Very unlikely that this will launch in 2013. I'm going to say 2016 at the earliest.I don't know why they're even claiming it would launch in 2013, hell the design isn't even finalized yet.
Do any of their launch vehicles actually have the throw capacity to put a significant & useful payload into orbit around Mars, as that second link certainly makes it sound like this isn't the case?
Do any of their launch vehicles actually have the throw capacity to put a significant & useful payload into orbit around Mars, as that second link certainly makes it sound like this isn't the case?
The PSLV can put 1.4 tonnes into a GTO and and the 1.3 tonne Chandrayaan 1 mission to the Moon. It is quite relaiable and should be more than adequate.
But wouldn't it be better to wait for the GSLV MK III?
But wouldn't it be better to wait for the GSLV MK III?
normally yes. but I remain convinced that the haste with which the mission has been approved, in spite of the launch window opening practically tomorrow (in 14 months, which will require a very fast development and testing phase), has something to do with the fact that China will likely launch something to Mars in 2016
Did the project actually started one or two years ago? I can't see the developers churning out probe structures and engines a month or two after it started development...
On Monday, the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission program crossed an important milestone with the successful test firing for the first time of the liquid apogee motor.
AsianScientist (Oct. 11, 2012) – On Monday, the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) program crossed an important milestone with the successful test firing for the first time of the liquid apogee motor at 1 am (IST).
Speaking to Asian Scientist Magazine, ISRO chief spokesperson Devi Prasad Karnik said that the engine was fired for about 670 seconds and the test would go on for another 45 days.
The test was carried out at ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Center at Mahendra Giri in Tamil Nadu. The engine is fired during orbit raising maneuvers.
An ISRO official said that the challenge in the mission was that the engine has to restart after 300 days when the orbiter enters the Martian orbit.
According to the present Mars mission profile, after launch, the 1,350 kg orbiter will operate around the earth-bound orbit six times as its altitude is raised before it begins its 300-day journey towards the Red Planet.
A chart prepared by ISRO showed that in the final orbit the orbiter’s furthest point from earth will be 215,000 km and the nearest 600 km.
After going around the earth six times, the orbiter will depart for Mars on November 26, 2013 and enter the Mars orbit on September 21, 2014. This is known as the Mars Orbit Insertion and is a crucial and nail biting operation.
In a recent visit to the ISRO Satellite Center at Bangalore, Asian Scientist Magazine had the opportunity to see the orbiter in the clean room. In the coming days, it will be prepared for the challenging mission and it will start undergoing various tests from March 2013.
Any news and updates about the construction of the orbiter and its instruments? Are there any data available on the technical specifications of the science instruments and the orbiter itself?
Any news and updates about the construction of the orbiter and its instruments? Are there any data available on the technical specifications of the science instruments and the orbiter itself?
This is old news about possible payloads
http://www.asianscientist.com/topnews/isro-indian-mission-to-mars-red-planet-2013/
The December conference report states that the 10 Indian Martian experiments suggested are:
1) Probe For Infrared Spectroscopy for Mars (Prism) which will study certain aspects of the Martian atmosphere and “spatial and seasonal variations of these gases over the lifetime of the mission.”
2) Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (Menca) which will analyze the Martian upper atmosphere-exosphere region 400 km above the surface.
3) Another instrument (Tis) will measure thermal emissions from the surface of the Red Planet. Its primary science goals include mapping the surface composition and mineralogy of Mars and understanding the dynamics of the Martian atmosphere by monitoring carbon dioxide levels.
4) Using radio signals to study the atmosphere.
5) Mars Color Camera (MCC) which can image from a highly elliptical orbit of 500 km x 80,000 km. It will be designed as a multi-purpose instrument which can image the topography of the Martian surface and map Martian polar caps. “It is expected to observe and help in furthering our understanding of events like dust storms and dust devils. From an elliptical orbit around Mars, the camera will return high quality visual images of Mars, its moons, asteroids and other celestial bodies from close quarters,” the report states.
6) A Methane Sensor For Mars (MSM) has been recommended for detecting methane in the Martian atmosphere.
7) A Mars Radiation Spectrometer (Maris) which can measure and characterize charged particle background levels during the cruise and orbit phase of the spacecraft. This instrument will play an important role for a possible future human mission to Mars as it will determine radiation exposure doses.
8.) A Plasma and Current Experiment (Pace) which will assess what is known as “atmospheric escape and processes of the Martian atmosphere and the structure of the Martian tail.”
9) A microwave remote sensing technique for sounding the Martian atmosphere. Scientists connected with this instrument say that it will be designed to be minimally affected during a dust storm.
10) A suite of instruments to detect plasma waves in the Martian atmosphere.
only some of the 10 experiments and payloads will be selected, with a focus on experiments that have not been done before
From http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=775497:
ISRO has also "gone through" preliminary design of a 1,315 kg satellite bus of "Chandrayaan heritage" for the mission. "Building (of the satellite bus) is going on," he said.
ISRO officials said the Mars orbiter will be placed in an orbit of 500x80,000 km around the Red planet and will have a provision for carrying nearly 25 kg of scientific payloads on-board.
Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but I couldn't find this question addressed anywhere. Will Mangalyaan have relay capabilities for surface probes the way Mars Express (and Odyssey and MRO) does? Since I haven't seen it advertised, I will assume no.
Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but I couldn't find this question addressed anywhere. Will Mangalyaan have relay capabilities for surface probes the way Mars Express (and Odyssey and MRO) does? Since I haven't seen it advertised, I will assume no.
If this is a success are there any indications of plans for further Mars missions by ISRO?
There will not be any surface probe, so Mangalyaan does not need such capability. BTW scientific objectives of Mangalyaan are following:
(i) to understand surface features of Mars like morphology, topography and mineralogy.
(ii) to study the dynamics of the upper atmosphere of Mars, effects of solar wind and radiation and the escape of volatiles to Space and
(iii) to observe Phobos and to estimate the orbits of asteroids during the Mars Transfer Trajectory.
There will not be any surface probe, so Mangalyaan does not need such capability. BTW scientific objectives of Mangalyaan are following:
(i) to understand surface features of Mars like morphology, topography and mineralogy.
(ii) to study the dynamics of the upper atmosphere of Mars, effects of solar wind and radiation and the escape of volatiles to Space and
(iii) to observe Phobos and to estimate the orbits of asteroids during the Mars Transfer Trajectory.
My gut reaction was to say the Europe does some relay for NASA surface ops via Mars Express, even though the rovers are not their missions, but I sort of forgot about Beagle 2.
That being said, it would be nice to have, and perhaps ISRO will have a relay package on their next orbiter.
There will not be any surface probe, so Mangalyaan does not need such capability. BTW scientific objectives of Mangalyaan are following:
(i) to understand surface features of Mars like morphology, topography and mineralogy.
(ii) to study the dynamics of the upper atmosphere of Mars, effects of solar wind and radiation and the escape of volatiles to Space and
(iii) to observe Phobos and to estimate the orbits of asteroids during the Mars Transfer Trajectory.
My gut reaction was to say the Europe does some relay for NASA surface ops via Mars Express, even though the rovers are not their missions, but I sort of forgot about Beagle 2.
That being said, it would be nice to have, and perhaps ISRO will have a relay package on their next orbiter.
That is very much possible. correct me if I am wrong that NASA will have to provide the relay package or atleast the package specifications.
“We should get the five payloads by March and we plan to start integrating them in the satellite from April,”
This all seems very rushed I hope this aspect doesn't come back to haunt them.
I didn't realize the Van Allen belt exposure would be higher for this mission as compared to Chandrayaan lunar mission. Is it because Trans-Mars-Injection has to be done from a higher Earth orbit than Trans-Lunar-Injection?
I think its very unlikely that a comet will stop ISRO launching the probe. More likely are technical problems on the ground.
Pradeep @pradx
India's Mars orbiter payloads to be handed over to Bangalore tmrw for tests and integration. Spacecraft progressing per timeline.
ISRO ponders delaying Mars mission over fears of comet:
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/1819996/report-dna-exclusive-comet-mars-isro-s-rs450cr-dream-mission
ISRO ponders delaying Mars mission over fears of comet:
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/1819996/report-dna-exclusive-comet-mars-isro-s-rs450cr-dream-mission
ISRO ponders delaying Mars mission over fears of comet:
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/1819996/report-dna-exclusive-comet-mars-isro-s-rs450cr-dream-mission
Well if the reporters aren't exaggerating (somehow I think they are though ::)) then someone at ISRO needs to be fired for using bizzare reasons for delaying a mission, either for cover up of other schedule delays or not using common sense.
Mars Orbiter on track, comet no deterrent: ISRO chief
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Mars-Orbiter-on-track-comet-no-deterrent-Isro-chief/articleshow/19606336.cms
I don't know where you're going, man. If they've made an announcement, it's to quell speculation. The previous article that I posted before about the comet was itself just speculation, and not citing any named source at ISRO. That happens a lot in the Indian media - pretty routine.
Anyway, I'll keep my fingers crossed for November, and we'll see how things work out.
IIRC, the November 27 date is actually the day the spacecraft should made its final TMI burn. Since it needs several burns to get it out of Earth's orbit, I suggest keeping the October date for the launch itself.
The Mars Orbiter, set to be launched on November 27...
IIRC, the November 27 date is actually the day the spacecraft should made its final TMI burn. Since it needs several burns to get it out of Earth's orbit, I suggest keeping the October date for the launch itself.
