Scientists involved in the project say they have a long way to go as the orbit of the spacecraft has to be raised. It was moment of triumph for scientists closely involved in the Mars Orbiter Mission. For KS Shivkumar, director of the Isro Satellite Centre where the spacecraft was built, the placing of the Mars Orbiter spacecraft into the orbit around the Earth was like his baby taking its first steps. “Our baby is up in space looking for scientific objects but we have a long way to go,” he...

Sriharikota: India has launched its first mission to Mars on Tuesday at 02:38pm (0908 GMT) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre here in Andhra Pradesh. The spacecraft was carried onboard the indigenous PSLV-C25 rocket which injected it into Earth's orbit after 40 minutes from lift-off. The 350-tonne launch vehicle will orbit earth for nearly a month before picking up the necessary velocity to break free from Earth’s gravitational pull. The Rs 430-crore project, informally known as "Mangalyaan", was...