different fashion.

 

We have never before seen an object free-floating in space that that looks like this. It has all the characteristics of young planets found around other stars, but it is drifting out there all alone," explained team leader Dr. Michael Liu of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "I had often wondered if such solitary objects exist, and now we know they do."

We have never before seen an object free-floating in space that that looks like this. It has all the characteristics of young planets found around other stars, but it is drifting out there all alone," explained team leader Dr. Michael Liu of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "I had often wondered if such solitary objects exist, and now we know they do."

This free-floating planet, dubbed PSO J318.5-22, is just 80 light-years away from Earth and has a mass only six times that of Jupiter. The planet formed a mere 12 million years ago—a newborn in planet lifetimes.

This free-floating planet, dubbed PSO J318.5-22, is just 80 light-years away from Earth and has a mass only six times that of Jupiter. The planet formed a mere 12 million years ago—a newborn in planet lifetimes.

This free-floating planet, dubbed PSO J318.5-22, is just 80 light-years away from Earth and has a mass only six times that of Jupiter. The planet formed a mere 12 million years ago—a newborn in planet lifetimes.

This free-floating planet, dubbed PSO J318.5-22, is just 80 light-years away from Earth and has a mass only six times that of Jupiter. The planet formed a mere 12 million years ago—a newborn in planet lifetimes.

Next Launch Vehicle from ISRO- GSLV Mark 3

                                       GSLV Mark III

Designed and conceived to make ISRO fully self reliant in launching heavier communication sattelites of INSAT-4 class, which  weigh 4000-5000 kg. The vertical envisages multi-mission launch capability for GTO, LEO, Polar and intermediate circular orbits.

GSLV-Mk III is designed to be a three stage vehicle, with 42.4 m tall with a lift off weight of 630 tonnes. First stage comprises two identical S200 Large Solid Booster (LSB) with 200 tonne solid propellant, that are strapped on to the second stage, the L110 re-startable liquid stage. The third stage is the C25 LOX/LH2 cryo stage. The large payload fairing measures 5 m in diameter and can accommodate a payload volume of 100 cu m. Realisation of GSLV Mk-III will help ISRO to put heavier satellites into orbit.

GSLV-MkIII is a three stage heavy lift launch vehicle, designed for launching four tonne class of communication satellites to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). It has three propulsion stages and is 42.4 m tall with a lift-off weight of 630 tonnes. Two identical large solid strap-on boosters (S200) with 200 tonnes of solid propellant are strapped on either side of the core stage (L110) with 110 tonnes of liquid propellant loading. The upper stage is the cryogenic stage (C25) with 27 tonnes propellant loading. Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) payload fairing measures 5 m in diameter which can accommodate a payload volume of 100 cu m.

GSLV D5, READY TO BE LAUNCHED ON DEC 15 !!!

GSLV D5, READY TO BE LAUNCHED ON DEC 15  

The launch of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which was deferred on August 19 following a flaw in the rocket, will take place on December 15, ISRO head said.

"The launch of GSLV D5 satellite which was postponed on August 19 about two hours before liftoff after detection of a fuel leak in the rockets' second stage will now be held on December 15," ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan said at an interactive session with students and teachers.

The leak was reportedly observed in the second stage of the 49-metre tall GSLV-D5. The rocket adopts a three-stage fuel cycle — the core solid stage, liquid and a cryogenic upper stage. At about 4 p.m., ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan, accompanied by a team of glum-looking scientists, met the media to formally declare that the GSLV-D5 mission had been called off.
“The countdown was progressing well. However, a few minutes ago, we observed a leak in the fuel systems of the second stage. Because of this, we are calling off the launch,” Dr. Radhakrishnan said.
The immediate task for ISRO teams in the fuel leak situation was to quickly drain out the liquid propellants that had been loaded into the second stage, the four L40 strap-ons and the cryogenic stage, the ISRO chief said.
“We need to make an assessment of the cause of the leak and the actions that need to be taken before further preparations for the next launch,” Dr. Radhakrishnan said. The GSLV-D5 is also being hauled back to the Vehicle Assembly building, he said.

GSLV is a three-stage/engine rocket. The first stage is fired with solid fuel, the second is the liquid fuel and the third stage is the cryogenic engine. Geosynchronous satellites are placed in orbits 36,000 km above the earth.

Pointing to ISRO's numerous achievements in the last 50 years, he said India ranks sixth globally in space technology. The primary objective is to advance space technology and use its applications for national benefit and for the people.

Radhakrishnan said India's ambitious project Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)

will be launched from Sriharikota on October 28. It has undergone extensive pre-launch test at ISRO's satellite centre in Bangalore, he said.

Nearly 100 students and teachers attended the programme at the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium.

More about Mangalyan-Mars Orbital Mission...!!!

Mission Objectives

One of the main objectives of the first Indian mission to Mars is to develop the technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission.

Following are the major objectives of the mission:

A. Technological Objectives:

• Design and realisation of a Mars orbiter with a capability to survive and perform Earth bound manoeuvres, cruise phase of 300 days, Mars orbit insertion / capture, and on-orbit phase around Mars.
• Deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.
• Incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations.

B. Scientific Objectives:

• Exploration of Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.

