Mangalyaan completes four years around Mars, sends rare photos of planet

New Delhi, Oct 1: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)’s Mangalyaan has completed its four years in the orbit around Mars. The satellite has sent some rare pictures of the Red Planet as it celebrated its fourth birthday around Mars, ISRO said.

Launched in 2013, Mangalyaan is India’s first mission to the outer space has successfully completed four years around Mars and now to celebrate its fourth birthday, the satellite has sent some never-before seen stellar images of Mars.

ISRO launched the Mars Orbiter on November 5, 2013 which placed itself into orbit around the Red Planet by September 24, 2014. Though the satellite was only designed for a six-month-long mission, it has continued to beam back data to the Indian space agency for four years. The satellite tweeted out the celebration, including a picture of Mars’ Olympus Mons.

It’s also the only Mars satellite that’s been able to capture the planet’s whole disc in a single frame, as well as the far side of its moon Deimos. It’s capture over 890 images of the red planet and its neighbours so far, helping Indian scientists map out the surface for the Mars Atlas initiative.