September 24th, 2014.
A calm morning in Bengaluru
belies the fact
this is the moment of truth
for one of India's most daring missions.
Its first interplanetary journey to Mars.
In the Mission Control Room, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
is intently watching history unfold before his eyes.
India's Space Research Organisation's top bosses
K. Radhakrishnan and A. S. Kiran Kumar
calmly monitor the progress of the mission.
For the automatic operation of the Mars Orbiter Mission..
Nobody believed that India actually would be able
to do this mission.
Or, that it could soon become the first country in the world
to reach the elusive Red Planet
in its very first attempt.
But what makes this nail-biting moment
even more dramatic
is the fact that during the crucial period of insertion
into the Martian orbit
the spacecraft Mangalyaan will move behind Mars
out of line of sight with Earth
cutting off all communication with the mission team.
The tension in the Mission Control Room
is palpable.
300 days
over 650 million kilometres
and it all comes down to this.
Will India's Mars orbiter, or Mangalyaan
successfully enter the Martian orbit?
Bengaluru, in southern India
a hotbed for science and innovation.
India's Silicon Valley.
It is also India's space city
with many of India's space centres located here.
India's adventure to Mars began in 2012
when Indian space scientists put forward
an ambitious plan to send an orbiter to Mars.
This would be India's first interplanetary journey.
And if successful
it would be the 4th space agency in the world
and the first Asian country to reach Mars.
I see a 21st Century Asian space race
happening between India and China on many fronts.
And India got an opportunity
to go ahead of China
at least in reaching Mars
when in 2011, the Chinese mission failed.
So, there was a small window
in which India could race ahead.
So, in 2013, India put their plan into action
to send an orbiter to Mars.
ISRO scientists chose the PSLV
as a launch vehicle
as it is one of India's most reliable rockets.
The PSLV-C25 stands at a height
of a 15-storey building
but even with this magnificent size
it was not powerful enough to send Mangalyaan
directly on a path to Mars.
What they really needed was a powerful rocket
that would throw the spacecraft
out of Earth's sphere of influence
and directly on a path towards Mars.
That more powerful rocket was the GSLV.
The only catch was, in India
it was still under development and being tested.
But scientists couldn't afford to delay this mission.
V. Adimurthy, who evaluated India's ability
to journey to Mars, explains why.
This is a model of Earth, Mars and the Sun.
And as you know
the planets are moving around the Sun
in different speeds.
And complex calculations have shown
that for us to go from Earth to Mars
a rendezvous date can be 24th September, 2014.
And if we missed this date
the next opportunity will come 26 months later.
We decided that we plunge in for this date
and go for the rendezvous
with Mars on 24th September, 2014.
This meant that
Mangalyaan has to start from Earth's Orbit
on a precise date
and go towards its journey towards Mars
and reach Mars Orbit
on 24th September, 2014.
Mars will be there for the rendezvous at that time
when Mangalyaan reaches there.
If we start too early
then Mangalyaan will be ahead of Mars
and if we start too late
Mangalyaan will be behind Mars
and both would be failed fly-by missions.
Mangalyaan had to be launched within this crucial window.
And so it was back to the PSLV
and the ISRO scientists who had to come up
with an innovative flight plan.
If we are able to have
a novel mission design
India could put a spacecraft
with our own PSLV.
And we decided that this is going to be
a technology mission to prove India's capability
to orbit a spacecraft around Mars.
The plan presented was a daring one.
Something that India had never attempted before.
They would build a Mars orbiter
one of the fastest and most intelligent spacecrafts
India has ever made and load it onto the PSLV.
It would first be launched into Earth's orbit.
Then they would get it to circle Earth
and gradually increase its velocity
and raise its orbit levels till it's fast enough
to escape Earth's sphere of influence.
It would then be set on a path towards Mars
covering over 650 million kilometres
in about 300 days.
Mangalyaan will hurtle through space
at speeds over 20 kilometres per second.
On Earth, travelling at that speed
would get you from New Delhi to New York
in about 9 minutes.
That's how fast Mangalyaan will travel
towards Mars.
It will then enter Mars orbit
at a point about 500 kilometres nearest to the surface
of the Red Planet.
Once green-lit, the Mars Orbiter Mission
had centres across India working around the clock
to pull off this challenging interplanetary journey.
