India made headlines yesterday as the first country to ever successfully enter Mars orbit on its first attempt. What is most impressive, however, is that the country managed the feat on a relatively small budget.
India's spacecraft, the Mangalyaan, entered Mars' orbit yesterday after a 24-minute engine burn that slowed it down enough so that gravity pulled it into orbit. The entire process happened without a hitch.
India is now only the fourth country to successfully send a spacecraft into Mars' orbit, joining Russia, NASA and the ESA. However, what makes India's mission particularly interesting is its cost: around $74 million. In comparison, NASA's own MAVEN Mars orbiter, which reached orbit around Mars last week, cost a whopping $672 million. The mission also cost less than it took to make the movie Gravity, India's Prime Mininter Narendra Modi noted.
"The odds were stacked against us," says Modi. "When you are trying to do something that has not been attempted before, it is a leap into the unknown. And space is indeed the biggest unknown out there."
India's achievement is a notable one. Only about half of all missions sent to Mars actually make it there. India also beat neighboring country China to the punch, who attempted a Mars mission in 2011 that didn't make it past Earth's orbit.
Part of the reason for the low cost of the spacecraft is that it's relatively smaller and simpler than something like NASA's MAVEN. Mangalyaan's scientific instruments only account for about 33 pounds of the spacecraft, where MAVEN's weigh around 144 pounds. This means that Mangalyaan required a smaller and less expensive launch vehicle to get it into space.
Economics also plays a part in Mangalyaan's low cost. In India, engineers, scientists and general laborers receive less wages than their American counterparts.
Now that Mangalyaan is in orbit, it will begin its primary mission analyzing the surface and atmosphere of Mars. Its five scientific instruments will take measurements, with data being sent back to Earth. The spacecraft will run out of fuel in about six months, ending its mission.
Modi is making it clear, however, that he intends to expand space exploration with the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) and that it's a priority for the country. Also, missions like this will expand the potential for space-related industry in India.
"ISRO will now hopefully attract a lot of business," says Mayank N. Vahia, a scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. "We will now attract more international attention and international trade for satellites."
