'Australia played key role in India's historic entry into Martian orbit'

In India's historic entry into the Martian orbit, Australia played an important role. From Down Under, its engineers and technicians confirmed the successful first phase of India's Mars Orbiter Mission.

"Australia lets world know India’s Mars Orbiter Mission has arrived. We congratulate the Indian Space Research Organisation on its successful mission, which arrived in the orbit above the red planet,'' said Patrick Suckling, Australian High Commissioner in India.

Engineers and technicians working at the CSIRO-managed Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) in regional Australia played a critical role in confirming the successful first phase of MOM.

The largest antenna dish in the southern hemisphere, CDSCC’s Deep Space Station 43, which has supported many important space missions, today captured the minute signals from the mission and confirmed its successful entering into the orbit.

“I commend ISRO on this historic event. It is an important milestone for Indian space research and exploration. It is an example of the expanding scientific cooperation between Australia and India. I welcome our strengthening cooperation in space exploration,” Suckling said in a statement.

“The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex is the prime station for the mission as it relays data to mission control at ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Network in Bangalore. This is a critical element of this mission.”

Australia and India have a strong record of cooperation in space research and exploration. Both the countries had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Civil Space Cooperation in 2012.

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