India launches spacecraft into Earth's orbit on Tuesday, a major step in the history of India the first country in Asia to reach Mars.
The launch is only the first step. The journey is about 300-days .Only the United States, Russia and the European Space Agency have reached Mars, and none of them managed it on the first try.
PSLV C25 will have to be orbit Earth for nearly a month as a series of small bursts by its thrusts slowly nudges it into space. If all goes well, it will reach Mars on September 24.
At a cost of $72 million, the Mars project is relatively inexpensive, Indian officials also defended the program as yielding technological advances that are hard to predict, claims that critics were quick to dismiss.
The space program is not only a source of nationalist pride, but also a weapon in India's competition with China. Singh, addressing the nation on India's Independence Day, announced the plans for an Indian attempt. "This spaceship to Mars will be a huge step for us in the area of science and technology,”
India's Mars venture was preceded by a similar mission that placed a spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, in orbit around the moon in 2008. The moon mission followed a similar effort by China, and officials were blunt about their intentions.
The modest size of the payload, at 33 pounds, is an indicator of the limitations of the mission. But repeated failures in the development of a rocket capable of carrying payloads of more than two tons had led to delays.
