The countdown has begun for India's Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan to enter the Martian orbit in a few hours from now. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will witness the crucial Mars Orbiter Insertion at the Spacecraft Control Centre at Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO in Bangalore this morning.

The Insertion operation of the spacecraft is scheduled to be performed at 07 hours 17 minutes and 32 seconds today. A team of 200 space scientists is busy round the clock to make the mission a success. India came one step closer to its cherished dream of landing on Mars on Monday when ISRO successfully test-fired the Mission's main engine.

ISRO is looking confident of giving one final step today to put it in the orbit around the Red Planet. Given the high rate of failures only 21 out of 51 missions sent to Mars by various countries being successful, the success of Mars orbiter Mission in the very first shot will boost India's global standing in Space.

Mangalyaan is primarily a technological mission and it has been configured to carry out observation of physical features and the atmosphere of Mars.