Mars Orbiter Spacecraft Successfully Inserted Into Mars Orbit

India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered into an orbit around planet Mars today morning (September 24, 2014) by firing its 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) along with eight smaller liquid engines. This Liquid Engines firing operation which began at 07:17:32 Hrs IST lasted for 1388.67 seconds which changed the velocity of the spacecraft by 1099 metre/sec. With this operation, the spacecraft entered into an elliptical orbit around Mars. Honourable Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi, was present at ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore to witness this important event. Other dignitaries who were present at ISTRAC include His Excellency Governor of Karnataka, Mr Vajubhai R Vala, Hon'ble Minister of Railways, Mr D V Sadananda Gowda, Hon'ble Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mr Ananth Kumar, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr Siddaramaiah, Hon'ble Minister of State (Space), Dr Jitendra Singh, Hon'ble Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mr G M Siddeswara, Hon'ble Member of Parliament, Mr Prahlad V Joshi, Hon'ble Minister of Transport, Government of Karnataka, Mr Ramalinga Reddy and Hon'ble Member of Legislative Assembly, Government of Karnataka, Mr Muniraju S. Prof U R Rao, former chairman, ISRO and Prof Yash Pal, former director, Space Applications Centre, were also present.