Zero plus one two three- lift off!
India has successfully launched a rocket to
Mars - with the aim of becoming the fourth
space agency to reach the red planet.
The unmanned spacecraft will travel for 300
days and is expected to reach Mars in September
2014.
Scientists from the Indian Space Research
Organisation say the mission is primarily
aimed at testing the best technologies to
fly, orbit and communicate from the Red Planet.
If the mission is successful, India's will
become the fourth in the world, after the
US, Russia and Europe to reach Mars. The 
Orbiter Mission has ambitious science goals,
including a search for methane in the Martian
atmosphere. On Earth, the chemical is strongly
tied to life and it was first detected in
the Martian atmosphere a decade ago. But recent
measurements made by NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity,
show only trace amounts of methane, puzzling
scientists. The spacecraft also will study
Martian surface features and mineral composition.
