Bhubaneswar, Nov. 5: As the countdown reached One, there was a loud cheer among a group of viewers outside a grocery store in the city, who were witnessing Indian Space Research Organisation’s launch of a satellite to Mars. This was a common scene here today.

While hundreds of ISRO scientists kept a close vigil on the launching of India’s rocket to the Red Planet, science enthusiasts and youngsters here were also anxiously waiting for the dream moment.

There was a rush at various centres of science and astronomy and both young and old were seen glued to the television sets to watch live telecast of the historic moment.

Some 400 visitors turned up at the Pathani Samanta Planetarium today to get latest visuals and understanding of the ISRO’s space mission. A five-minute film on Mars was shown before each show. It depicted the physical characteristics, orbit and rotation of Mars and the difficulties associated with the journey to the planet.

“It is a historical day for the country’s space research. Our aim was to make visitors aware about salient features of Mars. We have received good response from the visitors,” said deputy director of the planetarium Subhendu Patnaik.

Planetarium officials are also planning to run a 10-minute special programme on India’s Mars mission from next week. The screening will run before every show. At present, the planetarium runs four shows — two shows in Odia titled Mysteries of night sky, one show in Hindi titled The wonders of universe and one show in English titled Search for age of the solar system.

“The special programme on Mars mission will run up to next year when the satellite would be positioned in the orbit of Mars. The contents of the programme will be updated at regular intervals with the status of the mission,” said Patnaik.

Another official said that though around 50 visitors turned up at the planetarium everyday for each show, the footfall of visitors for each show was around 100 today. The planetarium officials were also seen answering the queries of visitors regarding Mars and the mission of the country to send a satellite to the planet.

“We were very anxious about the launch of the satellite. The special programme not only depicted the characteristics of the planet, but also the constraints of launching of satellites to Mars,” said Deepak Panigrahi, a visitor to the planetarium.

Similarly, many youngsters and science enthusiasts were glued to television sets for updates on the launch.

“I have been watching the television from 1pm. It was a historic moment for us, as we join countries such as China, Japan and the United States in space research,” said Nishant Sahu, an MBA student.

The city’s science enthusiasts are also optimistic about the success of the mission.

“This will testify the satellite-launching technology of our country. Once the satellite is placed in its orbit, the photographs will help geological interpretation of the planet,” said chief executive of Odisha Space Application Centre Amiya Kumar Mohapatra.