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 sp

1. A. 1 only
2. B. 2 and 3 only
3. C. 1 and 3 only
4. D. 1, 2 and 3

Answer: C

Explanation

Statements 1 and 3 are correct. The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has various achievements to its credit after it was inserted into Mars orbit on September 24, 2014. The details of significant achievements of MOM include i. First interplanetary mission realized by India and first Indian spacecraft to incorporate full scale on-board autonomy to overcome the long distances and the communication gaps due to non-visibility periods. ii. First Indian spacecraft to successfully survive Van Allen belt crossing 39 times. iii. First Indian spacecraft to escape the Sphere Of Influence of Earth and orbit Sun. iv. First Mars mission in the world to succeed Mars Orbit Insertion in first attempt. v. Most economical interplanetary mission in the world and paved way for cost-effective access to deep space. The launch vehicle, Spacecraft and Ground Segment have been realised with a budget of Rs 450 Cr. Statement 2 is not correct. Since the first successful flyby in 1965, four entities have successfully made it to Mars: NASA, the Soviet Union, the European Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organization, while others, including Japan and China, have tried.