×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

ISRO to unveil Mars Orbitor Mission next week

Last Updated 06 September 2013, 19:57 IST

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will unveil the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on Wednesday, kick-starting its much-anticipated mission to Mars. 

Mom is scheduled to be launched during October 21-November 19 using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C25 (PSLV-C25) and will carry five payloads.

An official note issued here on Friday said: “The spacecraft, with all the payloads, has completed the Thermo-Vacuum Test that extensively tests the spacecraft under simulated environment space. At the same time, PSLV-C25 launch campaign has also commenced at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota and the first stage with the strap-ons has been assembled.”

  The launcher is likely to be ready for integration by October 10. After leaving the earth’s orbit in November, the spacecraft will cruise in space for about 10 months before finally entering the Red Planet’s orbit.

The spacecraft will be placed in an elliptical orbit, the nearest point of which from Mars' surface will be 500 km and the farthest point will be 80,000 km.

The 1,350-kg spacecraft will carry five instruments/payloads totalling a mass of 15-kg selected by the Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS), to study the Martian surface, atmosphere and mineralogy.

Checking for methane, mapping the Martian surface and sending data from the optical imaging payload are among the important activities of the mission.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 06 September 2013, 19:57 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT