Isro today said that the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has gone beyond the sphere of influence of Earth.
The gravity of the Sun dominates the solar system as it is larger than any of the planets. But very near to the planet, the gravity of the planet becomes stronger than that of the Sun. This region around the planet is referred to as the sphere of influence (SOI), Isro said.
The sphere of influence of Earth is 9.25 lakh km. Orbits of the Moon and all the artificial satellites of Earth fall inside this sphere.
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MOM, after successfully crossing Earth's orbit, had crossed Moon's orbit on December 2. It is now the farthest object sent into space by India!
Earlier, Isro performed the trans-Mars injection, a "crucial event" intended to hurl the Mars Orbiter spacecraft into the planned orbit around the Sun at around 00.49 hours on Sunday.
On December 11, Isro will conduct its first mid-course correction. Subsequently, the next corrections will take place in April and August next year. The corrections are to ensure that on September 24, 2014, when MOM is near Mars, we are at 500 plus or minus 50 kms, Isro Chairman K Radhakrishnan had earlier said.
Two weeks before reaching Mars, there will be one more correction manoeuver.
To a question on the life of the spacecraft, Isro said life of a spacecraft is determined by the amount of fuel it carries, the reliability of the components used, life of the solar arrays on-board etc. These days, before a spacecraft runs out of fuel, one last command will be given to de-orbit or push the spacecraft into a graveyard orbit.