Article Posted on : - Aug 08, 2014

Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft. Photo: ISRO

BANGALORE (PTI): India's Mars Orbiter Mission's antenna is ready for the Mars Orbit Insertion with only 14 per cent of its journey to the Red Planet left to be covered.

MOM successfully completed the characterisation of its Medium Gain Antenna, which will be used for communicating with earth during the critical Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI), ISRO said on Thursday in a post on its Mars Orbiter Mission Facebook page.

It said only 14 per cent of the journey remains in its heliocentric arc towards Mars Orbit Insertion.

Last week, the space research organisation had said that scientists will not carry out the planned Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM) for the ambitious mission in August as the spacecraft is on track.

MOM, the country's first inter-planetary mission under a Rs 450 crore project, was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on November 5 last year with an aim to reach the red planet's atmosphere by September 24.

The project is expected to provide the scientific community better opportunities in planetary research.