ISRO centres in Bengaluru designed, built
and tested Mangalyaan.
Ahmedabad engineered its camera and scientific instruments.
Sriharikota would be its launch centre.
The deep space antenna in Byalalu
would track communication.
And the Mission Control Room back in Bengaluru
would monitor and navigate it.
Mangalyaan's dream team had veteran space scientists
who had worked on many of India's satellite missions
over three to four decades.
K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, ISRO at the time of launch
is the man at the helm of India's mission to Mars.
A. S. Kiran Kumar had to analyse
hundreds of worst-case scenarios.
His big concern was how fuel would be used.
M. Annadurai's experience
heading India's first Moon mission
Chandrayaan-1, would help in designing
an economical Mars mission.
S. Arunan's biggest challenge was to build an intelligent craft
that was autonomous
or one that could largely function on its own.
The leading members of this team had worked
on the successful lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1
but this was their first interplanetary mission.
Their scientific prowess would be tested at every turn.
It is a one-way graduation for what we do all along
to Chandrayaan.
And Chandrayaan to MOM, I can tell it's postgraduation.
It is like everything's a step ahead
but everything that is learned previously
is taken to Chandrayaan.
Chandrayaan to Mars, very well it has been taken there.
The 1335 kilograms Mars Orbiter Satellite
into an elliptic orbit..
At the launch centre, it's action stations.
Scientists have to monitor every aspect of this lift-off
and constantly track Mangalyaan's
over 300-day space journey.
They need information at each stage
and India could not do this alone.
One of the major requirements
for ISTRAC is to provide continuous Mars data
for control support.
So, we established 32 antennae
ground station support
spread throughout the world.
During launch, ground stations in Sriharikota
Port Blair, Brunei and Indonesia
will track the rocket and will relay data
to the mission team.
But once the rocket is above the South Pacific Ocean
ground stations would not be able to track it.
The mission team couldn't afford to be without communication.
After much deliberation, they came up with a solution.
Two ships loaded with powerful antennae
would be stationed in the Pacific
and would send information of this part of the launch.
But the team faced its first setback.
One of the ships couldn't reach its location on time
due to bad weather.
The preparations for the launch
they were delayed due to the positioning
of the shipborne terminals at the desired locations.
Due to weather problems, it got delayed.
This was not good news
considering the short time window the mission team
had to launch Mangalyaan.
Bad weather had managed to derail the original launch plan
and scientists were hit with a problem
even before lift-off.
India's Mission to Mars team was up against a challenge.
One of the two ships carrying powerful antennae
needed for tracking during the launch of Mangalyaan
was not able to reach its location
due to bad weather.
The mission team had to realign all their calculations
and come up with a new launch date.
Earlier, October end, the launch was scheduled.
But due to the arrangements
required for the vehicle tracking
with some shipborne terminals.
So, all those arrangements got delayed.
And we could launch on November 5th.
Children in Sriharikota are probably used to seeing
rockets flash through the sky.
But on this November afternoon
the rocket about to lift off will create history
as it will launch India's first interplanetary mission.
Mangalyaan, India's orbiter to Mars.
Launch date. The world is watching.
Nobody believed that India actually would be able
to do this mission.
So, even when we had announced the date of launch, etc.
Still there was a question mark. Nobody was taking us seriously.
Only when the actual launch happened
then they started looking at
"Okay. That means there is already"
"a satellite which has been integrated"
"put together. This is happening."
Scientists are counting down to blast off.
10, 9, 8
7, 6, 5
4, 3, 2
1, 0, +1, 2..
Stations at Sriharikota, Port Blair
Brunei and Indonesia
send signals confirming the success
of the first three launch phases.
The rocket then cruises for 26 minutes
over the South Pacific Ocean
and none of the ground stations
can get signals from it for 10 minutes.
This is followed by the crucial 4th stage
when Mangalyaan separates from the launch vehicle
and is thrown into orbit.
Communication is crucial at this stage.
This is where the 2 ships have a key role.
The team is on edge waiting for the signal
that all is going as per plan.
The first ship monitors the ignition
of the rocket engine.
A few minutes later, the second ship
monitors craft separation.
Mangalyaan is finally sent
into an elliptical orbit around Earth.
Very, very accurate orbit we have achieved.
Jubilation breaks out in the Command Centre.
