NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) lost another MiG-29 last week when the fighter crashed shortly after takeoff on a routine training sortie, a defense ministry official says. The pilot ejected safely. The aircraft took off from Jamnagar airbase in western India on Nov. 8 and crashed in fields near a village on the Gulf of Kutch coast. Since April 2007 the IAF has lost 35 MiG fighter aircraft in accidents. Technical defects and human error were the two main causes, the official says.
NEW DELHI — A day after an engine anomaly slowed its progress, India’s Mars Orbiter successfully raised its orbit to an apogee above 118,000 km (73,000 mi.) on Nov. 12. The country’s first Mars orbiter suffered a setback on Nov. 11 as attempts were made to raise the spacecraft’s orbit around Earth to built momentum for its trip to Mars. A minor problem with the liquid fuel thruster caused the 1,350-kg (3,000-lb.) vehicle to fall short of the mark.
