As the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing the first anniversary celebration of its spacecraft's tryst with Mars, it announced on Sept. 21 that the mission to the Red Planet will last for decades instead of only 6 months.

According to Akhand Bharath, the Indian organization said that they do not have any problem so far as all the crises and failures they encountered have passed and have been resolved. It had gone through solar conjunction and no problem was much seen. The fuel was retained for a longer time than expected after the completion of an insertion activity, said Kiran Kumar, ISRO's Chairman AS.

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At the event organized by the Institution of Engineers' Karnataka state center in Bengaluru, Kumar pointed out there was about 35 kilograms of fuel still left and the subsystems were working just fine.

India had successfully placed in orbit its low-cost Mars spacecraft around the Red Planet on its very first attempt, on Sept. 24, 2014. Not to mention, ISRO had already launched the Mars Orbiter Mission's (MOM) spacecraft from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on Nov. 5, 2013, and had escaped the Earth's gravitational field on Dec. 1, 2013, NDTV said.

The MOM's life was extended for another 6 months in March because of surplus fuel planning; however, this would not always be the contingency because other missions could be very different, Kumar added. This surplus fuel can last for many years, which expands the spacecraft's life.

After the missions to the Moon and Mars, India has boosted ISRO's global standing with regard to space technology. In addition to this, the next interplanetary expedition to be launched is yet under discussion as well as the cost that involves it and the studies that are in progress.

Meanwhile, the first anniversary of MOM Insertion is ISRO's mark, releasing an atlas containing photos that were taken by the color camera on board the said aircraft.

TagsISRO, red planet, Indian Space Research Organisation, surplus fuel, Institution of Engineers, Mars Orbiter Mission