Mars Orbiter Mission Logo

On 23 November 2008, the first public acknowledgement of an unmanned mission to Mars was announced by then-ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair. The MOM mission concept began with a feasibility study in 2010 by the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology after the launch of lunar satellite Chandrayaan-1 in 2008. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the project on 3 August 2012, after the Indian Space Research Organisation completed ₹125 crore (US$18 million) of required studies for the orbiter. The total project cost may be up to ₹454 crore (US$66 million). The satellite costs ₹153 crore (US$22 million) and the rest of the budget has been attributed to ground stations and relay upgrades that will be used for other ISRO projects.


Unfortunately, the various economic troubles which are plaguing Europe has caused ESA to spend less money than before, so many space programs in Europe has halted. However, both in China as well as in India, there are several ambitious programs present, which may cause any one of these nations to send another man to the moon in the next decade. Naturally, only time will tell; but nothing will change the fact that mankind's future is in the stars. It's hard not to like Sagittarians, for their openness, generosity, and sociable nature. They are deep thinkers in search of universal wisdom, attracting them to philosophy and religion. Their minds can grasp both the details and the bigger picture: they can think with intellectual precision but also intuitively. That unusual combination of thinking skills allows them to be at the forefront of creative ideas. They are idealistic and care about the state of the world, leading them to take up vocations in medicine, education, religion, and politics. They need to be highly independent in their work and in their personal lives. A Moon Made Of Lightweight Fluff! Methone is small and oval--and unlike other tiny objects, composed of rock and ice, that scurry around our Solar System. Methone, which was observed up close for the very first time in 2012, is not pockmarked by impacts like other worldlets of its kind. Instead, this strange little moon, is very smooth--it shows not a hill nor an impact crater anywhere on its weirdly smooth surface. This shiny, white, icy egg in Space, residing in a peaceful nest of ice crystals, is an enigma wrapped in a bewildering mystery that some astronomers may have solved. The answer to the bewitching riddle of Methone? It is composed of lightweight fluff!