In India’s first mission to Mars, ISRO launched a new twitter handle for its Orbiter.
The Indian Space Research Organisation has ensured through social media that everyone outside its control room is updated on the success made by MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission).
Posting step-by-step progress, the Facebook page has 436,792 likes and Twitter handle has 7,945 followers.
Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered the orbit of Mars on Wednesday morning after a liquid motor engine fired effectively for a little over 24 minutes to impart a little over the required velocity of 1098 metres per second at 1099 metres per sec. The $ 71 million mission, one of the cheapest undertaken by any space faring nation, puts ISRO among an elite league of three other space agencies to undertake a successful voyage to the Red Planet.
The successful entry of the MOS into the orbit of Mars (further data is still awaited on the exact orbit achieved) makes India the first country to make it to Mars on its first attempt.
The Indian prime minister who appreciated the low cost nature of the project – costing less than the $ 100 million Hollywood movie Gravity – called on the scientists to continue to push their boundaries. He said ISRO had carried out the MOS mission within three years of a feasibility study