India’s Mars Orbiter spacecraft Mangalyan has started sending pictures
India’s Mars Orbiter spacecraft has started sending its first set of pictures of the Red Planet’s surface late on Wednesday night, confirmed ISRO.
India has successfully put a satellite into orbit around Mars, becoming the fourth nation or geo-bloc to do so.
The Mangalyaan robotic probe, one of the cheapest interplanetary missions ever, will soon begin work studying the Red Planet’s atmosphere.
A 24-minute engine burn slowed the probe down enough to allow it to be captured by Mars’s gravity.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country had achieved the “near impossible”.
Only the US, Russia and Europe have previously sent missions to Mars, and India has succeeded on its first attempt – an achievement that eluded even the Americans and the Soviets.