spacetoday.net: India's Mars orbiter recovers from engine glitch

Posted: Wed, Nov 13, 2013, 6:51 AM ET (1151 GMT)
India Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft illus. (ISRO)

India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft performed a supplemental engine burn early Tuesday, raising its orbit around the Earth and correcting for an engine problem the day before. The 304-second engine burn, starting at 6:34 pm EST Monday (2354 GMT Monday, 5:04 Indian time Tuesday) raised the apogee of the spacecraft's orbit from 78,276 to 118,642 kilometers. Spacecraft controllers performed the supplemental engine burn to correct for a problem with a maneuver on Monday that failed to raise the spacecraft's orbit as much as planned. Engineers believe that the flow of propellant to the engine was cut off when both primary and backup valves were turned on during that maneuver. MOM will fire its main engine two more times to depart Earth orbit at the end of this month and arrive at Mars next September.