Content area
Full Text
At 7.41 am IST on 24 September 2 0 14, s ho rt ly after a perfectly choreographed insertion into orbit around Mars, ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) exited the 'dark side' of the Martian planet and sent its first transmission towards Earth. A nerve-wracking twelve-and-a- half minutes later, the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore received the transmission. Shortly thereafter, the mission's most crucial phase was declared successful amid raucous cheering at the Control Centre. In a room occupied mostly by jubilant scientists was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had arrived early in the morning to follow this historic event.
A chie ve m e nt o f suc h Ma r s o r bi t in sert i o n m ak es I n d i a t h e v e r y fir st country in the history of spaceflight to have successfully sent a spacecraft to Mars on its first attempt. In the past, only NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the former Soviet Union succeeded in placing spacecraft in orbit around Mars. The PM was keen...