Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft races rapidly toward destination

India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft which is expected to reach Planet Mars in less than 60 days is racing at a speed of approximately 22 km/s toward its destination.

"MOM is rapidly racing at a speed of approximately 22 km/s toward Mars, which is like saying MOM can cover a distance between Mumbai and New Delhi in just a minute," said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The spacecraft's Mars Orbit Insertion will be carried out on September 24.

Launched on November 5, MOM is carrying compact science experiments, totaling a mass of 15 kg. The five pay loads of the Layman Alpha Photometer (LAP), Methane Sensor for MARS (MES), Martian Exospheric Composition Explorer(MENCA), MARSColour Camera (MCC) and TIR imaging spectrometer (TIS).

The Rs 450 crore expedition seeks to reveal whether there is methane, considered a precursor chemical for life, on the Red Planet.

Prior to the Mars Orbit Insertion on September 24 ISRO has planned the last Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM) of the spacecraft which is likely to be conducted in August.