The Many firsts of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 10, 2015
It is a well known fact that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) became only the fourth space agency after the Soviet Space program, NASA and ESA to successfully insert its Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan in an elliptical orbit around Mars. This in itself is quite an achievement.
MOM is India`s first interplanetary mission. The objectives of the Mars Mission include,
The total cost involved in the Mars Mission is Rs 450 Crores, which includes cost towards Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, Launch Vehicle and the Ground Segment.
MOM carried five payloads with it as mentioned in the following table.
Breathtaking pictures from Mars Colour Camera (MCC) of India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (source:ISRO)
The government believes that the following benefits would accrue from the MOM.
Tyrrhenus Mons as seen by Mars Color Camera (MCC) (source:ISRO)
Apart from all these, there are many other ‘firsts’ by Mangalyaan like the following, as mentioned by Mr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (MoS) in the Prime Minister’s office in response to questions posed in the Loksabha.
The Van Allen Belt (Source: NASA)