Mangalyaan: Isro to test-fire engine

Nearly 41 hours ahead of Mangalyaan’s insertion into Mars orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is bracing itself for a test fire of the liquid apogee motor (LAM) inside the spacecraft on September 22.

Nearly 41 hours ahead of Mangalyaan’s insertion into Mars orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is bracing itself for a test fire of the liquid apogee motor (LAM) inside the spacecraft on September 22.

The spacecraft is slated to enter the Mars atmosphere on September 24 at around 7:30 am. The 440 Newton engine inside the spacecraft has been lying idle for nearly 300 days.

“Yes, we will do a test fire of the 440N liquid apogee motor (LAM) on board the spacecraft on September 22. Different groups are working on it and we will finally know the minute details next week,” Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan told HT.

According to sources, the test firing that will be done for nearly 4 seconds will ascertain whether all the connections are proper.