Mars Orbiter Mission shifts orbit to take cover from Siding Spring

[TimeTraveller]

With only 10 days remaining until the arrival of Comet Siding Spring at
Mars, ISRO has shielded the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) from the
comet.Following orbit insertion on September 24, MOM’s orbit had been
423 by 80,000 kilometers. Kiran Kumar, Director of ISRO’s Space
Application Centre, said that on Tuesday MOM’s orbit was altered so as
to move it behind the Red Planet when the comet arrives. For this
maneuvering on Tuesday, the spacecraft consumed 1.9 kilograms of fuel.

At the comet’s closest approach, MOM will be 400 kilometers away from
the surface of the Red Planet on the opposite side from the comet. Kumar
said that MOM’s highest altitude was currently 72,000 kilometers, which
is expected to remain unchanged even after the departure of the comet.
The minimum distance between MOM and the comet on October 19 will be
around 140,000 kilometers. According to him the comet will have no
negative impact on the future performance of the spacecraft or its
science mission. A few days ago, the mission tweeted:

Kumar said that MOM will carry out observations of the comet and its
Mars Colour Camera will click images of it. ISRO’s chairman,
K.Radhakrishnan, had stated earlier that the arrival of the comet will
be viewed as an opportunity for doing scientific observations. ISRO and
NASA scientists will collaborate in analyzing data generated by MOM and
MAVEN related to the Comet Siding Spring.

Source : Mars Orbiter Mission shifts orbit to take cover from Siding Spring | idrw.org

 

[SanjeevaniButi]

IT would be exciting to see the comet images sent by the satellite

I hope we get a good look at it.

 

[MarkusS]

We will get some spectacular pictures for sure. Siding spring gets very close to Mars. It is believed that the Comets coma will collide with Mars Athmosphere. ESA and NASA have lots of crafts in Mars Orbit and two rovers on the ground. India has one orbiter there too. The images will be spectacular!

 

[kadamba-warrior]

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Source : Mars Orbiter Mission shifts orbit to take cover from Siding Spring | idrw.org

I'd rather ISRO risked it all to study this Comet in whatever capacity it can rather than the predefined mission and the subsequent slow death!

If, in stead, MOM had gotten closer to the comet (when no other spacecrafts wanted to), it would have been a huge bonus to science and MOM's mission -- not to speak of the boost in ISRO's profile!

Even if MOM perished attempting, no big deal since it has already completed most part of its mission objectives.
Moreover, I don't expect MOM to discover anything dramatic owing to its small payload and it being mainly an engineering project.