Given the media interest in India's Mars mission
the action in the Command Centre is aired live on television
and shared on social media
with a massive audience around the world.
We were very clear, this is a complex mission.
And we needed to communicate this to the country.
So, we used social media.
The young generation in the country
discussed science on that.
And today, almost 1 million likes we have.
Even as India celebrated a successful launch
of its Mars Orbiter
the US launched its own Mars mission, MAVEN.
And lift-off of the Atlas V with MAVEN.
Looking for clues about the evolution of Mars
through its atmosphere.
They had a powerful launch vehicle
that put MAVEN on a direct path to Mars.
The stage was now set.
Everything's looking good.
There was serious pressure on India to ensure success.
They could not afford to fail.
Mangalyaan was built in a record 15 months
on a shoestring budget of USD 74 million.
Compared to NASA's Mars Orbiter, MAVEN
USD 670 million.
Doing it at $70 million
was really a huge, huge benefit
not just in saving money
but it paves the way for the world
to look at interplanetary missions
which are less than $100 million in costs.
India's highly cost-effective spacecrafts
like Mangalyaan are built in this high security facility
in Bengaluru.
Scientists work in a specifically designed clean room.
Dust is one of the biggest enemies
of deep space satellites like the Mars Orbiter.
Even a speck of dust could be catastrophic
jamming systems.
Mangalyaan is a surprisingly small cuboid.
A little smaller than an autorickshaw
and about three times its weight.
Systems on Mangalyaan are miniaturised and light.
You have to miniaturise because you are taking
the object farther and farther.
Basically, it's miniaturisation
to a very high level
what has not been attempted so far.
Mangalyaan's brain is a highly intelligent system
that will allow it to communicate with the mission team
from millions of kilometres away and even function on its own.
The solar panels will power its brain.
But it also has a backup lithium-ion battery.
Its high-powered antenna will point towards Earth
to be able to send and receive messages.
Star sensors and gyroscopes act as navigation aids
to keep the orbiter on its precise path.
Its five instruments will send back
scientific information about Mars.
Its engine is powered by liquid fuel.
It has to use this fuel very carefully.
There are no pit stops to refuel during its long
over 650 million-kilometre journey.
This was one of the biggest concerns
for the mission team.
After a successful launch
Mangalyaan has been put
on an elliptical orbit around Earth.
Over the next 25 days, scientists will fire up
Mangalyaan's engine six times to raise the orbit
and increase its velocity high enough
so it can escape Earth's sphere of influence.
In very simple terms, it's what we did to Mangalyaan.
Imagine the red ball is the Mangalyaan.
And we flung it around Earth in bigger and faster loops
until it got sufficient velocity.
And when it got that velocity
we flung it towards Mars.
The room for error at every stage is narrow
as they cannot afford to waste fuel.
Mangalyaan has completed 3 orbit-raising operations
around Earth
each bigger than the previous one.
And then scientists hit another snag.
The 4th time, the engine fired up
it underperformed and did not reach
the targeted velocity.
This means Mangalyaan would have to use
extra fuel to make up for the shortfall.
B. S. Kiran's expertise in mathematical modelling
lead him to establish a precise path
for Mangalyaan's Mars encounter.
He was worried because snags like this
could affect Managalyaan's date with Mars.
The main engine shut down
due to some onboard logic.
So, after which we could not impart
the desired velocity increment in that manoeuver.
All our problems what we are talking about
for this entire mission comes primarily from the reason
the amount of fuel we are carrying.
If something goes wrong
the amount of fuel that is left for correction and recovery
would have prevented us from going to Mars.
After much deliberation
the team decides on firing up the engine for one extra time
to ensure Mangalyaan speeds up to the required velocity.
Space scientists are tense
but calmly oversee the protocol.
So, at that time
we had many possible scenarios.
We had worked out almost something like
250 reasons why we could fail.
So, any of those failures, if they occur
is there a possibility for us to correct.
And correct with the fuel which is still sufficient for us
to do the rest of the travel and insert in Mars.
Mangalyaan makes up for the shortfall
in an additional engine burn.
And the correction is successful.
Mangalyaan now has only a few days left
before it leaves Earth's orbit.
And as a farewell message
it sends back its very first picture.
A picture clicked using its cool Mars colour camera
built at the Space Application Centre in Ahmedabad.
