Google celebrates Mangalyaan's first month in Mars orbit

Internet search firm Google on Friday celebrated the completion of one month of Mangalyaan in planet Mars orbit .

It dedicated its search page to the Indian spacecraft Mangalyaan . A month ago, on September 24, India made history by successfully placing its spacecraft in orbit around Mars, becoming the first country in the world to succeed in such an inter-planetary mission in the maiden attempt itself.

The Rs 450 crore Mangalyaan aims to study the Red Planet' surface and mineral composition, and scan its atmosphere for methane, a chemical strongly tied to life on Earth.

The spacecraft was launched on November 5, 2013 on homegrown Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on its nine-month long odyssey. It had escaped the gravity pull on December 1, 2013.

The MOM spacecraft is the cheapest inter-planetary mission. It cost about a tenth of NASA's Mars mission Maven that entered the Martian orbit on September 22.

(With PTI inputs)