Pune, Aug 19 (TNN): The chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) A S Kiran Kumar revealed on Tuesday that the Mangalyaan, also known as Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), has become the first ever exploration mission to send back photographs of the far side of Deimos, one of the planet's two moons.

Addressing a public talk at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Kumar said, " Currently, there are seven exploration missions on Mars and in its orbit. Among them, only Mangalyaan has been successful in capturing, and sending back, photographs of the far side of Deimos, the smaller of the two moons of Mars. No other Mars mission has managed to do this."

Kumar also spoke in detail on the impending launch of the Astrosat, the nation's first-ever dedicated astronomy satellite.

A large number of institutes in India and overseas, including IUCAA, are collaborating on the mission. " Institutes like the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, IUCAA, University of Leicester, and Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, are working on the project and are designing payload," he informed.

The chairman shared some information about the kind of instruments that shall be a part of the Astrosat mission. " The UltraViolet Imaging Telescope, for which IUCAA has taken the lead, will be able to operate on three wavelengths. It shall better analyse the photosphere and chromosphere of the sun. In addition, we are deploying the LAXPC instrument, which will be used to study X-ray timings. The LAXPC has the largest effective area of its kind in the world," Kumar added.

The astronomy satellite is due to be launched next month. " A PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) will be used for the launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The satellite has already been sent to the launch centre from Bangalore and final tests and augmentations are underway," he explained.