Zee Media Bureau/Ritu Singh
Bangalore: With the liquid engine test firing successful, ISRO is just a step away to create history. Space scientists successfully test fired the engine on India’s Mars satellite, a crucial maneuver as the country attempts to become the first Asian nation to place a spacecraft into Martian orbit.
After being launched from ISRO's spaceport of Sriharikota on November 5 last year, the MOM had left Earth's orbit on December 1 and began its historic voyage to put India on the list of elite nations, which has sent a mission to Mars.
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But it is important to note the fact that probes to Mars have a high failure rate. Of the 51 missions so far, only 21 have succeeded. The first Chinese mission to Mars called Yinghuo-1 failed in 2011 alongside the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission with which it was launched. Japan's first Mars orbiter, Nozomi launched in 1998, ran out of fuel and was lost. So can India become the first Asian nation to reach Mars?
Mr. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation said India would also be the first country in the world to reach Martian orbit at the first try.
