Isro releases first 3D images taken by Mars Orbiter Mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has uploaded the first of the anaglyph 3D images of Mars on its Facebook page. The images were generated by the Mars Colour Camera fitted on the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) by superimposing multiple pictures of the Red Planet.

To see the image, the viewer will need 3D glasses, which the Isro has stated in the how-to instructions on its Facebook page.

The Mars Colour Camera, installed on the MOM, is designed and developed by Isro's Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre.

The spacecraft is currently orbiting Mars - with the nearest point to Mars at 421.7 km and farthest point at 76,993.6 km.

The predisposition of orbit in terms of the equatorial plane of the Red Planet is 150 degree, and it takes the spacecraft 72 hours, 51 minutes and 51 seconds to circle Mars once.

The MOM had released its very first 3D image of the Red Planet, immediately after the Mangalyaan spacecraft's successful entry into the Martian orbit last month, Isro said.

 The spacecraft will be tested thoroughly in the Martian orbit and will start its systematic observation through the use of five scientific instruments. The MOM mission, worth $73 million, is projected to last for at least six months.

The Mars orbiter, called Mangalyaan, was launched into parking orbit around the Earth on 5 November 2013 aboard Isro's workhorse PSLV. It escaped orbit on 1 December 2013 and it reached Mars on 24 September, almost a year later.

With the success of the Mangalyaan mission, Isro has become the fourth space agency to send a spacecraft to orbit Mars successfully.

Isro's success came after the equally successful orbit transfer of NASA's Maven on 21 September. Maven could last a decade or more, researchers said.