Mangalyaan’s Mars Photo Lands on National Geographic’s Cover

The photo is one of the few full disc photos snapped of the planet.

After a week that was a slugfest for India, there’s a reason to rejoice. India’s Mars-orbiter Mangalyaan completed three years in the orbit this week, as reported by NDTV.

A photo of the Red Planet taken by the low-cost camera on the orbiter became the cover of the coveted National Geographic magazine.

With less than a dozen images of the full disc of Mars, experts have acknowledged that some of its best images of it have been snapped by the orbiter. Fifty missions before Mangalyaan that went to space were not able to capture the kind of images that it could.

The mission cost India Rs. 450 crore and was made to last a nominal six months, yet it has completed three years of beaming data.

India marked its spot in space-history on 24 September 2014 when it successfully sent the it’s low cost mission to Mars, on its first attempt.

Source: NDTV