Quote from the Time of India article dated April 18 (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-04-18/science/38646117_1_mars-orbiter-mission-martian-dust-storms-methane-sensor):QuoteThe Mars Orbiter, set to be launched on November 27...
I specifically remember an earlier news report that gave the October 25 launch date with November 27 as the TMI burn dateOK, let's try October again: an official from ISRO recently said (http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/mars-beckons-isro-orbiter-taking-shape/article4559157.ece) that "the satellite is expected to exit the Earth orbit on November 26/27"
Also, a question on an observation I have made: will the orbiter have a single solar array or two? The first picture on the first page posted by sanman appears to have two solar arrays and then on page 6 antriksh posted a picture (mom1.jpg) and in it, it says power would be provided by one solar array. Is the first picture of the orbiter just wrong?
Mars orbiter will have a single solar array of 3 solar panels. (MOM5.jpg)
Can someone expand the acronyms in the ISRO brochure picture below? I didn't get SPDM (in the context of the Solar Arrays), CASS, SPSS (I assume it's Solar Position Sensor ___ ?), LE (as in the 440 N thruster), and CCSDS, BDH, SSR, TTC (Telemetry and Telecommand?) in the context of communications...
Also, which one of those five pictured payloads can perform Plasma and current experiments? Or are they going to use the radio antennae to measure the electromagnetic environment local to the orbit? And why is the spectromer called "neutral"? Any mass-spec has to ionise the entering species (or use ionised species entering the aperture) in order to resolve them..
Btw, IIRC, we first had to raise the orbit, and even then lost Chandrayaan 1 earlier than scheduled because of some thermal issues right? Does anyone have a link to the official ISRO analysis report? AFAIK, Chandrayaan didn't have any active Thermal management systems - and that doesn't seem to have changed for Mangalyaan either. If our thermal modelling for the fairly unique, and highly elliptical orbit that our Mars orbiter is going to use is similarly off - as it was for the Lunar orbit, we're risking a premature shutdown here. Again.
Somehow I don't think overheating will be an issue for a Mars orbiter, since it's a good deal farther from the Sun. Even though Mars has a higher albedo than our own Moon (.15 vs .12), the solar flux hitting the Moon is 1367.6 W/m^2 while for Mars it's 591.3 W/m^2, which is less than half.
Besides, the MOM will have a highly elliptical orbit, which only brings it to within 580km of Mars on its closest approach. That's much higher than Chandrayaan-1's 100km orbit.
not everybody is happy with the Mars mission
http://www.firstpost.com/india/mars-mission-is-a-publicity-stunt-former-isro-chief-madhavan-nair-982779.html
Or that quite a bit can be achieved with 15 kg if it collects that that has not been collected before.
Some of the criticism is quite risible, about the orbit for example.
Mars mission spacecraft clears Thermo-vaccum test
"The test went off flawlessly. There were no problems either with the payloads or the spacecraft," an Isro official told TOI on Wednesday.
In the next phase, the spacecraft will be subjected to an acoustic and vibration test to assess its response again in a simulated launch environment. "Once this is completed, the spacecraft will be moved to Sriharikota sometime in the middle of September," the official said.
LV assembly began on august 4th, PSLV C-25 is being readied for a late october/early november launch.Mars mission spacecraft clears Thermo-vaccum test
"The test went off flawlessly. There were no problems either with the payloads or the spacecraft," an Isro official told TOI on Wednesday.
In the next phase, the spacecraft will be subjected to an acoustic and vibration test to assess its response again in a simulated launch environment. "Once this is completed, the spacecraft will be moved to Sriharikota sometime in the middle of September," the official said.
from http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-08-29/science/41579438_1_spacecraft-five-payloads-isro-official
Does anyone know if LV assembly has begun?
Also, about the PSOM-XL water based Post Fire Quenching/Cooling mechanism: Seems like they're evaluating what happens when the boosters are dunked in water. Why? Are they planning on making the solid motors reusable? Or is the Quenching/Cooling for pad infrastructure?
Mars mission spacecraft clears Thermo-vaccum test
"The test went off flawlessly. There were no problems either with the payloads or the spacecraft," an Isro official told TOI on Wednesday.
In the next phase, the spacecraft will be subjected to an acoustic and vibration test to assess its response again in a simulated launch environment. "Once this is completed, the spacecraft will be moved to Sriharikota sometime in the middle of September," the official said.
from http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-08-29/science/41579438_1_spacecraft-five-payloads-isro-official
Does anyone know if LV assembly has begun?
Also, about the PSOM-XL water based Post Fire Quenching/Cooling mechanism: Seems like they're evaluating what happens when the boosters are dunked in water. Why? Are they planning on making the solid motors reusable? Or is the Quenching/Cooling for pad infrastructure?
My source tells me of a problem they faced in PSOM-XL motor in IRNSS-1 flight !!! ISRO wanted to verify the motor's starting sequence
Rao outlined nine challenges for the space programme: food security, energy security, environmental security, resource security, space security, space transportation, search for life, exploring universe and colonisation of Mars.
My source tells me of a problem they faced in PSOM-XL motor in IRNSS-1 flight !!! ISRO wanted to verify the motor's starting sequence
Huh. That explains the motor evaluation. But I still can't make sense of Post-Fire quenching.
Anyway, what happened?
I'm slightly confused as to what unveiling means. Are they talking about the release of an official press kit / DECU film?
India set to launch Mars mission in November: UR RaoNice find. A new meaning for the colloquial term "Indian Colony"! Nicely done India. Good form!
http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/india-set-to-launch-mars-mission-in-november-ur-rao_874760.htmlQuoteRao outlined nine challenges for the space programme: food security, energy security, environmental security, resource security, space security, space transportation, search for life, exploring universe and colonisation of Mars.
The laboratory also can concentrate any methane to increase the gas' ability to be detected. The rover team will use this method to check for methane at concentrations well below 1 part per billion.
Launch now planned on October 28
I don't think there was ever a launch date mentioned. I don't think the media get pork-chop / tree-ring diagrams. This is the first launch date mentioned, although the window's been mentioned.
What's the daily launch window for October 28 and beyond?
India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft was shipped out of the city today for the October 28 launch from the Sriharikota spaceport, setting the stage for final preparations for the odyssey to the red planet. "It was put in a special container where we have the monitoring of the environment inside", an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told PTI here. Accompanied by a convoy, the truck-trailer carrying the container is currently on its way by road Sriharikota, where it's slated to reach tomorrow afternoon. Gandhi Jayanti day was chosen for the journey as traffic would be less.
There has been no communication from NASA to ISRO saying that it would not support the Indian mission, sources said.
ISRO should go for dedicated ships to cover blind spots during such missions.
ISRO should go for dedicated ships to cover blind spots during such missions.
Probably not worth the expense at this time keeping in mind the current frequency of such missions.
“The exact date and time of the launch will be decided in a meeting today. So by tomorrow, we will get to know the exact time and date of the launch,”http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/science/isro-begins-preparations-for-launch-of-indias-first-mars-mission/article5243641.ece
Isro is buzzing with activity - not just for MOM but also for a slew of projects, scheduled for the next five years. Kumar says that a successful Mars mission will not only boost India's confidence but also open doors for next-generation technology which will help future space endeavours. After Mangalyaan, ISRO is planning Chandrayaan II which will have a rover to collect and analyze samples from the lunar surface. India is also planning to launch its first dedicated astronomy satellite - ASTROSAT - after which the ambitious Aditya project will come into action. The project intends to study Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from L1, one of the Lagrangian points between Sun and Earth which will facilitate the craft's remaining at the same position with least effort, for the observation.
About manned space missions, Kumar says it would be the next logical step. "We are slowly building capacity for it and I hope it culminates at an opportune time. Our immediate goal is to put man in orbit (Lower Earth Orbit). The next one will be to prolong the mission and later to conduct space flights," he said.
...for tracking launch of PSLV XL C25/Mars Orbiter Mission, SCI Nalanda is required to be located around 19 degrees South latitude and 160 degrees West longitude while SCI Yamuna (second ship) is required to be positioned 20 degrees South latitude and 130 degrees West longitudehttp://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=248660
Destination | 19S 130W |
ETA | 2013-10-27 09:00 UTC |
Info Received | 2013-10-19 13:29 |
Destination | SUVA.FIJI |
ETA | 2013-10-18 13:00 UTC |
Info Received | 2013-10-19 13:31 |
No data relay is possible for MOM unless it is secretly carrying the appropriate transponder.
There really needs to be some sort of international convention so that Mars orbiters can operate together to form a network.
Peanuts, anybody? :)Yeah !!! ;D
Peanuts, anybody? :)
ISRO will lose 'sight' of Mars Orbiter before ships pick up signals
Peanuts, anybody? :)
Is that you, or did JPL send that out to ISRO? Camaraderie win :)
Hmm, I didn't realize MAVEN doesn't have a methane sensor.
I wonder what the opportunities are for collaboration between the 2 missions?
“The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will fly by the comet C/2013A1 when the probe is near the Mars orbit. The comet contains good amount of methane, which we hope to observe using our methane sensor,” M Annadurai, programme director of Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) Mars mission, told Deccan Herald.
Question: How is the 4th stabilized during the long coast period?
spin stabilized
or
RCS stabilized ?
TTC ships recent positions via AISAnyone know the weather forecast for their destination sites, for launch time tomorrow? Or willing to exercise Google-fu to get the relevant pictures from some Pacific maritime satellite?
