India: We'll Launch a Mars Mission Next Year

Look out, Curiosity: India is right behind you. The country is planning to send an unmanned spacecraft to orbit Mars next year, its prime minister announced today. "This spaceship to Mars will be a huge step for us in the area of science and technology," Manmohan Singh said in a speech to celebrate India's 65th year of independence. But his political opponents say India should be focused on humanitarian needs like clean water and electricity rather than the $82 million mission, the AP reports. India's Space Research Organization says the mission needs to happen during a "window of opportunity," such as late next year, when Mars is closest to earth; the next such opening won't be til 2016. (More Mars stories.)