India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) Mangalyaan has completed 1,000 earth days of its Mars voyage on Nov. 6, 2017. The strategic mars mission of India had proven that a space mission could be launched successfully at a fraction of the amount spent by the other space agencies such as NASA and the European Space Agency.
The Mangalyaan had survived more than five times the number of days for which it was designed. The MOM was launched on Nov. 5, 2013, from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on the PSLV-C25, (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle- C25) to study the presence of methane on the red planet. It reached the Martian orbit on Sept. 24, 2014, carrying a fuel load weighing 40 kilograms.
According to reports, the mission had sent 715 images to its ground station during 388 orbits around the red planet. A color camera and other 4 scientific payloads, including the methane sensor, were used for the intense Martian study.
But it has been reported that the MOM has drained out of battery charge during an eight-hour eclipse on January 17, 2017. Sources said that the Mars orbiter had performed a maneuver to shift from its original orbit to avoid the eclipse. The eclipse occurred when the earth came in between the spacecraft and the Sun. The scientists have lost control over the satellite since then.
The Indian Space Research Organization is currently working on the second phase of Mangalyaan, Mangalyaan 2. The new Martian mission and a mission to Venus are planned to be launched after 2020.