This camera and other instruments designed
at this centre are crucial to the mission
as they will allow Mangalyaan
to study Mars' surface and atmosphere
and send that information back home.
And all this high-end engineering innovation
for space research is driven by local talent.
We had to design the payloads
such that it could fit into that budget of mass and power.
That was extremely challenging.
And really go for very state-of-the-art
components and elements
so that we could make our instruments
lightweight and very low power.
Mangalyaan is now gearing up to bid goodbye to Earth
and make its way towards Mars.
The trans-Mars injection manoeuver
we planned and executed.
That also went through. As an operation
I would say it was perfect.
The engine is fired up and jettisons Mangalyaan
out of Earth's orbit
and on its first ever interplanetary journey
towards Mars.
A new chapter in India's space odyssey
has begun.
The further Mangalyaan travels away from Earth
the greater the danger of losing contact with it.
But as it hurtles in the unfamiliar territory
of outer space, accurate navigation and communication
would make or break
India's Mars ambition.
Mangalyaan, India's Mars Orbiter
is now hurtling towards Mars
at a speed of over 20 kilometres per second.
Scientists feel
that Mars holds some secrets
about the origin of life on the Planet Earth.
And also it is believed, that after a few decades
humankind would be able to have habitat in Mars.
Futurists have been fascinated with Mars
due to its proximity to Earth.
In many ways, it's a little like Earth.
For starters, its surface is very similar to Earth's
and the length of its day a little more than 24 hours.
1 Mars year is equal to about 2 Earth years.
And the weight on Mars is about one-third the weight on Earth.
Like Earth, it has volcanoes, canyons and polar ice caps.
This is what excites space scientists
possibilitie for future colonisation.
Former President
President APJ Abdul Kalam once told me
Earth, Moon and Mars
are all part of one
industrial complex.
He always felt that there would be mining of the Moon
there would be mining of Mars, and the human race
would be travelling between Earth, Moon and Mars
as one configuration.
As it travels towards Mars after leaving Earth's Orbit
Mangalyaan is in almost frictionless vacuum.
Its engine has been switched off
and will be turned on 300 days later
when it approaches Mars.
Mangalyaan is in an unfamiliar and extreme environment.
For one, it's travelling away from the Sun
so the temperatures it's exposed to
can be lower than -150 degree centigrade.
ISRO scientists are prepared for this eventuality.
Mangalyaan was tested to endure a vacuum environment
high vibration, extreme temperature variation
and high levels of sound
to prepare it for this epic journey.
The testing requirements were very huge
because we have to simulate so many scenarios.
So, those kinds of thousands and thousands of combinations
need to be tested in the ground
to ensure that we don't get
any failure in some of the parts.
India's Mars Orbiter is on schedule.
If all goes well, it will reach Mars orbit
on September the 24th, 2014.
But the mission team knows that's easier said than done.
So, how does one navigate a spacecraft
when all you can see is deep space?
Hundreds of years ago, Ancient Indian astronomers
like Aryabhata and Varahamihira
using very rudimentary instruments
have studied the stars and mapped them
and studied the planetary motions.
Ancient explorers have used the stars in the night sky
to navigate their position and go around in the exploration.
In a similar way, our Mars mission team
has also used the stars around the spacecraft
to know their precise orientation
and proceed accurately towards Mars.
And that team was spearheaded
by Nandini Harinath and Ritu Karidhal
who monitor power and communication
and operate Mangalyaan to stay on course.
There was a lot of anxiety, you know
whether things would work or not work.
There were many reasons why Mangalyaan could veer off course.
The Sun's radiation or the firing of the engine
could exert a force on the body of the craft
which could cause the spacecraft to rotate or wobble
like a clumsy ball.
It needs to be really monitored, corrected
so that the orbit which we achieve is precise.
The mammoth task ahead of this team
was to keep Mangalyaan's antenna pointing towards Earth
so it could communicate uninterrupted
with the mission team across millions of kilometres.
Mind-boggling when you compare
what a challenge it is to manage
an uninterrupted mobile communication here on Earth.
And speaking with Mangalyaan
was this loud mouth or the deep space antenna
loacted in the the sleepy town of Byalalu
in the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Antenna basically, has got a very sensitive ear
and a loud mouth antenna, which means that
even in the background of heavy noise
so the signal is so weak
we will be able to decode the signal.
It is very sensitive enough to decode
even the weakest possible signal.
