India's Mars Mission

India's first Mars mission

Joining the MAVEN probe this year is another orbiter, the first Indian mission to Mars.* Launched in November 2013, the probe enters a highly elliptical orbit of 500 x 80,000 km around Mars in September 2014. The payload of 25 kg consists of ten instruments – including a colour camera, infrared and thermal analysers, a radiation spectrometer, methane sensor, and a Plasma and Current Experiment. Controversy surrounds the mission, however, in light of foreign aid to alleviate the country's ongoing poverty and social problems.*

References

Mars mission: Demonstrating India's technology, BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-19110039
Accessed 18th August 2012.

India is heading for Mars: it doesn't need British aid money to pay the bills, The Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9480279/
Accessed 18th August 2012.