ISRO had repositioned Mangalyaan to avoid any collision with the comet
.jpg "Photo: NASA")
Mars Orbiter Mission Mangalyaan witnessed a cosmic event on Sunday as comet Siding Spring flew past the orbiter. The comet that is said to be of the size of a small mountain grazed past the Red Planet.
According to a report published on CNN IBN’s website, at its closet, Siding Spring was 139,500 kilometres from Mars—less than half the distance between Earth and moon. It has also been reported that ISRO had repositioned Mangalyaan to avoid any collision with the comet.
The encounter has been termed by scientists and space agencies as once-in-a-million-years encounter. While NASA's fleet of Mars-orbiting satellites and robots on the planet's surface were geared up to witness and photograph the event, there were also apprehensions that the comet might harm the satellites.
All 3 Mars orbiters confirmed healthy after taking shelter behind Mars for #MarsComet: http://t.co/MH75LadvlE pic.twitter.com/atra8M7012
— NASA (@NASA) October 20, 2014
The European Space Agency also monitored the event closely.
Orbital plane crossing now! Mars & the fleet of spacecraft are now exposed to the largest particles from comet #SidingSpring #MarsComet
— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) October 19, 2014
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