India to Launch Mission to Mars in 2013 NASA's Hubble Space
Telescope snapped this shot of Mars on Aug. 26, 2003, when the
Red Planet was 34.7 million miles from Earth. The picture was
taken just 11 hours before Mars made its closest approach to us
in 60,000 years. India is set to launch an unmanned mission to
Mars next year, the country's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
announced this week. The Mars Orbiter Mission will mark India's
first mission aimed at the Red Planet and has been approved by
India's Cabinet, Singh said during a speech Wednesday (Aug. 15)
to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the country's independence
from the British. "Under this mission, our spaceship will go
near Mars and collect important scientific information," Singh
said, according to an official transcript. "This spaceship to
Mars will be a huge step for us in the area of science and
technology." The Mars mission is slated to launch in November
2013 and cost about 4.5 billion rupee ($82 million), according
to the Associated Press. In