MOM Meets MAVEN

India successfully launched its Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and will now share information with US scientists as they reciprocate by sharing data from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft. India is the fourth country in the world to have successfully sent a spacecraft into orbit around the red planet.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) used a 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) along with eight smaller liquid engines to position the spacecraft in orbit around Mars on 24 Sept 2014. The spacecraft is now circling Mars in an orbit whose nearest point to Mars (periapsis) is at 421.7 km and farthest point (apoapsis) at 76,993.6 km. The inclination of orbit with respect to the equatorial plane of Mars is 150 degree, and it takes 72 hours 51 minutes 51 seconds to go round the planets once.

In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will be thoroughly tested in Mars orbit and the systematic observation of the planet using the spacecraft’s five scientific instruments is expected to begin. New data will be available for analysis to the scientific community at large and collaborations between researchers from different space agencies is expected. This was a successful science project which should become more interesting to follow in the coming months.