ISRO’s Mars orbiter to reach the red planet in 75 days.

[thesolar65]

Bangalore: Exactly 75 days from Saturday, India’s Mars Orbiter spacecraft is scheduled for a rendezvous with the red planet as it is rapidly coasting towards its target. Mars Orbiter Spacecraft has travelled 525 million km on its heliocentric arc. Radio signals from earth now take 15 minutes to reach Mars Orbit Mission (MOM) and return, Bangalore headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. MOM’s Mars Orbit Insertion is planned exactly 75 days from today, Isro said in a post on its Mars Orbit Mission Facebook page. In the last crucial milestone on 11 June, Isro performed the second Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM-2) on the orbiter as a mid-course correction to keep the spacecraft on course. Isro has planned another trajectory correction manoeuvre in August before the Mars Orbit Insertion in September. The ambitious Mars mission under a Rs450 crore project was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh onboard the Pollar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on 5 November last with an aim to reach the red planet’s atmosphere by 24 September.

 

[JohnyD]

Great to know Spacecraft is rightly heading towards its target..Proud to read that it has travelled "525 million km" so far!