India’s first interplanetary mission, the Mars Orbiter Mission or the ‘Mangalyaan’, which had a launch life of six months, completed four years in orbit on 24 September, 2018.
It was launched on November 5, 2013, and inserted the satellite into Mars’s orbit during its first attempt on September 24, 2014.
The Indian Space research Organisation (Isro) has released some stunning images of the Red Planet sent by the satellite to commemorate four years of its revolution round Mars.
The satellite is one of Isro’s finest for its cost-effective engineering and construction, space-effective equipment in its payload, and its weight-balanced design. The orbiter’s onboard camera has recorded over 980 images so far, which have been compiled into an atlas of the planet.
Mars’s two moons — Phobos and Deimos — have also been captured up close by the orbiter’s Mars Colour Camera. Isro’s Mars Orbiter is also the only man-made satellite around Mars to catch and relay glimpses of the entire disc of Mars in a single frame, and the far side of its moon Deimos.
