India’s upcoming mission to Mars is a chance to best Russia and China

If all goes according to plan, on Nov. 5 India will celebrate a successful liftoff of its first Mars-bound space mission, the Mangalayaan, or Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). Designed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as a test of the country’s space technology and ability to orbit a craft around Mars, MOM will be a significant landmark for India as it seeks to one-up its regional neighbors Russia and China in their recent quests to get to (or back to, in Russia’s case) the red planet.