India's 'space Nano': rocket science, reinterpreted...

An Indian rocket has successfully launched and settled a space probe into an Earth orbit, with the hope that the space voyager, called Mangalyaan, will reach Mars in 10 months. Here's the Sydney Morning Herald's report (Nov 5):

http://www.smh.com.au/world/india-launches-mission-to-mars-20131105-2wzoh.html

Yesterday's ST (Nov 4) headlined it as a "low-budget" mission:

Indeed! Mangalyaan will get to Mars in a very unusual -- perhaps unique-- way. Because India lacks a rocket that has enough thrust to hurl the space probe all the way to Mars in one go, Mangalyaan will first orbit Earth for about a month and presumably pick up "sufficient" velocity. When ready, it will -- slingshot-style, I suppose -- break out of Earth's orbit and head for Mars. This (previously untried?) method happens to be cheaper too, hence the "low-budget" label.

Will it succeed? I am sure rocket scientists everywhere are waiting with bated breath. They will have to wait one month for the first indication of success, and then -- if breakout is successful -- a further nine months. It's almost like conceiving and delivering a baby!

I have only a couple of questions to ask of the Indians, who have not even landed a probe on the moon yet. Why Mars, and not the Moon first, ie, use such a more modest mission to iron out kinks and perfect the method? Is it because China is poised to land a lunar explorer in December with a good chance of success but it had failed in 2011 to send a probe to Mars?

http://www.space.com/23202-china-moon-rover-december-launch.html

Here's an Indian report on what the Chinese think about about Mangalyaan's debut:

http://www.firstpost.com/india/indias-mars-mission-china-seeks-enduring-peace-in-outer-space-1212049.html

All said and done, I'm off on my own Mars mission now. The gravitational pull of the fridge (where the Martian object below is stored) is proving too irresistible to fight...