Article Posted on : - Aug 29, 2014

An illustration of the Mars Orbiter spacecraft. An ISRO image by Baiju Raj

CHENNAI (PTI): India's maiden inter-planetary Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was nearing its intended destination and the space craft has completed 90 per cent of its journey to the red planet, ISRO has said.

"MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) has completed 90 per cent of its journey towards the red planet," Indian Space Research Organisation said in a post on its page in a social networking portal.

The Rs 450-crore project was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on November 5 last year with an aim to reach the red planet's atmosphere by September 24, traversing 680 million km.

ISRO had earlier this week said the scientists would undertake a "challenging task" on September 24 when they would restart the on board liquid engine, which has been in sleep mode for nearly ten months, for Mars Orbit insertion.

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