Prime Minister, Narendra Modi meeting ISRO scientists before Insertion of Mars Orbiter (Mangalyaan) into the Mars at ISRO Headquarters in Bangalore on Wednesday. (UNI)
BANGALORE, Sept 24: India today created space history by successfully placing its low-cost Mars spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet in its very first attempt, catapulting the country into an elite club of three nations.
Watched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ISRO scientists successfully ignited the main 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) and eight small thrusters that fired for 24-minutes from 7.17 am and slowed down the speed of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft ‘Mangalyaan’ for it to slip into a smooth orbit around the Red Planet after almost an year-long voyage.
“Today MOM has met Mangal (Mars). Today Mangal has got MOM. The time this mission was short named as MOM, I was sure that MOM won’t disappoint us,” Modi, who wore a red coloured jacket, said annnouncing the Rs 450 crore mission’s success, after nerve-wracking final moments at the command centre of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) here.
Scientists broke into wild cheers and congratulated each other after the 1,350 kg spacecraft was manoeuvred into its designated place, capping a 666 million km journey that began on November 5 last.
With the success of “Mangalyaan”, India has become the first country to go to Mars in the very first try. European, American and Russian probes have managed to orbit or land on the planet, but after several attempts. The first Chinese mission to Mars, called Yinghuo-1, failed in 2011. Earlier in 1998, the Japanese mission ran out of fuel and was lost.
Modi, who witnessed the operation along with the space scientists, said the odds were stacked against “us with only 21 of the 51 missions to Mars being successful,” but “we have prevailed.”
“We have gone beyond the boundaries of human enterprise and innovation.
We have navigated our craft through a route known to very few,” Modi said in a speech in Hindi and English, congratulating the scientists and “all my fellow Indians on this historic occasion.”
An elated Prime Minister patted the back of ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan and complimented the Indian space scientists for making space history.
“I have said it in the past too, the amount our scientists have spent on this mission is even less than what they spend in making Hollywood movies,” he said in his address to the mission scientists.
At just 74 million USD, the mission less than the estimated 100 million USD budget of the sci-fi blockbuster “Gravity”.
India’s MOM is the cheapest inter-planetary mission, costing a tenth of NASA’s Mars mission Maven that entered the Martian orbit on September 22.
It aims to study Mars’ surface and mineral composition, and scan its atmosphere for methane, a chemical strongly tied to life on Earth.
Given the high rate of failures –only 21 of the total of 51 missions sent to Mars by various countries being successful, the success of MOM has given a boost to India’s global standing in Space.
“India has successfully reached Mars, congratulations to all of you, congratulations to countrymen. History has been created today. We have dared to reach out into the unknown. And have achieved the near impossible,” said Modi, as India became the first country to succeed in the mission to Mars in the very first attempt.
“Travelling a mind-boggling distance of more than 650 million, or 65 crore kilometres, we have gone beyond the boundaries of human enterprise and imagination. We have, accurately navigated our spacecraft, through a route known to very few,” he said, showering compliments on ISRO scientists.
Modi told the scientists that through their brilliance and hard work, “you have made it a habit of achieving the impossible”.
“No one represents this zeal for exploring the unknown more than our space scientists here at ISRO,” he said, adding, “These are all accomplishments that will go down as landmarks in history.”
India’s Mars orbiter, the Prime Minister noted, had been built indigenously, in a pan-Indian effort, stretching from Bangalore to Bhubhaneshwar, and Faridabad to Rajkot.
He noted that the spacecraft had been put together in a record time with a mere three years of studying its feasibility, which was matter of pride for Indians.
“India is the only country to have succeeded in its very first attempt,” Modi stressed, adding that, with today’s spectacular success, ISRO joins an elite group of only three other agencies worldwide to have successfully reached the red Mars.
He said the success of India’s space programme is a shining symbol of “what we are capable of as a nation”.
“Let today’s success drive us with even greater vigour and conviction. Let’s set ourselves even more challenging goals–this too must become a base for challenging the next frontier,” he said.
Modi said Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s “vision had inspired us to reach for the moon. The successful Chandrayan mission in turn led to the Mars Orbiter Mission.”
The Prime Minister said, “We also have a great legacy and responsibility to live up to. Our ancestors had helped the world understand the mysteries of the heavens.
“Grasp the idea of Shunya or nothingness. Map spatial knowledge; such as the rotation of the Earth, motion of planets and occurrence of eclipses. Modern India must continue playing this leading role of ‘Jagad-guru Bharat’,” he said.
Modi said, “We have done so, from a distance so large; that it took even a command signal from Earth, more time to reach it, than it takes sunlight to reach us.”
Uncertainty, he said, is a part of the journey of every explorer who seeks to push boundaries and the hunger of exploration and the thrill of discovery are not for the faint-hearted.
Modi said innovation, after all, by its very nature involves risk; as the scientists are trying to do something which has not been done before.
“It’s a leap into the dark. Humanity would not have progressed, if we had not taken such leaps into the unknown. And space is indeed the biggest unknown out there.”
He said no one represents this zeal for exploring the unknown more than the space scientists here at ISRO and they have developed self-reliance across critical domains, often in the face of hostile circumstances.
“Every generation of your scientists, has groomed the next home-grown lot. Through your achievements, you have honoured our fore-fathers, and inspired our future generations! You truly deserve all the love and respect you get from a grateful nation!”
Noting that the space programme has been an example of achievement, which “inspires the rest of us to strive for excellence ourselves”, the Prime Minister said moreover, space exploration requires cutting-edge expertise across diverse disciplines.
A successful space programme thus generates applications across multiple domains, Modi stressed.
In his concluding remarks, he said, “In contrast with the linear nature of Western philosophy; there is no absolute ‘beginning’ or ‘end’ in our Eastern understanding of the cosmos. There is only a continuous, unending cycle of dispassionate, detached perseverance.
“Let today’s success, only drive us with even greater vigour and conviction. Let’s set ourselves even more challenging goals. And strive even harder to achieve them. Let us push our boundaries. And then, push some more!”
Quoting Rabindranath Tagore, Modi said, “Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action … Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.” (PTI)
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