MANGALYAAN: INDIA’S MAIDEN MISSION TO MARS

Mangalyaan also known as Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is India’s first interplanetary expedition, designed to study the red planet and serve as a technology demonstrator for future missions.

MISSION TIMELINE

1. Following launch, spacecraft circles Earth for 4 weeks, firing its engines six times to gradually boost its orbit.
2.  Seventh engine burn puts craft on trajectory for Mars. The voyage takes 300 days to reach the Mars orbit.
3.   It then enters Mars orbit for 160 days mission.

The total mission cost almost4.5 billion ($70 million). Height of this rocket (PSLV-XL: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) is 44.5m.

Science instruments used are:-

1. Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) 
2. Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS)
3. Mars Colour Camera (MCC)
4. Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM)
5. Martian Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (MENCA)

The Launch date of he Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), informally called Mangalyaan (मंगलयान) is 5 November 2013 09:06.
                                                                                      Source: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
                                                                 To know more, just go to: http://www.ndtv.com/topic/mangalyaan