Hope to be first Asian country to reach Mars in first shot: Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan

India's 50-year-old space odyssey will start a new chapter this week when an indigenously built spacecraft — affectionately called MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) — attempts to enter the orbit around the Red Planet after a 680-million-km journey. The orbiting mission will take pictures and collect scientific data for about six months. The most nail-biting phase will begin early Wednesday when it executes the crucial Mars orbit insertion, a stage at which most missions have failed. Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan speaks about the challenge ahead.

With 72 hours left for the crucial Mars orbit insertion, how do you describe the level of anxiety among your colleagues?

There is no question of nervousness or tension. We have to stay cool and be prepared for any contingency.

How optimistic are you about the success of the mission?

We have done everything to make sure it succeeds. The spacecraft's propulsion system will play a major role during its entry to Mars. For this purpose we have tested the 440N liquid apogee motor for prolonged periods under a simulated environment and it performed flawlessly. But, then it has to restart in a real Martian environment on Wednesday. This will be a major challenge. To check on the state of this engine we will fire it for a mere four seconds at 2.30pm on Monday. If this is successful our team will have a high level of confidence about the orbit insertion. The spacecraft and its five payloads are in good health and checked regularly.

What happens if by chance the liquid apogee motor fails during Monday's small test?

Then we will be activating Plan B, which means firing only the eight thrusters of the spacecraft. For the Mars capture, the speed of the spacecraft has to come down from 22.1km per second to 4.4km per second in relation to Mars.

Your team has mixed feelings about Plan B because some believe that it could compromise the profile of the mission.

The implementation of Plan B will result in a new and larger orbit as the eight thrusters will fire for a longer period of time. I will not be disappointed because it is possible some new science may come out of it. Let's just wait and watch. Basically, our mission is to demonstrate that we have the capability to capture the Martian orbit and once this happens on Wednesday we can declare we have been successful. We will be the first Asian nation to have reached Mars in the first shot itself.

This is the cheapest mission at $71 million (Rs 450 crore). Even 'Gravity', the space film, cost $100 million. You also fast-tracked the project in a record 15 months. How did Isro accomplish this?

The rocket was already ready -the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle -so that saved both money and time. Also, some of the spacecraft's sub-systems were similar to those used by other spacecraft. These were some key factors that contributed to making it an inexpensive mission. Also, labour costs are low in India. As for the fast-tracking, all I can say is our team of young, dedicated scientists slogged almost 24x7 to achieve it.