India's Mars Orbiter Mission sends back its first 3D images of Mars

Lori Sandoval, Tech Times 08 October 2014, 01:10 am

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) released its very first 3D image of the Red Planet, following the Mangalyaan spacecraft’s successful entry into the Martian orbit last month, the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

"ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission captures its first image of Mars. Taken from a height of 7300 km; with 376 m spatial resolution," said ISRO. The ISRO uploaded the image on its Facebook page on Sept. 24.

The anaglyph 3D image of Mars was generated using multiple pictures acquired by Mars Color Camera, the ISRO also said on Facebook. The Mars Color Camera was installed in MOM. To see the image, the public will need to use their 3D glasses. The Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre of ISRO designed and developed the said camera.

The Mars Orbiter Spacecraft fired a 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) plus eight smaller liquid engines in its operation that lasted for 1388.67 seconds, according to the statement released by ISRO. Through such operation, it entered into an elliptical orbit around Mars. LAM last fired on December 1, 2013.

The spacecraft is currently orbiting Mars; the nearest point to Mars is 421.7 km and farthest point is 76,993.6. The predisposition of orbit in terms of the equatorial plane of the Red Planet is 150 degree, and it takes the spacecraft 72 hours, 51 minutes and 51 seconds to circle Mars one time.

The Mars orbiter was launched into parking orbit around the Earth on Nov. 5, 2013 aboard the workhorse launch vehicle PSLV of India. It escaped orbit on Dec. 1, 2013 and reached Mars on Sept. 24, almost a year later. ISRO's mission has made the organization the fourth space agency to send a spacecraft to orbit Mars successfully.

The ISRO operation came after the equally successful orbit of NASA's Maven on Sept. 21. Maven could last a decade or more, research said.

India's spacecraft will be tested thoroughly in orbit to Mars and will start its systematic observation through the use of five scientific instruments. The MOM mission, worth $73 million, is projected to last for at least six months.