Consider the following statements: The Mangalyaan launched by ISRO

1. is also called the Mars Orbiter Mission.
2. made India the second country to have a spacecraft orbit Mars after the USA.
3. made India the only country to be successful in making its spacecraft orbit Mars in its very first attempt.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• It was India’s first interplanetary mission (launched on board PSLV-C25), also known as the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).

Statement 2 is incorrect

• Launched in 2013, the Mangalyaan spacecraft entered Mars orbit in 2014, making India the fourth nation to reach Mars, after the Soviet Union, the United States, and the European Space Agency.
• The spacecraft continued to transmit data until August 2022, longer than its initial design life of 6 months.

Statement 3 is correct

• India become the first country in the world to have reached distant Mars on its own steam in the first attempt.

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only; Difficulty Level: Medium