India scales down experimental flying payloads for exploring Mars

India has scaled down its flying experimental payloads for exploring the Mars by reducing the payload from 25 kg to 15 kg, local media reported on Sunday.

The Mars Orbiter Mission, expected to be launched in mid- October this year, will carry five experimental payloads with a total weight of 14.49 kg, according to Press Trust of India.

The payloads will include the Methane Sensor, Thermal Infrared Spectrometer, Mars Color Camera, Lyman alpha photometer and Mars Exospheric Neutral composition analyzer.

India hopes the Mars mission will propel it to the elite club of five members comprising the U.S., Russia, European Union, China and Japan, which have launched similar missions.

The Mars Orbiter will go around the planet once in three days, its nearest point being only 371 km from the planet's surface and the farthest point about 80,000 km away.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the Mars Orbiter Mission in his Independence Day address in 2012.

Source: Xinhua News Agency