6 November 2013 – Daily Current Affairs
Mars-Mission-2013-Mangalyaan
1) India’s prestigious mission to send a spacecraft to Mars got off to a flying start on 5 November, 2013 when the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C-25) lifted off at 2.38 p.m. from the spaceport at Sriharikota and put the Mars Orbiter ‘Mangalyaan’ into a precise elliptical orbit around the earth later in the day. What is the tentative date for ‘Mangalyaan’ to move into the orbit of Mars? – 24 September, 2014 (After going around Earth for 20-25 days in an elliptical orbit, the Rs. 450-crore orbiter would begin a nine-month long voyage to Mars around 12.42 am on 1 December, 2013. This launch marked Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s first -ever inter-planetary expedition in a bid to join a select band of 3 space agencies. European Space Agency (ESA) of the European consortium, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US and Roscosmos of Russia are the three agencies which have successfully sent their missions to Mars. The Mars mission of ISRO
