The science phase of Mangalyaan which involves operation of the payloads will start soon, a senior Isro official has said.
“The payload operations are being planned. Once the orbit stabilizes, we will begin with our real science mission. Each of the five payloads will have to be configured,” the official said.
The 1,350-kilogram orbiter will now circle the planet for at least six months, with solar-powered five payloads gathering scientific data that may shed light on Martian weather systems as well as what happened to the water that is believed to have existed once on Mars.
It also will search Mars for methane, a key chemical in life processes on earth that could also come from geological processes. None of the instruments will send back enough information to answer these questions definitively, but experts say the data will help them better understand how planets form and what conditions might make life possible.
The spacecraft has now reached a final orbit of 422x 77,200 km. The health of the Orbiter is normal.
The spacecraft has so far sent 5 images but in the coming days we can expect more images besides thermal/radiation.
{{/usCountry}}The spacecraft has so far sent 5 images but in the coming days we can expect more images besides thermal/radiation.
{{/usCountry}}Isro gears up for next launch
After winning the Martian race on Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation(Isro) is now once again back to serious work—launch of its third navigational satellite IRNSS -1C in the second week of October.
The launch may happen in the early hours of October 9 at 2 am but the date and time are yet to be confirmed.