Mars Orbiter About 60 Days Away From Its Celestial Goal

The first Indian Mars Orbiter spacecraft, carrying five instruments and travelling for nearly eight months, is about 60 days to go before it is put into an orbit around Mars on September 24. The orbiter has to cover just 20% of its journey to the red planet.

The spacecraft is in the last laps of its voyage, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on its social media site.

On Tuesday, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was over 540 million km, half-circling the Sun as it hurtled towards Mars. “That is very close to a whopping 80% of its journey. MOM and her payloads are in good health,” an update by ISRO said. The MOM is estimated to have cost the country around Rs 450 crore.

The Mar Orbiter Spacecraft was launched on November 5, 2013 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

After circling the Earth many times and picking up speed, it left the planet’s atmosphere last year on December 1.
(Image: Wikipedia)