Regional dust storm activities over northern hemisphere of Mars - captured by the ISRO’s Mars Orbiter
Mission. The image was taken from an altitude of 74500 km from the surface of Mars. Credit: ISRO
unknown and have achieved the
near-impossible. I congratulate all
ISRO scientists as well as all my fellow
Indians on this historic occasion.”
Modi gave a stirring and
passionate speech to the
team, the nation and a global
audience outlining the benefits
and importance of India’s space
program. He implored the team
to strive for even greater space
exploration challenges, sounding
very much like US President John
F. Kennedy over 50 years ago!
“We have gone beyond the
boundaries of human enterprise
and imagination,” Modi stated.
“We have accurately navigated
our spacecraft through a route
known to very few. And we have
done it from a distance so large
that it took even a command
signal from Earth to reach it more
than it takes sunlight to reach us.”
MOM’s goal is to study Mars
surface features, morphology,
mineralogy and the Martian
atmosphere with five indigenous
scientific instruments. Among
other goals it will sniff for
methane as a potential marker
for biological activity.
“We have prevailed. We have
succeeded on our first attempt.
We put together the spacecraft
in record time, in a mere three
years from first studying its
feasibility,” Modi elaborated.
“These are accomplishments that
will go down in history. Innovation
by its very nature involves risk. It
is a leap into the dark .. . and the
unknown. Space is indeed the
biggest unknown out there. Through
your brilliance and hard work [at
ISRO] you have made a habit of
accomplishing the impossible.”
“The success of our space
program is a shining symbol of what
we are capable of as a nation.
Our space program is an example
of achievement which inspires us
all .. and future generations … to
strive for excellence ourselves.”
On her over 10 month
interplanetary voyage, MOM
crossed an interplanetary gulf of
some 442 million miles (712 million
km) from Earth to the Red Planet.
MOM was launched on Nov. 5,
2013 from India’s spaceport at
the Satish Dhawan Space Centre,
Sriharikota, atop the nations
indigenous four stage Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
MOM and MAVEN join Earth’s
newly fortified armada of seven
spacecraft currently operating
on Mars surface or in orbit including Mars Odyssey (MO),
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
(MRO), Mars Express (MEX),
Curiosity and Opportunity.
Scientists from MAVEN, Curiosity,
Opportunity and all the orbiters
will work in concert utilizing all
the data to elucidate the history
of Mars potenti