India's Mangalyaan among best inventions of 2014: Time USA

New York: Mangalyaan has been named among the best inventions of 2014 by Time magazine, which described it as a technological feat that will allow India to flex its "interplanetary muscles."

"Nobody gets Mars right on the first try. The US didn't, Russia didn't and the Europeans didn't. But on September 24, India did. That's when the Mangalyaan went into orbit around the Red Planet, a technological feat no other Asian nation has yet achieved," Time said about Mangalyaan, calling it "The Super smart Spacecraft."

Mangalyaan is among the 25 'Best Inventions of 2014' listed by Time magazine that are "making the world better, smarter and in some cases, a little more fun."

Developed by the Indian Space Research Organization, the Mars spacecraft cost India just USD 74 million, less than the budget for the multi-Academy Award winning science fiction thriller film Gravity. Time said at that price, the Mangalyaan is equipped with just five on board instruments that allow it to do simple tasks like measure Martian methane and surface composition.

"More important, however, it allows India to flex its interplanetary muscles, which portends great things for the country's space programme and for science in general," Time said.