Mangalyaan nudged closer to Mars

Bengaluru: In an operation fraught with risks, Indian space scientists gently nudged the Mars orbiter 'Mangalyaan' a bit closer to the Red Planet on Wednesday. For just 16 seconds, the space scientists fired four rocket engines onboard the orbiter to ensure a perfect rendezvous with Mars on September 24, 2014. It was a tricky manoeuvre, for they could have lost the Orbiter if things had gone awry.

"Today's operation has given us the confidence to carry out the next, but most crucial one of placing the spacecraft in the right orbit around Mars. The Orbiter is fine and travelling in space at a velocity of over 29 km per second," Dr. Mylswamy Annadurai, programme director, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), told Deccan Chronicle.