India’s Mars Orbiter raised successfully

Chennai – The first of the six orbit raising activity for the Mars Orbiter was successfully completed Thursday morning, Indian space agency said.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the first orbit raising manouevre that started 1.17 a.m. Thursday has been successfully completed.

On Wednesday, ISRO officials told IANS the on-board motors of Mars Orbiter will be fired for around 200 seconds to raise its orbit by around 4,120 km to 28,785 km.

The final orbit raising activity will take place Nov 30 so as to push the Orbiter towards the red planet and out of earth orbit.

ISRO launched the Mars Orbiter in earth orbit Tuesday.

The 1,340 kg Mars Orbiter, developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at an outlay of around Rs.150 crore, carries 852 kg of fuel on-board. Around 360 kg fuel was likely to be expended on the six orbit raising activities.

India’s first inter-planetary Mars Orbiter Mission costs around Rs.450 crore.