Mangalyaan sends image of dust storm on Mars
Isro says the image was taken from an altitude of 74,500 kms from the surface of Mars
Bangalore: India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has sent a picture of regional dust storm activities over the northern hemisphere of the red planet, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said on Tuesday.
“Regional dust storm activities over northern hemisphere of Mars—captured by Mars Color Camera on-board Mars Orbiter Mission", Bangalore-headquartered Isro said on its official Facebook page with a picture. It said the image was taken from an altitude of 74,500 kms from the surface of Mars.
MOM spacecraft or Mangalyaan had sent its first images of the planet on Thursday, a day after creating history by becoming the only such endeavour so far to have met with success on the maiden attempt.
MOM aims to study the Martian surface and mineral composition and scan its atmosphere for methane, an indicator of life. The spacecraft is equipped with five instruments, including a sensor to track methane or marsh gas, a colour camera and a thermal-imaging spectrometer to map the surface and mineral wealth of the planet.
The Rs450-crore MOM is the cheapest inter-planetary mission. India is the first country to reach Mars in the very first attempt. European, American and Russian probes have managed to orbit or land on the planet, but after several attempts. The orbiter will keep moving in an elliptical path for at least six months with its instruments sending their gleanings back home. The spacecraft was launched on its nine-month-long odyssey on a homegrown PSLV rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on 5 November, last year. It had escaped the Earth’s gravitational field on 1 December and was placed in the Martian orbit on 24 September. PTI
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