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India's Mars mission sends back beautiful shot of 5,000-km-long canyon system on Independence Day

Xinhua, August 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

India's Mars Orbiter Mission has sent home three-dimensional images of the Valles Marineris, a 5, 000-km-long canyon system on the Red Planet, on the occasion of the country's 69th Independence Day on Saturday.

The beautiful shot of the canyon system that has several valleys and is said to be the solar system's largest was captured with the Mars Color Camera from a height of nearly 2,000 km from the surface of the Red Planet and called the Opir Chasma.

India successfully sent the Mars Orbiter Mission called Mangalyaan into space in September 2014 and it reached its destination in 15 months' time, becoming the only country after the U.S., Russia and Europe to have successfully undertaken missions to Mars in its maiden attempt.

The state-owned Indian Space Research Organization is said to be planning another mission to Mars in the future. Endi