Comet Siding Spring: ISRO re-positions its Mars Orbiter

SRIHARIKOTA: Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO) has repositioned its Mars Orbiter, as the national space agency along with its counterparts around the world are expecting Comet Siding Spring to fly by the Red Planet on October 19.

"We have repositioned the Mars Orbiter, as the Comet Siding Spring is expected to be close to the Mars on October 19. We have taken the Orbiter to a position farthest from the tail of the Comet so that it doesn't affect the satellite," A S Kiran Kumar, Director, Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, said.

ISRO, NASA and other space agencies in the world, which have sent their missions to the Red Planet have taken precautionary measures to save their satellites from any possible collision with the space debris, which might be facilitated by the movement of the Comet near Mars.

According to US space agency NASA, Comet Siding Spring has travelled many billions of miles and would come within about 87,000 miles of Mars on October 19. The comet comes from the Oort Cloud, material left over from the formation of the solar system, it said.