The world's least expensive Mars mission has captured a 3-D photograph of the Red Planet's largest canyon with the help of India's Mars Orbiter "Mangalyaan" or "Mars-craft" in Sanskrit. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has published a display of pictures including the Martian canyon Ophir Chasma and the arrival site of NASA's Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory, on ISRO's website.
Ophir Chasma is a canyon in the Coprates quadrangle situated at 4° south latitude and 72.5° west longitude. It is a portion of the Valles Marineris - the "Grand Canyon of Mars" - and the biggest known canyon in the Solar System, Universe Today reports.
The photograph, taken at an elevation of 1,857km on July 19, demonstrates the numerous layers of Ophir Chasma - a system of steep valleys and scalloped landscape measuring 62km wide and 317km in length, according to RT News.
The mission was propelled into space on Nov. 5, 2013, and entered Mars' orbit in Sept. 2014, making India the first country to effectively reach the planet's orbit on its first attempt.
The mission cost $74 million, much cheaper in total when compared with other Mars missions like NASA's $670 million MAVEN mission, which also entered Mars' circle last September, News Week reports.
