25 September,2014 01:36 PM IST | | Agencies
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) released the first image of Mars today, which was clicked by the Mangalyaan
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) released the first image of Mars today, which was clicked by the Mangalyaan.
India created space history by becoming the first country in the world to enter Mars orbit in its maiden attempt.
ISRO posted this photograph on its Twitter and Facebook account and stated that it was taken from "a height of 7300 km; with 376 m spatial resolution."
Pic courtesy: ISRO Twitter page
India's Mars Orbiter spacecraft has sent five pictures of the red planet's surface, said a senior official of the Indian space agency.
"The Mars Orbiter has started sending pictures. We have received five pictures and these are under processing," an official of Indian Space Research Organisation told IANS, preferring anonymity.
ISRO scientists successfully ignited the main 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) and eight small thrusters that fired for 24-minutes from 7.17 am and slowed down the speed of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft 'Mangalyaan' for it to slip into a smooth orbit around the Red Planet after almost an year-long voyage.
With the success of Mangalyaan, India has become the first country to go to Mars in the very first try. European, American and Russian probes have managed to orbit or land on the planet, but after several attempts.
The Rs 450-crore Mangalyaan aims to study Mars' surface and mineral composition, and scan its atmosphere for methane, a chemical strongly tied to life on Earth.
The spacecraft was launched on November 5, 2013 on homegrown PSLV rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on its nine-month long odyssey. It had escaped the earth gravity pull on December 1, 2013.
