Prime Minister Narendra Modi to witness Mars Orbiter Insertion at ISRO facility

BANGALORE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will witness the crucial Mars Orbiter Insertion at the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here on Wednesday.

"Yes. Prime Minister will be present at the centre on Wednesday when the operation is going on. This is the information we have," ISRO Scientific Secretary Koteswara Rao said.

Mars Orbiter Insertion (MOI) operation of the spacecraft is scheduled to be performed on September 24 at 07:17:32 hrs IST by firing the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) along with eight smaller liquid engines for about 24 minutes.

India's maiden Mars mission was on course to reach the Red Planet's orbit as the spacecraft's main engine was successfully fired for abour 4 seconds today in the first test of its last crucial manoeuvre in search for evidence of life.

The 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) engine, dormant for the last 300 days on the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) ' Mangalyaan' was fired for four seconds, boosting confidence of ISRO about the success of its ambitious mission.