Mangalyaan being launched from Sriharikota
In crucial and tricky mid-night operation, India's maiden mission to Mars will be sent on its 300-day journey to Mars. The complex operation will begin at 49 minutes after midnight.
Launched on November 5, 2013 from Sriharikota, the Mangalyaan has been rotating around the Earth so far. It will now be given that final extra kick through a sling shot mechanism as it begins its over 750 million km journey to Mars.
About 250 scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO are monitoring its health. The command for the space craft to leave the Earth orbit and head into the Sun centric orbit will be executed from the mission operations center in Bangalore.
The success of mission can be assessed only when the space craft reaches the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014. Once it reaches Mars, Mangalyaan will revolve around the Red Planet for six months and announce India's triumph.
However, the risks are many and no country till date has succeeded in reaching Mars on its maiden attempt. More than half of all missions to Mars have ended in failure, including China's in 2011 and Japan's in 2003.
The Rs 450-crore mission to Mars has made international headlines, at least in part for its cost-efficiency.