At the same time, we have to pump
an extra, very high-power level
to transmit from ground station.
Depending on where Mangalyaan is
it takes anywhere between 8 to 43 minutes
for a message to be sent and received by Mangalyaan.
To send a message from Earth
20 kilowatts of power is pumped through this antenna
a really loud shout to Mars.
Back at the Mission Control Room in Bengaluru
the countdown has started.
Mangalyaan is now nearing Mars.
Over the past months
scientists have corrected Mangalyaan's course
adjusted its speed and checked and cross-checked its controls.
The big moment is near
when Mangalyaan has to enter the Mars orbit.
But this part of the journey is fraught with challenges.
The mission team is under great pressure
and it has one big worry.
Mangalyaan's engine.
The same engine is required to work
after a period of about 9 months of travel.
Mangalyaan has been hurtling
through almost frictionless vacuum
at a speed of over 20 kilometres per second
without the use of its engine.
The engine was last turned on around 300 days back
to speed the craft up
enough to leave Earth's sphere of influence.
It now needs to fire up again to enter Mars orbit.
In the worst case, it would have been a fly-by.
We will not be able to capture it into an Orbiter on Mars.
It will do one swing-by
and go away again out of Martian sphere of influence.
Years of hardwork and planning
days and nights of careful tracking
and it all comes down to one moment
with the odds stacked against them.
Will the engine come on at the crucial moment
to allow Mangalyaan
to successfully enter Mars orbit?
The satellite was in slumber, like a coma.
And then, it had to be woken up.
So, it's very similar to like in Ramayana
where you have Kumbhakarna who is sleeping
and then wakes up and does what is required in war.
What's the br.. - Scientists
at the Mission Control Room are tense.
India's spacecraft Mangalyaan
is preparing to enter the orbit of Planet Mars.
Everyone's big concern is whether the engine that was shut off
almost 300 days ago
would come on for the spacecraft to succeed in its mission.
The same engine is required to work
after a period of about 9 months of travel.
That means there is a long gap
between the initial operations requirement
and the subsequent need for usage.
Now, after 300 days, the engine had to be turned on
to enable Mangalyaan to do a complicated manoeuvre
of slowing down to enter the Martian orbit.
Initially, our task was to increase the velocity.
But on September 24th
our task was to reduce that velocity
at the right time so that
instead of flying through the planetary system
it will be properly captured around Mars.
This breaking was done
by turning the spacecraft
and then firing the liquid engine in the opposite direction.
Several Mars missions have failed at this stage.
If the velocity is not adjusted accurately
Mangalyaan could crash into Mars' surface
or fail to enter into its intended orbit
and wander off aimlessly into space.
2 days before D-Day
or Mars Orbit Insertion
the decision is taken to test if the engine would come on.
Mangalyaan's engine fired up without a hitch.
Well done.
For the last trajectory correction manoeuvre
which happened 41 hours before the MOI.
So, it was decided to use the main lam engine.
And that day, the engine performed flawlessly
for 4 seconds and we could get exactly what we wanted.
Scientists were temporarily relieved
but the real challenge was looming ahead.
News comes in that America's Mars Orbiter, MAVEN
has successfully entered into the Martian orbit.
Will India be able to do the same with Mangalyaan?
Insertion of Mars satellite into the orbit
you have only one opportunity
so you cannot fail.
There is no correction possible for you simply because
you do not have enough fuel.
See, most of the other missions which have been done
they carry with them so much more fuel
that even if some problem occurs, an error occurs
there is enough opportunity for you to recover
and then make it happen.
Scientists had many hurdles ahead.
What makes this moment even more difficult
is that while Mangalyaan enters the Martian orbit
it will go behind the Red Planet
thus cutting off communication with Earth and the mission team.
This means Mangalyaan has to function on auto mode.
Command Systems..
Commands have been fed in advance
but there was a catch.
Mangalyaan's intelligent system, or its brain
is powered by its solar panels.
But at the point of insertion
sunlight to Mangalyaan will be blocked off by Mars
so it will not get adequate power.
The amount of power the satellite requires
for all its systems to function is about 800 watts.
That is equivalent to 8 x 100-watt bulb.
So, with that minimal power even the satellite can function.
So, the solar energy that Mars receives is much less.
So, it varies in the region of 40% to 60%
of what one would receive on Earth.
