Thursday, September 25, 2014

First pictures from Mars arrive Mangalyaan

Mangalyaan's first offering to India is out in the open.

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) released on Thursday the first image of Mars clicked by the indigenous Mangalyaan, which took India to soaring heights a day ago by slipping into the Red Planet's orbit on the country's maiden attempt.

Isro said the photograph it posted on its Facebook page and Twitter account was taken from "a height of 7300 km; with 376 m spatial resolution".

And more are expected to come. Isro chief K Radhakrishnan handed over hard copies of snaps clicked by Mangalyaan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

Speculation is rife that Isro might release them later in the day.

The photographs bear a testimony to the fact that Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), which helped India join an elite club of successful Mars explorers, is in 'good health' and performing its duties well.

"Images are clicked. Data is downloaded. Process is going on," a top Isro official had told HT, confirming all is well.

MOM, according to Isro scientists, started sending its first high-quality images of the Red Planet late on Wednesday.

The snaps were expected to arrive in the afternoon on the momentous day, but there was no news about them till evening, causing some concerns.

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