India has reached Mars. Congrats!

[Perspicuo]

Mangalyaan: India's race for space success
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-29307123

India's maiden mission to Mars, the Mangalyaan, has arrived in orbit after a 300-day marathon covering over 670 million kilometres (420 million miles). Science writer Pallava Bagla traced its journey as it neared the Red Planet.

On the morning of 24 September, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) slowed down the spacecraft sufficiently so it could be caught in the orbit of Mars.

"India will become the first Asian country to have achieved this and if it happens in the maiden attempt itself, India could become the first country in the world to have reached distant Mars on its own steam in the first attempt," said Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan as it approached.

Both Russia and the US failed in their maiden attempts. The first Chinese mission to Mars, called Yinghuo-1, failed in 2011 alongside the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission with which it was launched. Earlier in 1998, the Japanese mission to Mars ran out of fuel and was lost.

Undoubtedly, India - a late starter - is way ahead of its Asian rivals in trying to get to the Red Planet.

"We are really not racing with anyone, but with ourselves to reach the next level of excellence," said Mr Radhakrishnan.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Good for India!

 

[Perspicuo]

The photo shows the launch, but the news is they got to Mars successfully.


India celebrates Mars mission success
http://www.dw.de/india-celebrates-mars-mission-success/g-17949849

 

[RavenSky]

excellent!

 

[Angry Floof]

Wonderful!

 

[bilby]

Not bad at all for only $74 million. NASA spent $328 million on the Mars Climate Orbiter (which they then crashed because they mixed up SI and Imperial units of measure ).

The making of the movie Gravity cost more than the Mangalyaan mission.

 

[barbos]

So, when is grand opening of first 7-Eleven on Mars?

 

[bilby]

So, when is grand opening of first 7-Eleven on Mars?

Nevermind that. Just think how much more painful it will be calling tech support with a delay of between three and twenty-one minutes between question and response. Actually, that might explain why you have to listen to 21 minutes of on-hold music before you are connected...

 

[thebeave]

So, when is grand opening of first 7-Eleven on Mars?

Now that Mars is multi-cultural, will the upcoming Mars astronauts have to undergo diversity and sensitivity training? Maybe if they want to eat a hamburger they're going to have to hide in a Mars cave so the Indian satellite doesn't seem them and offend the people of India.

 

[Keith&Co.]

The making of the movie Gravity cost more than the Mangalyaan mission.

Well, yeah.
The Mangalyaan mission doesn't have a musical score.

 

[Perspicuo]

The making of the movie Gravity cost more than the Mangalyaan mission.

Well, yeah.
The Mangalyaan mission doesn't have a musical score.

Worry not. It will have both a musical score, lip-sync and dance choreography. Plus love scene. :laughing-smiley-014

Not bad at all for only $74 million. NASA spent $328 million on the Mars Climate Orbiter (which they then crashed because they mixed up SI and Imperial units of measure ).

The making of the movie Gravity cost more than the Mangalyaan mission.

Yeah, but what will it do? It's not the same to hurl a 1998 Nokia across space than a 2013 iPhone that will take pictures and send them back real-time. Will Mangalyaan scan geography, weather, broad-spectrum analysis and last a long time powered and working? Sure, labor costs could explain the price difference, but that wouldn't be the whole picture. The primary objective of the Indians could reasonably have been "Oh please get an orbiter over there for the love of God!", instead of more sober scientific ambitions. It's an open question. There's a lot we don't know, and I bet the other space agencies right now are all over it trying to get the whole picture. Another great Indian achievement to create such a stir and show the world how you can do it efficient and successfully.