First year data of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) releasedChairman, ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space has released first year of MOM Long-term archive data (Sept 24, 2014 to Sept 23, 2015) to public.
With the Mars Orbiter Mission completing two years, ISRO today said it will be doing a "major event" of effecting a manoeuvre on the Orbiter next year to reduce the impact of an " eclipse duration" to allow the spacecraft "survive" for more time.
"Our next major event in the Mars Orbiter will be sometime in the beginning of next year when we will be doing a manoeuvre to reduce the impact of the eclipse duration the satellite is going to encounter," he told reporters here.He said during an eclipse the battery in the satellite has to support its operation and if the eclipse duration is "very long" then the battery may not be able to support it."So we intend to do a manoeuvre of the spacecraft so that the impact of eclipse duration will reduce and with that we will be able to survive for many more years because the satellite still has large (amount of) fuel left in it," he added.
Global images of Mars: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2016/20161006-fun-with-mom-mcc.html
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is forecasting the arrival of a global dust storm on Mars within weeks. The storm is expected to envelop the red planet, and reduce the amount of solar energy available to NASA’s rovers, Opportunity and Curiosity. The storm will also make it harder for orbiters to do their work.
Masursky and Sagan - Craters on the planet MarsThe Masursky is a crater in the Oxia Palus Quadrangle of Mars. Another crater seen in the image is Sagan named after Carl Sagan, the famous astronomer.This image was Captured on Sept. 16, 2016 from an altitude of 3319 km with a resolution of 166 m.
Juventae Fons and Baetis Chasma - Terrains on planet MarsThis MCC picture was taken on Oct. 16, 2016 from an altitude of 1015 km with a resolution of 51 m. This RGB image has been color corrected and enhanced for better visual appeal.This spectacular terrain at the bottom of the image is known as Juventae Fons. Another terrain seen at the top left corner is known as Baetis Chasma.
Michael Mumma (who should know) says MOM methane sensor was fatally flawed http://www.seeker.com/india-mars-orbiter-mission-methane-detector-flaw-red-planet-2133861312.htmlEdit:Some context from Nicholas Heavens https://twitter.com/WeatherOnMars/status/806557720501489664
AHMEDABAD: Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully realigned the orbit of its Mars Orbiter Mission 'Mangalyaan' so it is not affected by long-duration eclipse, Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar said on Thursday."The duration of the eclipse was so long that had we done nothing, the Mangalyaan's battery capacity would have got exhausted due to lack of sun rays. No effect of the eclipse was felt on Mangalyaan on Wednesday.
"The experiment was successful. The spacecraft still has 30kg fuel left, and with realignment we expect it to work for a very long time to come," he said.The correction in the trajectory of Mangalyaan was required to keep the power supply strong during the eclipse - caused by shadow of Mars falling on it for 7-8 hours - so that it could continue to function longer, as Mangalyaan's battery cannot support long-duration eclipse.