TO INFINITY

India Launches Mars Spacecraft

Could reach Red Planet in 300 days.

Welcome to the space race. India on Tuesday successfully launched a spacecraft to Mars, with the hopes of reaching the Red Planet in 300 days. The spacecraft, known as the MOM (and informally as the Mangalyaan), will travel to Mars on the “Hohmann Transfer Orbit,” although it must take advantage of November’s favorable planetary alignment to embark on the right trajectory. If successful, India will be the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after the U.S., Europe, and Russia. But some observers say Tuesday’s launch is just the beginning of a new space race in Asia, specifically between India, China, Japan, and South Korea.