On November 5, 2013, India became a member of an elite group of countries US, Russia, China, and Japan sending rockets to  Mars to explore the many  question of  the “Red Planet.”The Indian ship, Mangalyaan which means “Mars Craft” in Hindi will travel 485 million miles over 300 days to reach orbit around Mars in September 2014. The mission is to discover details of the surface, minerals in the soil,  and atmosphere of the Red Planet.  The aerospace engineers in India were very excited at the flawless lift-off with the constraints they had with a slight 5 minute window to lift-off! This is the first Indian orbiter sent to Mars and  another significant detail is the cost of $80 million dollar which is much less than earlier missions launched by other countries.

India has a long history with interest in the science of astronomy and later astrology. The first text on astronomy was in 1500 BC in the study of Vedanga.  When we were in India, we visited the Jantar Mantar in Jaipur and in Delhi. These were gardens built for the people to study the stars and constellations and used to predict horoscopes.

https://talesalongtheway.com/2013/03/14/jantar-mantar/

Congratulations, India on your successful space launch. Just another sign of your great potential.  And yes, I am sure you will be able to explore space while you work to eliminate hunger and  provide toilets for your people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-N9oztQSpc

Namaste. .  . . .This Is Incredible India!

From the Mail on Line