ISRO a few hours away from Mars Mission

The launch, which will be witnessed by the US ambassador will be the first ever outside the Earth's sphere of influence for ISRO

India's premier space agency, ISRO, is just a few hours away from its historic mission to Mars, its first-ever launch outside the Earth's sphere of influence in its 44-year-long history.

The Mission Control Room at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, about 100 from Chennai, is abuzz with activity as scientists are monitoring the countdown time CDT for launch of India's first mission to the red planet.

"The countdown is progressing normally.All vehicle systems were switched on for the final eight and half hour countdown which started at 6:08 AM," a spokesman of the Indian Space Research Organisation told PTI.

The 76 metre tall Mobile Service Tower covering the 44.4 metre rocket has been withdrawn to a distance of around 150 metres to facilitate the launch, ISRO sources said.

Ever since its establishment in 1969, ISRO has only launched missions around Earth for various purposes and a single mission to the Moon.This is the first time the national space agency is aspiring to send a mission to study a celestial body outside Earth's sphere of influence.

India's Mars Orbiter is expected to reach the red planet's orbit by September 2014 and look for the presence of methane, an indicator of life there.

US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell arrived here today to witness the launch of the Mars mission from Sriharikota.

Soon after arrival, she left for the spaceport, about 100 km from here.

ISRO has put in place an extensive network of stations worldwide to track the Mars Orbiter Mission after launch from the first launch pad here at 2.38 PM.