Mars Orbiter Mission's apogee could not be raised to one lakh km

Ch Sushil Rao, TNN | Nov 11, 2013, 12.28 PM IST


 


HYDERABAD: Mars Orbiter Mission's (MOM) big night did not turn out to be as big as it was expected to be.

In the fourth orbit-raising operation conducted on Monday morning (02:06 Hrs IST) the apogee of Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft was raised to 78,276 km against the targeted apogee of about one lakh km.

Isro scientists had hoped that the apogee would be raised to nearly one lakh and were excited about it but now it appears there is a little bit of disappointment.

Isro has given out reasons why the apogee (distance from the earth) could not be raised to one lakh km.

"This is because the incremental velocity imparted to the spacecraft was 35 m/s against the targeted 130 m/s," Isro said.

However, plans are afoot to make the correction so that it will reach the target.

A supplementary orbit-raising operation is planned at 05:00 hrs IST on November 12 to raise the apogee to nearly one lakh km.