SCI Nalanda: 2013-11-03 2208UTC at 20.26937S 156.5747W Speed: 7.2kn Course: 91°
SCI Yamuna: 2013-11-04 0357UTC at 19.49518S 134.1281W Speed: 9.9kn Course: 89°
Isn't MAVEN's apoapsis inside the Mars Orbiter's periapsis?1. No (http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/MAVENFactSheet_Final20130610.pdf). So there's probably more room for collaborative sensing than I thought at first.
But beyond this, do superstitions and other beliefs have a hold on the scientists?
“Not really,” said Mylswamy Annadurai, the project director of moon missions Chandrayaan 1 and Chandrayaan 2. “I read a page of Bhagawad Gita daily and will do so on Tuesday.”
He added, “But yes I have just got a jar of peanuts and a good luck card from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Nasa. This is a very nice gesture. I will distribute these peanuts in my office on Tuesday morning.”
Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) consider circulation of peanuts auspicious.
Thanks! antrikshQuestion: How is the 4th stabilized during the long coast period?
spin stabilized
or
RCS stabilized ?
RCS
Does anyone know the deployment mechanism of the high-gain antenna and the solar panels?
I'm thinking about it, since Wiedehopf's comment on the blogpost raises the issue of design symmetry to enable aero-braking; arguing that this orbiter isn't symmetric. But if they were able to fold the antenna for braking periods, and open it back out, it might be possible. I'm pretty sure they can't retract it once deployed, but thought I'd ask. In any case, with enough prop, an asymmetric design shouldn't be a showstopper?
The Indian orbiter would have a useful life of at least six months around Mars, according to the ISRO Chairman. Once its mission was complete, the spacecraft would not be allowed to crash on the planet. There would be enough propellant to take the probe away from the Martian environment, he said.
looking for a link for live feed?
Live broadcast will start Tuesday at 0830UTC on http://webcast.gov.in/live (http://webcast.gov.in/live)
(Another url to try is http://216.185.104.74/isro (http://216.185.104.74/isro))
I dunno how you can improvisationally attempt something like that - just do a brief retro-burn and retract the antenna and arrays at the last minute, maybe? Heh, it'd be a hoot if it works. :DNo need to retract the array, your heating/attitude/structural limits just limit how deep you can go in a pass. Tricky, but not impossible for a spacecraft that wasn't designed specifically for aerobraking. IIRC Venus express has done some aerobraking experiments.
S. Arunan, Project Director, ISRO’s Mars orbiter, said charging of the lithium-ion batteries on board the Mars spacecraft was under way on Monday afternoon. Mr. Arunan explained that the lithium-ion batteries were needed as a stand-by on board the spacecraft till the orbiter’s solar panels were deployed.
“In case the demand for power goes beyond the solar panels’ capacity, say during the eclipse conditions, the batteries will come to our rescue. These batteries will then be made operational. They are like the UPS [uninterrupted power supply],” he added.
ISRO’s Mars orbiter builders studied the successes and failures of the American, the Russian and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) missions to Mars before they built the spacecraft and the mission profile it should follow.
Mr. Arunan said: “We compiled the data of the failed scenarios of all the erstwhile launches of the U.S. Russia and the ESA. These failures have been reported well by their Failure Analysis Committees (FAC). We went through these FAC reports so that we do not make the same mistakes in our mission.”
Thanks! antrikshQuestion: How is the 4th stabilized during the long coast period?
spin stabilized
or
RCS stabilized ?
RCS
Will the 4th stage be carrying more RCS propellant this time around? Also any modification to the propellant tanks(capacity augumentation) ?
It's not going to use aero-braking to get into its planned orbit - they would have had to design the spacecraft specifically to allow that, which they haven't.Using aerobraking on a vehicle not designed for it has been done before, with Magellan at Venus.
However, Emily speculated about how aero-braking would be a nice bonus to try out afterwards, once the mission's main objectives have all been achieved. I dunno how you can improvisationally attempt something like that - just do a brief retro-burn and retract the antenna and arrays at the last minute, maybe? Heh, it'd be a hoot if it works. :D
NDTV coverage is pretty good. Knowledgeable anchor and reporter.
Some over-performance on one of the plots. But they still said nominal.
Ground station LOS .
Waiting for AOS from SCI-Nalanda.
<Biting nails>
No gravitational sling shot effect either.
The LAM will be fired repeatedly, increasing the velocity and hence raising the orbit incrementally.
Eventually the craft will attain escape velocity and break free from earth orbit.
The advantage of this incremental method is possibility of fine tuning orbit, while correcting for any errors.
No gravitational sling shot effect either.
The LAM will be fired repeatedly, increasing the velocity and hence raising the orbit incrementally.
Eventually the craft will attain escape velocity and break free from earth orbit.
The advantage of this incremental method is possibility of fine tuning orbit, while correcting for any errors.
But so did the rocket overperformance help anything in this regard? Will it provide any extra mission performance, or will it simply not detract from nominal mission performance?
But so did the rocket overperformance help anything in this regard? Will it provide any extra mission performance, or will it simply not detract from nominal mission performance?
They timed the 4th stage burn so they exactly hit the target orbit. If there was any spare capacity due to overperformance of the 3rd stage they did not use it. For whatever reason.
There is already over a 1000 comments on the BBC article on this mission, unfortunately it has partly degenerated into that old debate of why are they being sent aid when they are launching craft to Mars.:( The sheer level ignorance of some postings about this project is pretty depressing.
Best photos I've ever seen of a PSLV (or even any Indian) launch! I nearly thought that's a Cape Canaveral Delta II launch at first glance! 8)I totally agree! Wonderful photo 8)!
There is a carefully planned and quite complex series of (6?) orbit raising maneuvers, ending with the spacecraft at a very specific location relative to Earth in a few weeks, for the final trans-Mars insertion. If they use any left-over performance here, the initial orbit will be longer, and all subsequent events will be thrown off. (If there was enough over-performance, in theory they could switch to an entirely different sequence with one less phasing orbit. But that much over-performance is unlikely, and the flight software surely could not make that switch anyway, no matter how much margin it thought it had...)
Best photos I've ever seen of a PSLV (or even any Indian) launch! I nearly thought that's a Cape Canaveral Delta II launch at first glance! 8)
Any higher resolution versions available?There are higher resolution versions on the Mars Orbiter Mission Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/ISROs-Mars-Orbiter-Mission/1384015488503058) (and, via that, on my blog post (http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/11050201-picture-perfect-launch-for-mars-orbiter-mission.html) :) )
There is already over a 1000 comments on the BBC article on this mission, unfortunately it has partly degenerated into that old debate of why are they being sent aid when they are launching craft to Mars.:( The sheer level ignorance of some postings about this project is pretty depressing.
Whenever I start reading message board/YouTube/Facebook comments I try to console myself that surely most of this represents one of the bottom layers of humanity. At the other end of the spectrum we have just witnessed one of the largest segments of Earth's population reach across space to another planet. It represents a wonderful achievement for India and the rest of us. Somehow I expect the mission to perform as well as the launching. A year from now I hope a billion people with a long history share the pride of knowing this was done with their own efforts. That should inspire them to even greater things.
There are higher resolution versions on the Mars Orbiter Mission Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/ISROs-Mars-Orbiter-Mission/1384015488503058) (and, via that, on my blog post (http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/11050201-picture-perfect-launch-for-mars-orbiter-mission.html) :) )
Very unlikely that this will launch in 2013. I'm going to say 2016 at the earliest.
There is already over a 1000 comments on the BBC article on this mission, unfortunately it has partly degenerated into that old debate of why are they being sent aid when they are launching craft to Mars. :( The sheer level ignorance of some postings about this project is pretty depressing.Not only you, but many under-estimate Indians. This is mostly due to colonial arrogance and/or racist overtones.
There are higher resolution versions on the Mars Orbiter Mission Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/ISROs-Mars-Orbiter-Mission/1384015488503058) (and, via that, on my blog post (http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/11050201-picture-perfect-launch-for-mars-orbiter-mission.html) :) )
Any higher resolution versions available?There are higher resolution versions on the Mars Orbiter Mission Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/ISROs-Mars-Orbiter-Mission/1384015488503058) (and, via that, on my blog post (http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/11050201-picture-perfect-launch-for-mars-orbiter-mission.html) :) )
First signals from the spacecraft showed it to be in good health, M.Annadurai, Programme Director of the Mars Orbiter Mission, told The Hindu in Bangalore.
“We started getting spacecraft telemetry from T+500 (T meaning the launch event) and took over after the satellite was separated” from the rocket, he said.
The satellite was going round Earth once in 6 hours 50 minutes in an elliptical orbit of 247 km x 23,564 km.
Between November 7 and December 1, ISTRAC would progressively stretch one end of the ellipse (at the apogee or farthest point from Earth) in six moves, called orbit raising manoeuvres.
Mr. Annadurai said scientists on the tracking mission were bracing themselves for the first and crucial post-launch manoeuvre at 1:15 a.m. on November 7. Prior to that, they had a rehearsal of the manoeuvre between midnight and 5 a.m. on Wednesday.
By December 1, the spacecraft must be put on the path to Mars.
What follows in the next 10 days would be six crucial "orbit raising operations," in the wee hours of November 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 16.
And then, at 12.42am on December 1, the orbiter will leave the earth's orbit for a 300-day journey to the red planet.
It is now at an altitude of 17,376km going at a speed of 1.21km/second at 5.25pm [IST].
"The health of the spacecraft is being monitoring continuously as it is good," a spokesperson of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) told The Times of India.
Such a trajectory if possible would mean more intrumentation payload , and bonus science @ venus flyby.
