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India’s Mars orbiter has been in orbit for eight years, far longer than the intended six-month duration of the project

ISRO hosted a "National Meet on Eight Years of India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)" to commemorate the most recent achievement. ISRO Chairman S. Somanath gave the welcome address.

India’s Mars orbiter has been in orbit for eight years, far longer than the intended six-month duration of the project. However, final arrangements for a second “Mangalyaan” trip to Mars have not yet been made.

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) – a technological demonstration initiative – is the maiden interplanetary mission of the national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) (ISRO).

The probe, which was launched on November 5, 2013, made its initial attempt at entering Martian orbit on September 24, 2014, and was successful.

At its headquarters in this city on Tuesday, ISRO hosted a “National Meet on Eight Years of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)” to commemorate the most recent achievement. ISRO Chairman S. Somanath gave the welcome address.

The meeting’s special presentations, which focused on the subjects of “Mars Orbiter Mission Overview,” “Scientific Achievements,” and “Future Directions in the study of the inner solar system,” were to be given by Space Commission members K Radhakrishnan and A S Kiran Kumar.

Radhakrishnan headed the MOM (Mangalyaan) mission crew as the then-chairman of ISRO.

With the upcoming “Gaganyaan,” “Chandrayaan-3,” and “Aditya – L1” projects being prioritised, ISRO released a “Announcement of Opportunity” (AO) for future Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM-2) in 2016. However, officials admitted that it is still in the planning stages.

The AO had said: “It is now planned to have the next orbiter mission around Mars for a future launch opportunity. Proposals are solicited from interested scientists within India for experiments onboard an orbiter mission around Mars (MOM-2), to address relevant scientific problems and topics”.

“Not in the approved list as of now”, a senior ISRO official told PTI on Monday on being asked about an update on the MOM-2.

“We need to formulate the project proposals and payloads based on the wider consultation with the research community”, the official said on condition of anonymity. “It’s still on the drawing board. But needs some more details and international collaboration for finalising the mission”.

“It’s quite a satisfying and fulfilling moment”, MOM’s Programme Director M Annadurai told PTI today on the Mars orbiter craft completing eight years in orbit.

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