Mars Orbiter Spacecraft Enters Its 100th Orbit Around Mars
India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft is in its 100th orbit around Mars today (Start : June 22, 2015 End: June 25, 2015).
The spacecraft was designed for a mission life of six months in Mars orbit, which was completed on March 24, 2015. With this, the primary objectives of the Mars Orbiter Mission were realised.
Image: from Mars Colour Camera (MCC), taken on May 09, 2015 at 16:11:23UT at an altitude of 535 km and resolution ~25m. This is the last image taken before going into blackout mode. The image shows the area between Sinai and Lassell craters
Mars Orbiter spacecraft has outlived its prime mission life and is healthy and operational. The spacecraft, which had earlier entered the ‘blackout phase’ (due to Mars moving behind the Sun from Earth’s perspective), is gradually coming out of that phase. The spacecraft health data is now being received. The current elliptical orbit of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft has a periareion (nearest point to Mars) of 474 km and an apoareion (farthest point to Mars) of 71, 132 km.
The payloads onboard the Spacecraft were last operated in May 2015, and performance of all payloads were satisfactory. Mars Colour Camera (MCC) of the spacecraft had taken 405 frames so far. Operations of all payloads will restart in a few weeks from now.
