The Rs.450-crore Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) took a giant leap early on Saturday when its apogee—the furthest point from the earth—was raised by about 1 lakh km, the biggest since it was launched on November 5.
Isro said it was the fifth and the final orbit raising exercise of the spacecraft before it begins its much-awaited 300-day journey to the Red Planet at 12.42 am on December 1. It is expected to reach Mars on September 24, 2014.
An Isro official present at the space agency’s telemetry, tracking and command network in Bangalore said that all the sequences relating to the orbit-raising exercise were pre-loaded into the on-board computer of the spacecraft and were executed flawlessly.
The official said that in the next two weeks the spacecraft will gain velocity as it orbits the earth. “During this period, we will also be making preparations for the orbiter to begin its flight towards Mars and simultaneously test some of the payloads,” he said.
Isro said it was the fifth and the final orbit raising exercise of the spacecraft before it begins its much-awaited 300-day journey to the Red Planet at 12.42 am on December 1. It is expected to reach Mars on September 24, 2014.
An Isro official present at the space agency’s telemetry, tracking and command network in Bangalore said that all the sequences relating to the orbit-raising exercise were pre-loaded into the on-board computer of the spacecraft and were executed flawlessly.
The official said that in the next two weeks the spacecraft will gain velocity as it orbits the earth. “During this period, we will also be making preparations for the orbiter to begin its flight towards Mars and simultaneously test some of the payloads,” he said.
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