President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft on PSLV-C 25.
In a message to Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of ISRO, Mukherjee said, "I congratulate you and your team on the successful placing in earth's orbit of the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft following its launch on PSLV - C 25."
"India's first dedicated Mars Orbiter Spacecraft is a significant milestone in the progress of our space programme and space applications," he added.
The President further said that this day shall go down as a landmark in our space programme, a day which will inspire our scientists to make even greater strides in achieving our national goals in the field of space.
" Kindly convey my greetings to all members of your team and all others involved in this great mission," he added.
India's Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan, launched through PSLV C 25 at 2.38 pm this afternoon from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
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The 44 metre tall PSLV C25 in its XL configuration carried the 1337 kg MARS orbiter into elliptical orbit which is 23,500 km from the earth.
To reach Mars, the spacecraft has to enter three phases, the earth centered phase, the helio centric phase and finally the Martian phase.
It will take twenty-five more days for Mangalyaan to depart from the earth orbit to the trajectory path.
European Space Agency (ESA) of European consortium, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US and Roscosmos of Russia are the only three agencies which have so far sent their missions to the red planet.