Mars's larger moon, Phobos, has been captured in photographs taken by India's Mangalyaan spacecraft. One observer, Andrea Luck, who was previously on Twitter, garnered significant attention by sharing videos showcasing Mars's moons.
The two moons of Mars have sparked extensive discussions within scientific communities lately. India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM-1) has played a pivotal role in its exploration by capturing detailed images of Mars and its moons.
Launched in November 2013, Mangalyaan was tasked with investigating Mars's surface, composition, and topography. Additionally, the mission aimed to analyze Mars's atmosphere and evaluate novel technologies for future space expeditions. This endeavour holds profound importance for India, serving as a testament to the country's capabilities in advancing space exploration efforts.
The Mars Orbiter Mission significantly contributed to our understanding of the Martian landscape, atmospheric conditions, and the potential presence of water molecules in its atmosphere. Notably, this accomplishment marks a significant milestone as India joined an exclusive group of nations that achieved a successful Mars mission on their first attempt.
Mars has two moons—Phobos and Deimos—with Phobos being the larger of the two and positioned closer to the red planet. This proximity has led scientists to conduct an in-depth examination of Phobos. Insights into Phobos's composition could yield valuable information about Mars's history and its formation.
The Russian Phobos Grunt mission, launched in 2011, aimed to gather soil samples from Phobos and transport them back to Earth. Regrettably, the mission faced challenges and ended prematurely, crashing back to Earth's surface in 2012 before even reaching Earth's orbit.
Earlier this week, Chandrayaan 3 grabbed the top spot in reports from numerous media organizations, quoting the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, S. Somanath. "We have successfully achieved a soft landing on the Moon; India has set its foot on the lunar surface," stated Somanath amidst the cheers and shouts of joy that resounded across the ISRO headquarters.
ISRO has become the fourth space agency to have landed a spacecraft in Mars orbit. The other space agencies are NASA, Russia's ROSCOSMOS, and Europe's European Space Agency (ESA). The spacecraft is a great demonstration of India's capabilities, showcasing how it can operate a mission on another planet — which is also the most cost-effective mission to date. At just 450 crores, the mission to Mars from India was one of the most cost-effective interplanetary missions ever designed.
India celebrated a significant milestone in its space program when its first interplanetary explorer successfully entered Mars' orbit on September 24, 2014, in its very first attempt. It was the first country in the world to achieve this feat on its inaugural Mars mission. Hollywood movie "Gravity" had a budget of 100 million US dollars, while India completed its entire Mars mission for less than 74 million US dollars. Furthermore, in 2019, a movie was made about India's first Mars mission, starring Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, and Taapsee Pannu.