MUMBAI: The red-letter day for India has arrived. The much-awaited announcement whether India’s date with Mars, about 215-million km away, is successful or not will be made around 8.15am on Wednesday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and scientists at the Mars mission command and control centre in Bangalore.
After a 300-day flight and covering a distance of 680-million km after its launch on Nov 5, 2013, the Rs 450-crore Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), if all goes well, will enter the Martian orbit at 7.18am
In the control room, scientists will be glued to their computers and big screens, waiting for confirmation that India has made it to Mars.
The nerve-wracking Mars orbit insertion will kick off at 4.17am on Wednesday — three hours before the manoeuvre — when the spacecraft will switch over to the medium gain antenna which will provide the communication link during the insertion. At 6.56am, the spacecraft will initiate the process of forward rotation or turnaround, reducing its speed. The critical moment bringing the Mars team to the edge of their seats will be at 7.18am
