India's unmanned spacecraft leaves Earth orbit on way to Mars

India's unmanned Mars orbiter spacecraft left Earth orbit early Sunday and is headed to the Red Planet, mission officials said. Indian Space Research Organization in Bangalore said that in a "crucial event" it called "the mother of all slingshots," the spacecraft's engine was fired for about 22 minutes, starting at 12:49 a.m. local time, sending it out of the Earth's gravitational pull and on a trajectory to Mars, the Press Trust of India reported. "Following the completion of this maneuver, the Earth-orbiting phase of the spacecraft ended, ISRO officials said in a statement. "The spacecraft is now on a course to encounter Mars after a journey of about 10 months around the sun." ISRO said four mid-course corrections are scheduled, if needed, to adjust the spacecraft before it reaches Mars in September. The spacecraft was launched Nov. 5 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.