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What is Mars Orbiter Mission or Mangalyaan
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan, is a space probe launched by the Indian Space Research Organization on November 5, 2013.
Mangalyaan was India's first interplanetary mission. The indigenously-built space probe has been in the Martian orbit since September 24, 2014. The mission made India the first Asian country, and the fourth in the world after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency, to get to the planet. China referred to India's successful Mangalyaan as the "Pride of Asia".
On November 23, 2008, the then-ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair acknowledged Isro's Mars mission. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the project on August 3, 2012.
What was the objective of Mangalyaan?
India's Mangalyaan mission is aimed at studying Martian atmosphere. Its objective is to explore Martian surface features, mineralogy, morphology and atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments. A crucial objective of MOM was to develop technologies required in planning, designing, management and operations of an interplanetary mission.
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan's description
MOM was launched aboard PSLV C-25 (an XL version of the PSLV). It carried 850 kg of fuel and 5 science payloads including a Mars Color Camera (MCC) which it has been using to study the Martian surface and atmosphere since entering the orbit successfully. The spacecraft is tracked by the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN), located near Bengaluru and complemented by NASA-JPL's Deep Space Network.
Cost of Mangalyaan
ISRO spent $75 million to launch the mission, making it the least-expensive Mars mission to date.
Status of Mangalyaan
On September 28, 2014, MOM controllers published the spacecraft's first global view of Mars. The image was captured by the Mars Colour Camera (MCC). Over the years, MCC has captured over 980 images that were released to the public.
On September 24, 2018, MOM completed four years in its orbit around Mars, although the designed mission life was only six months. ISRO now plans to develop and launch a follow-up mission called Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (MOM-2 or Mangalyaan-2) in 2024.
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar starrer Mission Mangal is set to release on August 15, 2019. The movie is based on India's Mangalyaan.