Was it possible now or maybe possible at a future date (when the planets are in the right position ) to have a more energy efficient trajectory, with venus flyby ( gravitational slingshot ).
I remember seeing such a trajectory for a simulated Ares mission on youtube.
Such a trajectory if possible would mean more intrumentation payload , and bonus science @ venus flyby.
^ not clear if this includes fuel for breaking into mars orbit....
By the way, there are no slingshots or magnetic fields involved in this. To perform a slingshot requires three bodies, one of them being the spacecraft. Examples of the two other bodies are the Earth and the Moon (spacecraft in orbit around Earth slingshots past the Moon) or the Sun and the Earth (spacecraft in orbit around Sun slingshots past the Earth). As MOM is in orbit around Earth and won't be going near the Moon, there can be no slingshot.Isn't the efficiency of the perigee burn given because of the Oberth Effect? If somebody tried to explain to a journalist that it takes advantage of the stronger gravitational field and subsequent maximum on momentum energy to maximize the efficiency of the reaction mass wrt to the apogee, I wouldn't be surprised if the journalist would have understood a slingshot and may be remembered the word field, thus, it surely meant a sling shot through the magnetic filed.
^ not clear if this includes fuel for breaking into mars orbit....
Yeah, I didn't account for that. So also considering the MOI burn, perhaps roughly 50-100 kgs will be left.
1. Early tomorrow (Thursday) at 1.17 a.m. the on-board motors of Mars Orbiter will be fired for around 200 seconds to raise its orbit by around 4,120 km to 28,785 kmIf this is IST, than it just happened.
First Midnight Manouever of ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft completed successfully.
Update from ISRO MOM Facebook page:QuoteFirst Midnight Manouever of ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft completed successfully.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ISROs-Mars-Orbiter-Mission/1384015488503058
^ not clear if this includes fuel for breaking into mars orbit....
Yeah, I didn't account for that. So also considering the MOI burn, perhaps roughly 50-100 kgs will be left.
^ not clear if this includes fuel for breaking into mars orbit....
Yeah, I didn't account for that. So also considering the MOI burn, perhaps roughly 50-100 kgs will be left.
This article says that their nominal objective is to use 800 kg of fuel for completing the mission, and they've kept 50 kg in reserve for any unplanned corrective maneuvers required:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/367441/saving-fuel-critical-mars-mission.html
If by some miracle everything were to go perfectly and that 50 kg reserve still remained, I wonder if it could be enough to fling it somewhere else? Is the asteroid belt too far?
Isn't the efficiency of the perigee burn given because of the Oberth Effect?
Is 2013 even a launch window to Mars?
Very unlikely that this will launch in 2013. I'm going to say 2016 at the earliest.I don't know why they're even claiming it would launch in 2013, hell the design isn't even finalized yet.
November 07, 2013
Mars Orbiter Spacecraft's Orbit Raised
The first orbit-raising manoeuvre of India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft was performed at 01:17 hrs Indian Standard Time (IST) early this morning (November 07, 2013) when the 440 Newton Liquid Engine of the spacecraft was fired for 416 seconds by commanding it from Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Peenya, Bangalore. With this engine firing, the spacecraft's apogee (farthest point to Earth) has been raised to 28,825 km, while its perigee (nearest point to Earth) is at 252 km.
"Early tomorrow (Thursday) at 1.17 a.m. the on-board motors of Mars Orbiter will be fired for around 200 seconds to raise its orbit by around 4,120 km to 28,785 km," S. Arunan, project director, Mars Orbiter Mission told IANS over phone from Bangalore Wednesday.
I remember reading earlier that LAM will be fired for 200 seconds to raise apogee to 28K km. Now, they've fired it for 416 seconds. Is this something to be concerned about? Any idea how much fuel was used up?In my opinion were 200 seconds cited incorrectly. 416 seconds corresponds much better with engine capability (440 N thrust) as the maneuver delta-v was about 115 m/s (I assume) and the mass of the probe around 1350 kg. Fuel consumption for this maneuver is around 50 kg (according to my calculations [by Tsiolkovsky equation]).
ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft will use its Liquid Engine for the second time, tonight at 02:18 Hrs IST, to further boost its velocity and soar higher.
The second orbit raising manueour of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 02:18:51 hrs(IST) on Nov 08, 2013, with a burn time of 570.6 seconds has been successfully completed.The observed change in Apogee is from 28814 km to 40186 km.http://www.isro.org/mars/updates.aspx
QuoteThe second orbit raising manueour of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 02:18:51 hrs(IST) on Nov 08, 2013, with a burn time of 570.6 seconds has been successfully completed.The observed change in Apogee is from 28814 km to 40186 km.http://www.isro.org/mars/updates.aspx
QuoteThe second orbit raising manueour of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 02:18:51 hrs(IST) on Nov 08, 2013, with a burn time of 570.6 seconds has been successfully completed.The observed change in Apogee is from 28814 km to 40186 km.http://www.isro.org/mars/updates.aspx
What is the planned maximum Apogee to be just before it leaves Earth orbit?
What are the expectations around solar flare activity over the period of the voyage?
As we head for solar maximum, what are the implications of that for this mission?
Anybody know what if anything ISRO has done to mitigate the risks associated with this?
What are the expectations around solar flare activity over the period of the voyage?
As we head for solar maximum, what are the implications of that for this mission?
Anybody know what if anything ISRO has done to mitigate the risks associated with this?
Is your concern about radiation? Like Chandrayaan-1, MOM uses a MAR31750 processor for data handling. According to the spec sheet the "R" in the part number indicates a "100 kRads (Si) Guaranteed Radiation Tolerance." (Whatever that means.)
MOM’s Midnight Manoeuvers !
Tonight we have scheduled the largest leap by ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft so far. After raising its apogee to 30 thousand km and 40 thousand km respectively in the last two Midnight Manoeuvers, MOM is all set to gallop to an apogee of 70 thousand km in tonight’s firing of its Liquid engine scheduled at 02:10 Hrs IST.
09-11-2013 The third orbit raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 02:10:43 hrs(IST) on Nov 09, 2013, with a burn time of 707 seconds has been successfully completed. The observed change in Apogee is from 40186km to 71636km
Attaching the details about apogee and perigee of MOM as on Nov 9th. Apogee has been raised from 40,016 km to 71,159 km.ISRO is reporting a bit different numbers: ... The observed change in Apogee is from 40186km to 71636km.
Attaching the details about apogee and perigee of MOM as on Nov 9th. Apogee has been raised from 40,016 km to 71,159 km.ISRO is reporting a bit different numbers: ... The observed change in Apogee is from 40186km to 71636km.
http://www.isro.org/mars/updates.aspx
Why norad and isro has not the same numbers and who's numbers are more accurate?
Thx
I get the impression that these maneuvers are initiated from ground control when the satellite is at it perigee.Given the low perturbation orbit, they can predict with great precision where it is. They might have to update the necessary orbital parameters after each firing. At least that's how I would do it. I would require the ground to give it a "go for execute". Of course that's not actually sending the firing command. But rather uploading orbital parameters, getting a full check of status, and a time of firing. And when everything checks out a go ahead (like "fire in 5h, with xyz attitude to achieve a delta-v of Xm/s"). The delta-v is data that it gets from the inertial system. So it is sort of closed loop.
Can these maneuvers be automated and executed using a closed loop control methodology?
The craft should be able to figure out its proximity based on signal latency or a star map or even something as basic as a radar ..
What aspect of navigating the craft requires the maneuver to be initiated from ground control? (Other than the need to maintain control of sequential flow of events)
Thanks in advance for your insights!
I get the impression that these maneuvers are initiated from ground control when the satellite is at it perigee.I would assume they use command sequences uplinked in advance, which are executed by the spacecraft at specific times. All deep space and Mars orbit maneuvers will have to be done that way anyway, so it would be surprising if they did something different for the small part of the mission that is in earth orbit.
The fourth Earth bound Manoeuver slated for 02:06 Hrs IST will hurl ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft to an apogee of about one lakh km [100,000 km].
During this firing an incremental velocity of 35 m/s has been imparted to the spacecraft. We will come back to you after Orbit determination.
ISRO MOM Facebook page says:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ISROs-Mars-Orbiter-Mission/1384015488503058?directed_target_id=0QuoteDuring this firing an incremental velocity of 35 m/s has been imparted to the spacecraft. We will come back to you after Orbit determination.
I presume the 4th maneuver is complete, but that it'll take some time to verify whether it was successful.
Are you asking about the mechanics of an elliptical Earth orbit? At perigee the velocity will be very fast; at apogee very slow. See for example the attached calculations for one of the prior MOM orbits.
* It has not been clear (to me) for what percentage of the orbit they have telemetry coverage using ISRO assets. It is also unclear (as it was with the Russians with F-G) if their mission objectives would allow them to use e.g. NASA or ESA telemetry assets.In addition to their own tracking assets, they are getting a lot of DSN time, see http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/Pages/trackingtoday.html and I would expect they have arrangements to ramp this up if there is an anomaly.
The health of ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft is normal.
In the fourth orbit raising operation conducted this morning (02:06 Hrs IST) the apogee of MOM spacecraft was raised to 78,276 km against the targeted apogee of about one lakh km.
This is because the incremental velocity imparted to the spacecraft was 35 m/s against the targeted 130 m/s.
A supplementary orbit raising operation is planned at 05:00 hrs IST on November 12 to raise the apogee to nearly one lakh km.
