India Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on September 24 morning joining bleary-eyed space scientists to watch entry of ‘Mangalyaan’ into the orbit of Mars. He will spend close to two hours at the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO’s and Command Network (ISTRAC) facility. Mangalyaan, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, is scheduled to leave the solar orbit and enter an orbit around Mars in the early hours of September 24.
He will also meet members of the Mars Orbiter Mission and address the ISRO team just like he did after witnessing the launch of five foreign satellites by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on June 30. Scientists said that Modi’s presence would certainly perk up the morale of space scientists.
The spacecraft has covered 98 per cent of its 300-day odyssey and the critical manoeuvre would be performed when the scientists restart the onboard liquid engine which is in sleep mode for nearly 10 months. The Mars Orbiter Mission, India’s first interplanetary mission, was launched on November 5, 2013 by India’s workhorse PSLV from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
