The Indian Space Research Organisation?s (Isro) trusted PSLV rocket delivered a perfect launch to India?s ambitious Mars probe by parking the Mangalyaan spacecraft perfectly outside Earth on Tuesday.
The 43-minute launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, 80 km from Chennai, saw the Mangalyaan placed in a perigee of 282.75 degrees, which was considered necessary to enable the actual 400 million-km transition towards Mars on November 30.
The launch of the Mangalyaan is the 25th successful mission carried out by the PSLV rocket and its progress through the 43 minute launch phase ? the longest ever for a PSLV? was copybook, with the crucial third stage rockets firing on cue at 33 minutes and the rocket initiating satellite separation at 43 minutes.
?The PSLV 25 has placed the Mars Orbiter Mission very precisely in an elliptical orbit around earth,?? Isro chairman K Radhdakrishnan said.
“This near-perfect launch sets the ground for the minimum energy transfer of the spacecraft into the Mars orbit,?? Radhakrishnan said. ?This is a small step in the Mars mission. The journey from here to Mars will utilize less than a fraction of the energy used in this first phase.?