Mars mission to see 15-day blackout phase from June 8

Starting June 8, India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), which is in a rendezvous with the Red planet for an extended period, will enter the "blackout" phase, resulting in snapping of communication with the satellite.

From June 8 to 22, the sun will block the Mars from the earth, leading to snapping of communication with the orbiting satellite.

The MOM during this period would go into an "autonomous mode" and would take its decisions, said a senior Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) official.

"This will be for the first time that there will be a communication break for such a long period of about 15 days. During this period, there will not be any communication with the satellite," he said.

Expressing confidence about regaining control over the satellite once the blackout phase is over, he said, "the scenario has been tested for earlier; and are hopeful the line of communication would be established."

The spacecraft's life had been extended for another six months in March due to surplus fuel.

Stating the spacecraft had been "configured" for the blackout, the Isro official said, "we are not sending any commands to the spacecraft now, but till (June 8), few hours of signals will be sent by the spacecraft, that would be for about two to three hours per day."

In May next year, the mission will have to go through a similar phase once again, if there is another extension of mission life when the Earth will come between the Sun and Mars.

Scripting space history, India on September 24 last year had successfully placed the Mars spacecraft in an orbit around the Red planet in its very first attempt, breaking into an elite club of three countries.

The Isro spacecraft was launched on its nine-month-long odyssey on a homegrown PSLV rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 5, 2013, and had escaped the earth's gravitational field on December 1, 2013.