Update on Mangalyaan -08 June-15: Mangalyaan enters communication blackout phase today Here’s all you need to know

India’s low-cost Mars Orbiter Mission, also called Mangalyaan, will snap all communications with scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and enter the “blackout” phase for a fortnight from June 8. “Such a long communication break with Mangalyaan will happen for the first time.

This week we all saw the remarkable success of India’s MOM – Mangalyaan. This was a rare victory in a scenario where only 21 out of 51 attempts across the world have been successful. Its the pride for all Indian but what more amazing is the number-crunching facts associated with this mission. So, let’s analyze them one by one

1) Hollywood versus MOM

India’s Mars mission cost 74$ million while most of the Hollywood movie’s budget exceeds several time. An example is Oscar-winning movie “Gravity,” as per IMDB the cost is approx. 100 million $

 2) Kms vs. Kms traveled

The cost of MOM in Indian rupee is approx. 400 crore and distance traveled by Mangalyaan is 780,000,000 kilometers, which comes out to be roughly Rs 11 per Km, cheaper than Mumbai’s auto

3) Every Indian contribution towards MOM

The population of India is 1.2 billion, and the cost of Mangalyaan is Rs400 crore, so every Indian has contributed Rs5/- from his pocket for this collective effort, isn’t cheaper than we expected?

4)  Speed of execution-

From drawing board to Mars orbit in 4 years which involves complex planning , design and precise implementation and all this in Rs 400 crore, now compare this with our Worli-Sea link which took 8 Years and 1634 crore and of approx 5.6 Kms, Our Mars expedition was cheaper than some of our politician’s foreign travel expenses.

Everyone debated whether India should explore space at this cost when approx. 400 million or 20 % of its population lives under the poverty line? Well, the answer is yes, giving the importance of this mission, giving competitive advantage we got in outer space exploration. To understand the Mom or Mangalyaan journey, do visit this excellent link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ZkrtuvZrI&list=TLomwd3qoyM5XmqIpHDU6RE_xtPaL-iaTo

It’s time to do Interplanetary Travel!

Travelescape Team.