PAYLOADS USED IN MOM..

1. Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP)-
It is an absorption cell photometer. It measures the relative abundance of Deuterium and Hydrogen from Lyman-Alpha emission in the Martian Upper Atmosphere(exosphere and exosbase). Measurement of D/H(deuterium to hydrogen) ratio allows to understand the loss of water from the planet.

2. Mars Color Camera (MCC)-
This mars color camera gives images and information about the surface features and composition of Martian surface. They are useful to monitor the dynamic events and weather of mars. MCC will also be used for probing the two satellites of Mars -Phobos and Deimos. It also provides the context information for other science payloads.

3. Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM)-
Designed to measure Methane in the Martian atmosphere with PPB accuracy and map its sources. Data is acquired only over illuminated scenes as the sensor measures  reflected solar radiations. Methane concentration in the Martian atmosphere undergoes spatial and tempporal variations.

4. Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA)-
MENCA is a quadruple mass spectrometer capable of analysing the neutral composition in the range of 1-300 amu with unit mass resolution. The heritage of this payload is from Chandra's Altitudinal Compositional Explorer (CHACE) payload.

5. Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS)-
TIS measure the thermal emission and can be operated both during day and night.
Temperature and emissivity are the two basic physical parameters estimated for thermal emission measurement. Many minerals and soil type have characteristic spectra in TIS region.
TIS can map surface composition and mineralogy of Mars.

PICS GALLERY...

Spacecraft Being Flagged off by Director, ISAC, Bangalore

Spacecraft Leaving for SHAR, Sriharikota

Spacecraft being Received at SHAR, ,Sriharikota

Spacecraft being Uploaded

Spacecraft at cleanroom

MANGALYAN- MISSION TO MARS......OCT 28..!!!

 October 28 is set to be the next big day for the Indian space programme as the Mangalyaan (or Mars Orbiter) will lift-off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh that day using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready for the launch of the Rs. 450-crore satellite, which weighs 1350 kg. It will take about 10 months to reach the orbit of Mars traversing a distance of over 400 million kilometres.

"The satellite is in the final stages of testing. We have also got thumbs up from the review committee," an elated ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan.

Mr Radhakrishnan says Mangalyaan will carry five Indian scientific instruments to study the atmosphere of the Red Planet, look for traces of Methane which could indicate if life exists on Mars, take colour photos of the planet and analyse the presence of water there.

In 2008, India successfully launched its maiden mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, which brought back the first clinching evidence of the presence of water on the lunar surface. Some even suggested that this is really now an Asian space race between India and China - the two regional rivals - on who reaches Mars first.

Other experts suggest that it is not so much the inter-planetary configuration but earth bound geo-political considerations that may be weighing on India's mind referring to the space rivalry between India and China. "We are not racing with anybody and the Indian Mars mission has its own relevance," says Mr Radhakrishnan. He, however, admits that there is an element of 'national pride' involved with the mission.

Some suggest after the success of Chandrayaan-1, the natural stepping stone for India was to try to reach Mars. Mr Radhakrishnan said, "We had to prepare the spacecraft on a fast-track mode as we had a deadline to meet. Though it is a complex spacecraft, but our people have done it." He also said that it is a critical mission for the country because after Chandrayaan-1 ISRO is looking to go deeper into the space, on a longer voyage.

MORE ABOUT MANGALYAN

India's Mangalyaan or Mars craft is on the move. The country's maiden mission to Mars or the Red Planet is scheduled for lift off in the afternoon on October 28, 2013.

 
The first leg and the slowest of its journeys by road from the cradle where it was born in India's satellite centre in Bangalore began at 6:00 AM on Wednesday. Its slow-paced convoy, closely guarded by commandos from the Central Industrial Research Force, reached the space port at Sriharikota at about 6.30 pm today, taking a tortuous 36 hours to slowly negotiating the traffic and circumventing anti-Telangana protests. It will be now hurled into space using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle using an unconventional trajectory.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on August 15, 2012 announced the bold conception of Mangalyaan from the ramparts of the Red Fort while addressing the nation on Independence Day when he said, "Our spaceship will go near Mars and collect important scientific information. This spaceship to Mars will be a huge step for us in the area of science and technology".

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) says the satellite which will be placed in an elliptic orbit around Mars and will carry 15 kg of scientific instruments. According to ISRO, the objectives of the mission are to focus on remotely assessing "life, climate, geology, origin and evolution and sustainability of life on the planet".

"This is a technology demonstration project, a mission that will announce to the world India has the capability to reach as far away as Mars," K Radhakrishnan, ISRO's chairman said.

Since 1960, there have been 45 missions to Mars with just about a third of them being successful; attempts have been made by the former USSR and Russia, USA, Europe, Japan and China. The first Chinese mission to Mars called Yinghuo-1 failed in 2011 so some believe that India is trying to march ahead in what has been described as the twenty first century 'Asian Space Race'.

After the successful maiden mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 the natural stepping stone for India was to try to reach Mars. 

K. Radhakrishnan said: "This mars mission is a historical necessity, after having helped find water on the moon, looking for signatures of life on mars is a natural progression. India is now demonstrating its capability to undertake inter-planetary travel with end to end technological prowess in space".