A detailed press note is appearing shortly on ISRO website.
it encountered a problem when a specific redundancy test was being conducted and it failed to reach the desired velocity it was to achieve.
It seems ISRO was using the redundant paths introduced in the fuel line for this engine firing.Quoteit encountered a problem when a specific redundancy test was being conducted and it failed to reach the desired velocity it was to achieve.
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/india-s-mars-mission-hits-first-hurdle-444424 (http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/india-s-mars-mission-hits-first-hurdle-444424)
Supplementary Orbit Raising Manoeuvre Planned for Mars Orbiter Spacecraft
In the fourth orbit-raising operation conducted this morning (Nov 11, 2013), the apogee (farthest point to Earth) of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft was raised from 71,623 km to 78,276 km by imparting an incremental velocity of 35 metres/second (as against 130 metres/second originally planned to raise apogee to about 100,000 [1 lakh] km). The spacecraft is in normal health. A supplementary orbit-raising operation is planned tomorrow (November 12, 2013) at 0500 hrs IST to raise the apogee to nearly 1 lakh km.
During the orbit-raising operations conducted since November 7, 2013, ISRO has been testing and exercising the autonomy functions progressively, that are essential for Trans-Mars Injection (TMI) and Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI).
During the first three orbit-raising operations, the prime and redundant chains of gyros, accelerometers, 22 Newton attitude control thrusters, attitude and orbit control electronics as well as the associated logics for their fault detection isolation, and reconfiguration have been exercised successfully. The prime and redundant star sensors have been functioning satisfactorily. The primary coil of the solenoid flow control valve was used successfully for the first three orbit-raising operations.
During the fourth orbit-raising operations held today (November 11, 2013), the redundancies built-in for the propulsion system were exercised, namely, (a) energising the primary and redundant coils of the solenoid flow control valve of 440 Newton Liquid Engine and (b) logic for thrust augmentation by the attitude control thrusters, when needed. However, when both primary and redundant coils were energised together, as one of the planned modes, the flow to the Liquid Engine stopped. The thrust level augmentation logic, as expected, came in and the operation continued using the attitude control thrusters. This sequence resulted in reduction of the incremental velocity.
While this parallel mode of operating the two coils is not possible for subsequent operations, they could be operated independently in sequence.
It seems ISRO was using the redundant paths introduced in the fuel line for this engine firing.Quoteit encountered a problem when a specific redundancy test was being conducted and it failed to reach the desired velocity it was to achieve.
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/india-s-mars-mission-hits-first-hurdle-444424 (http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/india-s-mars-mission-hits-first-hurdle-444424)
Thanks for that. I see that article is again talking about it slingshoting out of Earth orbit.
Was testing the parallel mode intentional to trigger thrust augmentation by attitude control thrusters?
So it sounds like they have 2 fuel lines - a main one and an extra one for backup - and the fuel flow through each is regulated by their respective solenoid valve. So as a systems check, they tried to use the main fuel line / flow valve and that worked, then they tried to use the backup fuel line / flow valve and that worked, but when they tried to use both fuel lines / flow valves at the same time, then that resulted in a stoppage of the fuel flow to the rocket motor and its shutoff.
The automatic thrust augmentation logic then kicked in to restart the motor, however the resulting orbit achieved was only 78K km instead of 100K km.
So what they've learned from this is that they cannot use both valves / fuel lines together at the same time.
I wonder why. Is it a pressure issue? Maybe they can't get the required pressure to push enough fuel through, if both valves are open instead of just either one?
Isn't this something that should have been tested on the ground first? I recall reading that ISRO did not build a duplicate mockup of the spacecraft for testing on the ground, but only tested using software simulations. Maybe this is something which would have turned up had they tested on a physical duplicate of the spacecraft.
“The satellite’s engine doesn’t work when both coils are simultaneously on,” a spokesman for the ISRO told The Wall Street Journal.
“This is not at all a setback, we got our redundancies [backup plans] checked by this process,” said the spokesman, who declined to be named. He said it was not necessary for both coils to be on at the same time during the rest of the flight plan.
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/11/11/first-hiccup-for-indias-mars-mission/
They have tested propulsion system at sea level and simulated vacuum conditions. What could be use of a mode with both the valves opened?
BTW, from this, it seems it was intentional to test the augmentation logic. But they could have very well regulated the thrust of the main engine to trigger the same logic.
Quote“The satellite’s engine doesn’t work when both coils are simultaneously on,” a spokesman for the ISRO told The Wall Street Journal.
“This is not at all a setback, we got our redundancies [backup plans] checked by this process,” said the spokesman, who declined to be named. He said it was not necessary for both coils to be on at the same time during the rest of the flight plan.
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/11/11/first-hiccup-for-indias-mars-mission/
So their are two levels of redundancies for propulsion: 1) first is a redundant fuel line to the main engine that would be used in case the prime fuel line suffers failure and 2) is the use of attitude thrusters for augmentation/provision of thrust.
Now we know that the 2nd and the last option can provide 1/3 rd thrust required.
Hoping for the best!!
Mr Bagla told BBC News that the attempt on Monday morning used up about 2kg of the craft's 852kg fuel load.
But Mr Bagla added that the spacecraft's insertion into Earth orbit after launch on 5 November had been so precise, 6kg of liquid fuel had been saved. Even with Monday's glitch, the mission still had a fuel surplus of 4kg.
It seems to me it was really good to find this problem in Earth orbit. Typically, planetary injection firings use all possible redundancy, since they are mission critical and can't be fixed from the ground, due to delays. So I suspect the normal Mars-insertion mode would have been both coils/valves energized. If so, and if the same problem re-occurred, it would be fatal to the mission.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24900271QuoteMr Bagla told BBC News that the attempt on Monday morning used up about 2kg of the craft's 852kg fuel load.
But Mr Bagla added that the spacecraft's insertion into Earth orbit after launch on 5 November had been so precise, 6kg of liquid fuel had been saved. Even with Monday's glitch, the mission still had a fuel surplus of 4kg.
Okay, so they're still ahead of the game
It seems to me it was really good to find this problem in Earth orbit. Typically, planetary injection firings use all possible redundancy, since they are mission critical and can't be fixed from the ground, due to delays. So I suspect the normal Mars-insertion mode would have been both coils/valves energized. If so, and if the same problem re-occurred, it would be fatal to the mission.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24900271QuoteMr Bagla told BBC News that the attempt on Monday morning used up about 2kg of the craft's 852kg fuel load.
But Mr Bagla added that the spacecraft's insertion into Earth orbit after launch on 5 November had been so precise, 6kg of liquid fuel had been saved. Even with Monday's glitch, the mission still had a fuel surplus of 4kg.
Okay, so they're still ahead of the game
So at least now they can re-program the burn to be try A, then if that does not work, try B. MUCH better to find this now, rather than when you try to insert around Mars!
ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission
6 minutes ago
MOM’s Midnight Manoeuvers !
The supplementary orbit raising manoeuver of ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft, to raise the apogee height to about 1 lakh km completed successfully.
Fourth supplementary orbit raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 05:03:50 hrs(IST) on Nov 12, 2013, with a burn Time of 303.8 seconds has been successfully completed.The observed change in Apogee is from 78276km to 118642km.
Question: Could you please check with ISRO whether energizing primary and redundant coils TOGETHER is a mandatory requirement for successful MOI? Now that this mode is ruled out, is ISRO confident of achieving MOI by energizing ONLY ONE COIL AT A TIME (either the primary, or redundant)? Thanks.
ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission: energizing primary and redundant coils together is not a mandatory requirement for MOI or any other phase.
here's an update from http://isro.org/mars/updates.aspx:QuoteFourth supplementary orbit raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 05:03:50 hrs(IST) on Nov 12, 2013, with a burn Time of 303.8 seconds has been successfully completed.The observed change in Apogee is from 78276km to 118642km.
here's an update from http://isro.org/mars/updates.aspx:QuoteFourth supplementary orbit raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 05:03:50 hrs(IST) on Nov 12, 2013, with a burn Time of 303.8 seconds has been successfully completed.The observed change in Apogee is from 78276km to 118642km.
Excellent news! The next opportunity for a burn near perigee (one orbit later than this) appears to be around 46h45m later. That's almost two days, so ~02:45 IST on Nov 14, if my spreadsheet calculations are correct. It would be great to get a confirmation of that timing from ISRO, though!
Next burn early morning 16th. Now waiting for colored Earth shots!!
Excellent news glad they recovered from the minor setback they had.
From the schedule of burns I saw earlier on this thread there appears to be something like a two week gap between the penultimate manoeuvre & the final firing to leave Earth orbit. Is this to allow equipment to be further checked out before it departs or is there more to it than this?
Excellent news glad they recovered from the minor setback they had.
From the schedule of burns I saw earlier on this thread there appears to be something like a two week gap between the penultimate manoeuvre & the final firing to leave Earth orbit. Is this to allow equipment to be further checked out before it departs or is there more to it than this?
From the orbits of mars and earth, at the moment mars is ahead of earth, but the earth which moves faster in the inner orbit is catching up with mars. If the s/c were to leave earth orbit now it would have to travel a longer distance by itself. However if it leaves the earth orbit at end of the month, the earth would have carried it closer to mars and hence a lower travel distance.
My guess is that leaving earth's orbit around the end of the month results in an energy optimized trajectory.
Excellent news! The next opportunity for a burn near perigee (one orbit later than this) appears to be around 46h45m later. That's almost two days, so ~02:45 IST on Nov 14, if my spreadsheet calculations are correct. It would be great to get a confirmation of that timing from ISRO, though!
