Mars orbiter completes about 80% of journey

The spacecraft, carrying five instruments and travelling for nearly eight months, is in the last laps and about 60 days from the celestial goal.

The first Indian Mars Orbiter spacecraft has to cover just 20 per cent of its journey to the red planet and about 60 days to go before it is put into an orbit around Mars on September 24.

The spacecraft, carrying five instruments and travelling for nearly eight months, is in the last laps and about 60 days from the celestial goal, ISRO said on its Facebook page.

On Tuesday, it has covered over 540 million km towards Mars. “That is very close to a whopping 80 per cent [of its journey]. MOM and her payloads are in good health,” the update said.

The

>spacecraft was launched on November 5, 2013 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. After circling Earth many times and picking up speed, it >left Earth's atmosphere on December 1, 2013.