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Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro)'s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is expected to outlive its planned life span of six months, which is on March 24, 2015. The interplanetary mission is the first successful mission of space research organisations in the world, including Nasa, in its first attempt to the Red Planet.
MoS in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh in a reply to unstarred questions in the Lok Sabha today said the planned life span of MOM, after its insertion into the Mars orbit on September 24, 2014, was six months and would complete on March 24.
One of the life limiting parametres of a spacecraft, under nominal orbital conditions, is the availability of propellant to maintain its orbit and orientation.
In the case of MOM, a reserve of 37 kg of propellant is available in the satellite.
"Since the health parametres of all critical systems of the satellite are very satisfactory, it is expected that MOM will outlive its planned life span of six months. The increased duration of observation of Mars by five scientific payloads will enhance the planetary science data. It would also enable coverage of Mars in different seasons," he said.
MOM is the most economical interplanetary mission in the world and it paved the way for cost-effective access to deep space. The launch vehicle, spacecraft and ground segment have been realised within a budget of Rs 450 crore.
MOM has various achievements to its credit after it was inserted into the Mars orbit on September 24 including first interplanetary mission realised by India and first Indian spacecraft to incorporate full scale on-board autonomy to overcome the long distances and the communication gaps due to the non-visibility periods.
