India's Mars orbiter spacecraft has to travel only 88 million km for tryst with the red planet

BANGALORE: India's Mars orbiter spacecraft has to travel only 88 million km as part of its total journey of 680 million km for its rendezvous with the red planet scheduled for September 24.

On its 300-day voyage in deep space, Mars Orbiter Mission has to travel only 88 million km more in its heliocentric trajectory to reach Mars, Bangalore headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation said.

It now takes 20 minutes for radio signals to reach MOM and return, ISRO said in a post on its Mars Orbiter Mission Facebook page.

Earlier this month, the space research organisation had said that scientists will not carry out the planned Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre ( TCM) for the ambitious mission in August as the spacecraft is on track.

MOM, the country's first inter-planetary mission under a Rs 450 crore project, was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on November five last year with an aim to reach the red planet's atmosphere by September 24.

The project is expected to provide the scientific community better opportunities in planetary research.