This is correct. MAVEN is headed directly to Mars (no stay in earth orbit) and the window is from Nov 18th to Dec 7th (but other sources have a 36 day window, see http://www.space-flight.org/docs/2013_winter/FinalProgram.pdf ). Assuming the optimum is in the middle of the window, the best time to leave Earth for Mars near the end of November.Excellent news glad they recovered from the minor setback they had.
From the schedule of burns I saw earlier on this thread there appears to be something like a two week gap between the penultimate manoeuvre & the final firing to leave Earth orbit. Is this to allow equipment to be further checked out before it departs or is there more to it than this?
From the orbits of mars and earth, at the moment mars is ahead of earth, but the earth which moves faster in the inner orbit is catching up with mars. If the s/c were to leave earth orbit now it would have to travel a longer distance by itself. However if it leaves the earth orbit at end of the month, the earth would have carried it closer to mars and hence a lower travel distance.
My guess is that leaving earth's orbit around the end of the month results in an energy optimized trajectory.
^perigee is lower than the previous reported ~345km??
^perigee is lower than the previous reported ~345km??
Is there anything to be concerned about with such a lower than expected perigee?
^perigee is lower than the previous reported ~345km??
Is there anything to be concerned about with such a lower than expected perigee?
Well, lower perigee means more drag from the upper atmosphere (c.f. Skylab). So, in the long run, the orbit is going to be less stable and will decay faster. In the time-scale that MOM is scheduled to remain in its parking orbit, probably not.
I would've thought they deliberately lowered the perigee to take advantage of the Oberth effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberth_effect) when doing the final escape burn.
Unless you mean that "deliberately lowered the perigee" = letting natural drag reduce the perigee, any propulsive maneuver to lower the perigee would waste precious propellant.The effect of drag on perigee would be negligible in any case, drag is mostly at perigee, which will only lower the apogee.
I would've thought they deliberately lowered the perigee to take advantage of the Oberth effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberth_effect) when doing the final escape burn.Unless you mean that "deliberately lowered the perigee" = letting natural drag reduce the perigee, any propulsive maneuver to lower the perigee would waste precious propellant.
November 16, around 2 a.m., is when the craft is due to get its orbit raised for the fifth time and also the last time near the Earth. (ISRO discounts the November 12 correction as a supplement of the fourth operation.)
In the next few days through November 30, some payloads or instruments on the orbiter are to be switched on as part of trials.
Tonight is going to be the culmination of the various baby steps MOM has been taking by gradually soaring to higher apogees around Mother Earth. This manoeuver, scheduled at 01:27 hrs IST, will take the spacecraft to - almost half the way to moon - about two lakh kilometers [200,000 km].
440N Liquid Engine completed firing successfully to raise the apogee to about 1.92 lakh km in this 5th Manoeuver
The 400N LAM engine uses hypergolic fuel (Monomethylhydrazine fuel and Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen). Is this a commonly used fuel for on board satellite navigation motors? Are there other fuels that offer similar performance/benefit profile? Could ISRO instead have used other fuels?
Does anyone know how much fuel a craft has to burn to attain a certain amount of velocity?
according to http://www.zarya.info/Calendar.php the perigee will be further reduced in tonight's burn
latest facebook updateQuote440N Liquid Engine completed firing successfully to raise the apogee to about 1.92 lakh km in this 5th Manoeuver
It is really very interesting how ISRO has gone about this mission. It has certainly made me think about the subject in a more comprehensive manner than before.
While not trivializing any aspect of rocketry and satellite navigation, this approach also helped demystify the subject and made me even more curious about science & technology. And I am just an enthusiast. If this mission has managed to inspire 100 smart students (which I am sure it already did), this mission is already a success!! Way to go and really impressive!
The 400N LAM engine uses hypergolic fuel (Monomethylhydrazine fuel and Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen). Is this a commonly used fuel for on board satellite navigation motors? Are there other fuels that offer similar performance/benefit profile? Could ISRO instead have used other fuels?
Does anyone know how much fuel a craft has to burn to attain a certain amount of velocity?
How much weight does fuel and associated storage and delivery mechanisms contribute to the overall weight of the craft?
Thinking wildly here .. would it be possible to "throw" MOM over to Jupiter and further if and when the Mars mission is completed? (assuming there is enough fuel to navigate/control attitude/altitude)
Or how about to Venus? By hopping off Earth's and Sun gravity?
Your insight would be appreciated!
The fifth orbit raising Manoeuver of ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft, starting at 01:27 hrs (IST) on Nov 16, 2013, with a burn Time of 243 seconds, and incremental velocity of 101.55 m/s has been successfully completed.The observed change in Apogee is from 118642 km to 192874 km.
It is really very interesting how ISRO has gone about this mission. It has certainly made me think about the subject in a more comprehensive manner than before.
While not trivializing any aspect of rocketry and satellite navigation, this approach also helped demystify the subject and made me even more curious about science & technology. And I am just an enthusiast. If this mission has managed to inspire 100 smart students (which I am sure it already did), this mission is already a success!! Way to go and really impressive!
The 400N LAM engine uses hypergolic fuel (Monomethylhydrazine fuel and Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen). Is this a commonly used fuel for on board satellite navigation motors? Are there other fuels that offer similar performance/benefit profile? Could ISRO instead have used other fuels?
Does anyone know how much fuel a craft has to burn to attain a certain amount of velocity?
How much weight does fuel and associated storage and delivery mechanisms contribute to the overall weight of the craft?
Thinking wildly here .. would it be possible to "throw" MOM over to Jupiter and further if and when the Mars mission is completed? (assuming there is enough fuel to navigate/control attitude/altitude)
Or how about to Venus? By hopping off Earth's and Sun gravity?
Your insight would be appreciated!
Welcome
If you really want the fuel load and burn details read back page by page. It's all there in great detail not so long ago.
Those are indeed wild ideas. Wild to the point of silly. The solar system is an enormous structure. Spacecraft are built for specific purposes. Flitting about is pointless and impractical, most likely impossible. Plus there were already discussions of slightly less-than-impossible ideas like aero-braking for extended missions.
As it stands our Indian colleagues are doing remarkable things incredibly fast on extremely lean budgets. These are stellar and thoroughly admirable accomplisments.
assuming there is enough fuel, I wondered if it would be possible to transfer a craft in Martian orbit to a helio centric orbit and then eventually on to another orbit ...
It's probably barely possible, but would requires a craft built just for this mission, consisting of almost all fuel and very little payload. The Dawn mission has done exactly this to visit two asteroids, but to do so it had to use ion engines, and asteroids have much smaller gravity wells than Mars.assuming there is enough fuel, I wondered if it would be possible to transfer a craft in Martian orbit to a helio centric orbit and then eventually on to another orbit ...
There isn't enough fuel. Or propellant.
The argument of the perigee of the orbit is now 288.88°At launch it was ~282.752° , any idea if this change is good ( as per mission plan) or an anamoly?
MOM sends a postcard!!
First ever pic of Earth taken by Mars Color Camera. More on MOM FB page.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ISROs-Mars-Orbiter-Mission/1384015488503058
Here's an interview with ISRO chief, which has pretty detailed info on spacecraft operations and technicalities:
http://thehindu.com/opinion/interview/mars-orbiter-tests-have-shown-our-ability-to-predict-isro-chairman/article5372129.ece
^ 22.5 minutes sounds like a pretty long burn time for the LAM - more than the launch time for a typical PSLV, 4 stages combined.
Any one know if the LAM ( assuming it is very similar to the LAM of ISRO's other sattelites) was fired for this long a period at one go?
The first critical orbit-raising manoeuvre of GSAT-8 was successfully conducted at 03:58 hrs (IST) this morning (May 22, 2011) with the firing of the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) on board GSAT-8 for 95 minutes by commanding the satellite from ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka.
When MCC is 370km away from the Mars surface it provides a frame image of 25m x 25m. At the farthest point on the orbit, 80,000 km away, MCC provides a 4km x 4km field of view.
Yes it must be referring to the spatial resolution and not the total image size size. The picture of Earth that was recently taken showed a much larger area than would have been possible if the MCC was only able to take 4 km wide images at Mars. For comparison MRO is able to resolve at about 30 cm per pixel and HiRISE is a much larger and massive sensor.When MCC is 370km away from the Mars surface it provides a frame image of 25m x 25m. At the farthest point on the orbit, 80,000 km away, MCC provides a 4km x 4km field of view.
really?!? this would mean that the camera has a centimeter-resolution at periapsis!
I think that these numbers do not refer to the field of view but to the pixel size, or to the spatial resolution.
Of the orbiter’s five payloads, three had been tested from November 19. They are the MCC, the Martian Exospheric Neutron Composition Analyser to look at the exosphere of Mars and the Thermal Infrared Imaging System (TIIS) to study the Red Planet’s geological activity. “We switched on these three and their health is normal. They are basically working,
Mars spacecraft, said ISRO had successfully completed the calibration of the spacecraft’s high-gain and medium-gain antenna. “All the spacecraft systems are working normally. We are preparing for the orbiter’s trans-Mars insertion on December 1,”
In the early hours of December 1, around 00.36 hours, we have the trans-Mars injection of our Mars spacecraft. On that day, we are going to use the 440 Newton liquid engine again to impart a delta-v, that is, an incremental velocity of nearly 648 metres a second to the spacecraft and the engine will burn for 1,351 seconds.
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When this running of the 440 Newton liquid engine takes place on December 1, we also have eight numbers of 22 Newton control thrusters firing.
