On September 24, 2014, India became the first country in the world to enter the Martian orbit in its first attempt.
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) ‘Mangalyaan‘, or the Mars Orbiter Mission, was the first such interplanetary mission undertaken by an Asian country.
Mangalyaan was launched on 5 November 2013 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) and it took 296 days for the probe to exit the Earth’s orbit.
It is now being reported that after 8 years, Mangalyaan has completed its journey. The Mars Orbiter has run out of propellant thus making it difficult to be revived in the planet’s orbit.
A source from ISRO told local media on condition of anonymity that “The satellite battery has drained. The link has been lost.”
However, there was no official statement or tweet from ISRO.
Mangalyaan made ISRO the fourth space agency to achieve such a feat after NASA, European Space Agency, and Roscosmos. Further, it was regarded as a success based on its cost-effectiveness. ISRO was able to achieve the feat at a budget of ₹450 crores (US$74 million).
With the success of Mangalyaan, ISRO is planning to launch Mangalyaan 2 in 2024 or 2026 with an upgraded orbiter and 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) of scientific instruments. It also aims to send more such missions to explore the inner solar system, such as the Venus orbiter Shukrayaan and the Aditya-L1 solar observatory.
Netizens remembered the day Mangalyaan was launched and paid tribute to both Isro and Mangalyaan for putting India in the space rcae.