Mangalyaan's design did take this into account.
It has a backup lithium-ion battery.
So, in effect, Mangalyaan would enter Mars orbit
on its own, powered by a battery.
The satellite is going behind Mars
so it will get into what you can say
line of sight nonvisibility.
Then, it was also going into eclipse
because the power generation on the satellite was going down.
So, all those things were almost like a negative.
So, you don't have access after 4 minutes
and you don't have visibility.
So, I kept telling, "Prepare for the worst"
"hope for the best."
That is the motto we can say.
September 24th, 2014.
A calm morning in Bengaluru
belies the fact
this is the moment of truth
for one of India's most daring missions.
Its first interplanetary journey
to Mars.
In the Mission Control Room
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
is intently watching history unfold before his eyes.
India's Space Research Organisation's top bosses
K. Radhakrishnan and A. S. Kiran Kumar
calmly monitor the progress of the mission.
We had to do a lot of new developments.
We had to go through detail testing.
The team did that what was considered impossible
basically, the unleashing of the energy of this team.
And the team evolved as they went ahead.
Upto September 24th, it was a great phase of learning.
And you would have seen in the Mission Control Centre
that day, the bubbling youth
and the experienced elders
all coming together around this great mission.
The plan of action is triggered.
Mangalyaan reorients to slow down.
5 minutes before ignition
Mangalyaan passes into the Martian shadow
entering an eclipse.
The solar panels do not generate enough power
as Mars obstructs sunlight to the Orbiter.
So, Mangalyaan switches to its lithium-ion battery.
At this point, Mangalyaan is still
in line of sight with Earth.
The engine fires up, but 4 minutes later
Mangalyaan goes behind Mars
cutting off all communication with the mission team.
It will be over 25 minutes before a signal is received.
There is pin-drop silence in the Mission Control Room.
Without the signal from Mangalyaan
teams could only hope that their spacecraft
was behaving well and as planned.
It seems like the longest wait.
At this time, we had no real-time communication
on what was happening.
We had to wait patiently for the final result.
It is like a period of measured silence
in a symphony.
Life is like that
and space science is always like that.
You have to wait for that period of almost half an hour
knowing that, "Okay, everything is going on fine."
Or, "Is it going on fine?"
Will you get back the satellite? This thing..
So, that is the apprehension at that time.
At this critical juncture
NASA's ground stations in Goldstone, California
and Canberra, Australia are intently tracking Mangalyaan.
They would be the first to receive confirmation of success
of this mission.
The first message from Mangalyaan comes in.
It has successfully entered Mars orbit.
Scientists are jubilant.
Prime Minister Modi cannot help display his elation.
This is a landmark moment in India's space program.
History has been created today.
We have dared to reach out
into the unknown and have achieved
the near impossible.
I congratulate
all ISRO scientists
as well as all my fellow Indians
on this historic occasion.
On that day, September 24th
the children from the schools, they came early morning
and they watched this thing.
And we can see that response.
The greatest benefit that we got from this mission in my view
is kindling those young minds
to get into science
to give a feeling that India can do
what people think impossible.
As Mangalyaan cruises around Mars in a highly elliptical orbit
it cant wait to show off its cool camera onboard.
Rare and exciting photographs start pouring in.
A full disc picture of Mars.
Volcanoes. Large canyon ranges.
Water vapour clouds.
Phobos, one of the two natural moons of Mars.
Spacecrafts like NASA's Curiosity rover
that are already stationed around Mars welcome Mangalyaan.
Curiosity's Twitter handle posts
"Namaste."
And Mangalyaan replies, "Howdy."
The MAVEN team congratulates ISRO
for its Mars arrival.
India's Orbiter joins the missions
studying the Red Planet.
The Indian space agency is now the 4th in the world
to successfully send a mission to Mars
and the first ever to do this in its maiden attempt.
The international community recognised this mission
as a unique one, for the simple reason
it was done in a short time.
It was also done at a small budget.
Whenever next there is a big interplanetary mission
the world can't ignore India now.
India would be a party to it.
So, that's the big gain
out of the Mangalyaan mission.
Our primary objective will continue to be
how we can bring in this space technology
for the benefit of the country.
At the time of making this film
Mangalyaan had completed
over 100 orbits around Mars.
It continues to send back precious data.
The Red Planet doesn't seem so far after all.