"The trans-Mars injection- we are planning to depart on December 1, 2013 early hours of 00:49 hours IST and we are going to burn a liquid engine for duration of roughly 23 minutes which will impart an incremental velocity of 648 metres per second consuming a fuel of 198kgs," ISRO Scientific Secretary V Koteswara Rao told reporters here.
"We have planned right now four mid course corrections, first one will be around December 11- plus or minus a couple of days depending on the deviation how it is going."
"Second one will be in April 2014, third one will be in August 2014 and the last one- the fourth one will be on September 14 that is 10 days before we insert into Martian orbit. Couple of day's uncertainty will be there....," he added.
@vyoma: you should e-mail them and ask :D
isrosocialmedia AT isro.gov.in
https://twitter.com/Mangalyaan1/status/403539759538384896
Also, NASA's "Eyes on the Solar System" (eyes.nasa.gov) has now added Mangalyaan to its virtual environment!
https://twitter.com/nasa_eyes/status/403666988230139905
Mars Programme Director M Annadurai told reporters that the spacecraft would require fuel of 190 kg and time of 1,346 seconds to achieve trans-Mars injection. “Sixteen hours before firing, we will pre-load all commands to the spacecraft and six hours ahead of firing, we will verify whether all processes and commands are accurate.”
The fuel it has consumed so far is 338 kg. The total fuel spent by the time it reaches mars will be 832 kg, leaving 20 kg for rest of the activity of the spacecraft.
“MAVEN upon reaching the designated Mars orbit will have only one chance to enter the the orbit, and if it does not do so, that will be the end. But we have an additional opportunity. In case we reach on September 24, 2014 and we are not able to perform the orbit insertion maneuver, we will have another opportunity after three days of orbiting Mars,” said MoM project director, M Annadurai
we will have another opportunity after three days of orbiting Mars???
Both spacecraft get only one chance to enter Mars orbit. Mars Orbiter Mission will again be using its single 440-Newton rocket to perform the orbit insertion maneuver. MAVEN has six rocket motors, each of which can achieve 200 Newtons of thrust.
Reminder: MOM trans-Mars injection maneuver starts to-day November 30 at 1919UTC for a duration of 23 minutes
Reminder: MOM trans-Mars injection maneuver starts to-day November 30 at 1919UTC for a duration of 23 minutes
upload the commands of sequence in a time-tagged manner based on various parameters
slightest deviation in time, duration of firing or the speed to be given to the spacecraft would be immediately red-flagged so that the controllers could set the contingencies in motion
The engine burn to push the satellite out will start when it is over HBK (Hartebeesthoek) 60 km north of Johannesburg in South Africa, and end somewhere over Bangalore
The engine burn was aimed at giving the satellite a final escape velocity (which should be a minimum of 10.7 km per second). At launch, it got the speed of 9.8 km per second. The six orbit raises added 0.873 km per second; the December 1 burn should give it the last push of 0.648 km a second — which all add up to the crucial velocity of about 11.4 km per second
T - 01:00:00
On-board Computer takes over the operations.
Forward rotation of the spacecraft, to put it into the right orientation to fire, has commenced.
The 440 N Liquid Engine has commenced its 23 minute long firing for Tran-Mars Injection.
This will impart an incremental velocity of 648 m/s consuming 198 kg of fuel.
10 minutes of firing completed. Performance normal so far. Liquid engine continues to fire as planned.
Just crossed the last perigee. Engine continues to fire as planned.
Tonight’s manoeuver has been completed, imparting the required incremental velocity of 648 m/s.
The orbit determination team will get us the orbit details soon.
Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operations completed successfully
Liquid Engine propels MOM into Mars Transfer Trajectory and India into interplanetary space !
Trans-Mars injection has been completed successfully.
ISRO updatesNow replaced byQuoteTrans Mars Injection (TMI) operations completed successfully
Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operations completed successfully. The liquid engine burn time was 1328.89 sec and the imparted incremental velocity was 647.96 m/sec.
The liquid engine burn time was 1328.89 sec and the imparted incremental velocity was 647.96 m/sec.
Liquid Engine propels MOM into Mars Transfer Trajectory and India into interplanetary space !
Trans-Mars injection has been completed successfully.
QuoteThe liquid engine burn time was 1328.89 sec and the imparted incremental velocity was 647.96 m/sec.
target was 648 m/s. and the burn was predicted to last 1351s
Looks like delta-v was achieved a bit sooner than they expected. If that's the case, then fuel consumption would be lesser than what they expected (198kg)?
http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/Pages/trackingtoday.html (http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/Pages/trackingtoday.html)
DSS-45 (34-metre)
November 2013
Sat 30 MOM
December 2013
Sun 1 MOM
2. Another space-history question for the buffs: How many escape burns/orbit insertion manoeuvres have been conducted during spacecraft night-time?
"ISRO has planned four mid-course corrections in case of any deviation along [MOM's] path to the Martian orbit."
(source (http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/isro-s-performs-trans-mars-injection-on-mom-113120100012_1.html))
Wow, just passed over the terminator, and it's just struck me that the burn is happening during local night. Spacecraft running purely off battery power. #NowJittery.
quick question.. looking for the ISP of the rocket engine for the probe. Anyone know details of it? Working backwards with the data given and I am guessing it is around 300s. Anyone know for sure what it is?
jb
India's PSLV rocket - the second choice for the mission after a beefier launcher failed - was not powerful enough to send the MOM on a direct flight to Mars.
So engineers opted for a method of travel called a Hohmann Transfer Orbit to propel the spacecraft from Earth to Mars with the least amount of fuel possible.
Correct. As per this paper extract (http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1999ESASP.430..579S&db_key=AST&page_ind=1&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_VIEW&classic=YES) (though dated), ISRO LAM's Isp is 3041 Ns/kg. So, 3041/9.8 = 310s.thanks for that find.
Complete paper here (http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?db_key=AST&bibcode=1999ESASP.430..579S&letter=.&classic=YES&defaultprint=YES&whole_paper=YES&page=579&epage=579&send=Send+PDF&filetype=.pdf).
Wow, just passed over the terminator, and it's just struck me that the burn is happening during local night. Spacecraft running purely off battery power. #NowJittery.
It's not a coincidence. Mars injections will always happen near local midnight, since that's when the orbital velocity of the probe adds directly to the velocity of the Earth around the Sun. Furthermore, you want the burn to be close to the Earth for maximum energy gain. So Mars injection from Earth orbit will always be in the dark.
OUCH!!!
OUCH!!!
??
OUCH!!!
??
BBC needs to check its orbital mechanics. everybody uses Hohmann transfer orbits to go to Mars, it's not just a clever option of ISRO to circumvent the limitations of the PSLV
ISRO chief and Programme Director interviewed post TMI:
http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/preparedness-for-mars-mission-has-been-excellent-k-radhakrishnan-113120100194_1.html
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/isros-mars-orbiter-mission-completes-motherofall-manoeuvre/437106-11.html
Exactly one minute before the burn started, there was a thunderstorm there and we did not have the data from there when the engine was fired. But within five minutes they got it and we started getting the data in real time. So that is the five minutes gap.That must've been scary :)
We have got the performance of the liquid engine and we got slightly, around 1.75%, more than what we assumed.Any idea what does it mean? Is it similar to the over-performance that we sometimes see in launch vehicles?
Considering that more than half the missions to Mars around the world have failed - and that no country has succeeded in its first mission - there is almost breathless waiting in the ISRO community.
CNN-IBN: I believe there was some anxiety with no data being received at one ground station?Looks like Mangalyaan is spin-stabilised :P All the orbit raising burns so far've been as autonomous as the TMI. The attitude control thrusters kicking in to augment the LAM on the 4th burn, was a trial by fire (literally) of the closed loop autonomy too - and an examination of whether the spacecraft can take care of anomalies. But none of the events so far have involved S/C transitioning to safe mode...unless they've exercised it specifically, with some remote HILS test.
Dr Mylswamy Annadurai: This is at a South African ground station where because of a local thunderstorm, disruption happened. But that's also another testing moment to see how good the mission's autonomy worked. So without ground contact, it has done its function. Before going to Mars orbit where it is supposed to do its own manoeuvring without ground contact ... remember even there it takes 30- 40 minutes to carry out signals - it has already shown it has done its job perfectly. So that way, it's a blessing in disguise, we can tell you.
Medium Gain Antenna of the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft is powered for long distance communication, subsequent to successful Trans Mars Injection (TMI) manoeuvre
According to sources, the spacecraft crossed the lunar orbit around 7.20 am IST and became the farthest Indian object from Earth, considering India's lunar mission Chandrayaan-1's aposelene of 200 km.
As it hurtles towards its planetary goalpost on a path of 680 million km, the Mars Orbiter will cover one million km each day, according to S.K. Shivakumar, Director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, which made the 1,330-kg satellite.
Do the planned mid-course corrections impart additional velocity to the spacecraft?Mid course corrections will only make tiny changes in velocity, a few meters per second most likely. They are only to fine tune the trajectory.
Or is there some figure or math that I got wrong here?It's safe to assume numbers got garbled somewhere in the reporting, and there is probably little to be gained figuring out exactly where. It's possible the speaker was referring to different things, perhaps the distance traveled and the distance to Mars.
