NEW DELHI: India’s Mars Orbiter Mission or Mangalyaan has sent back some stunning 3D images of the Ophir Chasma terrain on Mars.
The images were taken by the Mars Color Camera over Ophir Chasma – part of a canyon on the red planet, according to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
The word chasma has been designated by the International Astronomical Union to refer to an elongate, steep-sided depression. Ophir Chasma is part of the largest canyon system in the solar system known as Vallesmarineris. The walls of the chasma contain many layers and the floors contain large deposits of layered materials.
The images were captured on July 19, 2015, at an altitude of 1857 km, ISRO said.
Five active spacecrafts are now orbiting the Red Planet, including Mangalyaan from India.
Nasa’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) and India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) joined the 2003 Mars Express from ESA (the European Space Agency) and two from Nasa – the 2001 Mars Odyssey and the 2006 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
Nasa earlier this month said due to the high number of spacecraft orbiting Mars, it had no option but to beef up traffic monitoring, communication and maneuver planning to ensure that Mars orbiters do not collide with one another.
The newly-enhanced collision-avoidance system from the US space agency accurately warns if two orbiters approach each other too closely.
The new collision-avoidance process also tracks the approximate location of the Nasa’s Mars Global Surveyor, a 1997 orbiter that is no longer working.
India Post News Service
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