Mars mission: The late beginner advantage

India's first mission to Mars, named the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), successfully began its journey to the red planet on November 5. By November 9, the third orbit raising manoeuvre of the MOM was completed. It will take about nine months for the satellite to reach the Mars orbit and begin making its observations. Reaching Mars is very complicated; the success rate has been around only 50 per cent since the first mission in 1960. In Asia, Japan and China have made attempts to reach Mars, without success.

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