Assuming that the current escape velocity of the spacecraft as around 11 km/s, I do get the math of covering 1 million km a day. But with that speed, wouldn't we be covering only around 300+ million km in 300 days? How would we cover 680 million km within the same timeframe (unless the spacecraft receives an acceleration to attain nearly double the escape velocity, that is..). Do the planned mid-course corrections impart additional velocity to the spacecraft? Or is there some figure or math that I got wrong here?
Assuming that the current escape velocity of the spacecraft as around 11 km/s, I do get the math of covering 1 million km a day. But with that speed, wouldn't we be covering only around 300+ million km in 300 days? How would we cover 680 million km within the same timeframe (unless the spacecraft receives an acceleration to attain nearly double the escape velocity, that is..). Do the planned mid-course corrections impart additional velocity to the spacecraft? Or is there some figure or math that I got wrong here?
11 km/s is the speed of the probe relative to Earth. that translates into more than 40 km/s relative to the Sun. then you have to consider that this speed is not constant at all along the elliptical orbit. it's not simple math anyway
Spacecraft has travelled a distance of 536,000 km by 17:00 hrs (IST) of Dec 2, 2013. It has crossed the distance to Moon's orbit around Earth (mean distance 385,000 km) this morning.
Spacecraft has traversed beyond the Sphere of Influence (SOI) of Earth extending about 925,000 km at around 1:14 hrs (IST) on Dec 4, 2013.
It's interesting that the Indian language has short, simple words for such large numbers ("one hundred thousand" and "ten million" in English).100,000 is 1,00,000 (lakh or some use lac)
Those are indeed wild ideas. Wild to the point of silly. The solar system is an enormous structure. Spacecraft are built for specific purposes. Flitting about is pointless and impractical, most likely impossible. Plus there were already discussions of slightly less-than-impossible ideas like aero-braking for extended missions.Many here aware how large Solar system is. There's nothing like wild ideas when it comes to few disciplines like Space or Engineering; Pioneer missions set themselves as 'living' examples. Or see the beauty of 'wildness' in RBSP with twin-spacecrafts. The same wildness was rewarded with a Nobel for chasing after God particle :)
As it stands our Indian colleagues are doing remarkable things incredibly fast on extremely lean budgets. These are stellar and thoroughly admirable accomplisments.
"We have not yet started any twitter feed. Please note that,
facebook.com/isromom is the only social media entity officially hosted by
ISRO."
Well, I take my words back regarding twitter stream! :-X
Mars Orbiter Mission @Mangalyaan1 #Mangalyaan
India Space @India_inSpace
If anyone interested like me: MAVEN Mission @MAVEN2Mars
Controllers of its various systems met at tracking centre ISTRAC in the evening to take stock of its situation and plan the operation, called trajectory correction manoeuvre (TCM). Team ISRO calls it fine-tuning of its course.
This TCM is needed as the spacecraft slightly overachieved its parameter, which can happen during operations such as the crucial December 1 manoeuvre, said M. Annadurai, Programme Director of the Mars Orbiter Mission.
Monday’s meeting was to take stock, finalise the duration of firing the smaller thrusters — tentatively for about 40 seconds at 6.30 a.m. [IST] on December 11 — and the rest of the TCM-1 strategy.
This time, all eight small 22-Newton thrusters on the spacecraft would be used to minutely slow it down.
ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft started the 44 seconds long firing of its 22N thrusters, for the First Trajectory Correction Manoeuver.
First Trajectory Correction Manoeuver completed successfully.
The first Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM) of Spacecraft was carried out successfully at 06:30 hrs (IST) by firing the 22 Newton Thrusters for a duration of 40.5 seconds. The spacecraft is travelling at a distance of about 29 lakh (2.9 million) km away from Earth.
Yes, but @Mangalyaan1 is not an ISRO account as far as I can tell. Don't know about India in Space.I'm not registered (only use them for corporate presence/support) on Twitter or FB, yet those twitter handles shed some info so it's kinda complementary to FB.
Yes, but @Mangalyaan1 is not an ISRO account as far as I can tell. Don't know about India in Space.I'm not registered (only use them for corporate presence/support) on Twitter or FB, yet those twitter handles shed some info so it's kinda complementary to FB.
Something is better than nothing :)
That press release makes no sense because it goes against the spirit of sharing knowledge. Example, Curiosity mission.It's clear that a fair number of people were confused by those unofficial accounts. I saw BBC quote the Mangalyaan1 twitter as if it were an official source, for example.
“The Mars orbiter was more than four million km away as of yesterday. The spacecraft is in good health,” he said on Tuesday from Bangalore. Every day, precision ranging of the spacecraft was being done to know where exactly it was and how far away it was. Ground controllers from the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore, and the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu, near Bangalore, were communicating with the spacecraft.
Since the Mars spacecraft had travelled more than four million km away, “there is a communication delay of 12 seconds” each way, Dr. Radhakrishnan said.
The orbiter “is in a parabolic trajectory around the sun towards Mars” said Deviprasad Karnik, ISRO spokesperson. The spacecraft had to be “seen” continuously, that is, it should be monitored all the time. So ground controllers from ISTRAC and IDSN were communicating with it.
As of now, the ground controllers at the IDSN were communicating with the spacecraft, using the dish-antenna with a diameter of 18 metres. From April 2014, they would use the 32-metre antenna to keep a tab on it, Mr. Karnik said.
Few updates on ISRO MOM:I really hope it's in an elliptical trajectory, not a parabolic oneQuoteThe orbiter “is in a parabolic trajectory around the sun towards Mars” said Deviprasad Karnik, ISRO spokesperson. The spacecraft had to be “seen” continuously, that is, it should be monitored all the time. So ground controllers from ISTRAC and IDSN were communicating with it.
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/mars-orbiter-well-on-its-way/article5471052.ece
Few updates on ISRO MOM:I really hope it's in an elliptical trajectory, not a parabolic oneQuoteThe orbiter “is in a parabolic trajectory around the sun towards Mars” said Deviprasad Karnik, ISRO spokesperson. The spacecraft had to be “seen” continuously, that is, it should be monitored all the time. So ground controllers from ISTRAC and IDSN were communicating with it.
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/mars-orbiter-well-on-its-way/article5471052.ece
The last manoeuver, termed as Trans Mars Injection (TMI), moved the spacecraft in the Mars Transfer Trajectory (MTT). Spacecraft crosses Earth’s Sphere of Influence (SOI) and enters heliocentric elliptic cruise phase.
2. Helio Centric Phase
The spacecraft leaves Earth in a direction tangential to Earth’s orbit and encounters Mars tangentially to its orbit. The flight path is roughly one half of an ellipse around sun. Eventually it will intersect the orbit of Mars at the exact moment when Mars is there too.
2. ISRO did not overspent fuel,despite the glitch that it encountered during the fourth burn.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mars-orbiter-spent-55--of-the-total-fuel-so-far-isro-scientist/1209273/0 (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mars-orbiter-spent-55--of-the-total-fuel-so-far-isro-scientist/1209273/0)
It's clear that a fair number of people were confused by those unofficial accounts. I saw BBC quote the Mangalyaan1 twitter as if it were an official source, for example.Perhaps it's true on few cases but largely there is no harm in having several complimentary handles which serve more articles, updates, information and pictures:
Clarifying which accounts are actually controlled by ISRO does not go "against the spirit of sharing knowledge", it helps people evaluate the sources.
Fan accounts are great, but it's in everyone's interest to distinguish them from actual sources inside the mission. This situation only arose because some of the unofficial accounts were (whether intentionally or not) easily mistaken for an official account. NASA has also gone after fan accounts which they thought were easily confused with official ones.
“Coasting phase – where spacecraft travels on the velocity of the earlier burn – is not possible in GSLV. It is allowed only in PSLV. The other thing is that we already have had success in Chandrayaan when transfer orbit was possible. PSLV also saves fuel,” he said.
“Argument of perigee required for Mars mission was 270 degree, point of entry and velocity required is also not possible with GSLV that would have given 170 degree. Therefore, PSLV was selected as the launch vehicle,” he added.
Mangalyaan’s new fault detection and reconfiguration systems can do it on their own.
If problems come up in a near-earth spacecraft, we send it into ‘safe’ mode from our ground stations. But Mangalyaan can get into safe mode by itself, turning its antennae towards the earth, to receive commands, and its solar panels towards the sun, for energy.
A series of commands are stored in the craft’s tele-command processor which activate its five instruments or payloads. But in case we require a new sequence of operations, there’s scope for that as well.
We’ve taken instruments that were made in India; no instrument was left behind for want of space. Can these instruments be tweaked to get more or varied information, as ongoing missions, like Nasa’s Curiosity Rover, can? No, the capabilities are fixed. But what can certainly be tweaked is where they make observations and how many more of those they make.
The commercial market has shown confidence in PSLV, which can do versatile launches. We have a French and a German satellite launch commissioned on PSLV and three UK satellites of 350-kg each will be launched using this rocket.
I think such missions also inspire the younger generation. In 2006, Isro received 24,000 applications for 268 positions. In 2009, post Chandrayaan-1, we received 140,000 applications for 371 seats. In 2012, we received 120,000 applications for just 22 posts!
Mission Update: MOM
As on today Mars Orbiter is almost 11.04 Million km away from planet Earth, a signal from ground control station is taking almost 36.8 seconds to reach MoM... Usain Bolt would have run 345 m in that much time...
Another 233 days for MOM to reach Mars. MOM is 14.4 million km away from earth and moving at a velocity of 31.3 km/s with respect to Sun. As of now; a signal traveling at the speed of light takes around 48 seconds to reach MOM.
MOM is now about 15 million km away from Earth. It now takes almost 2 minutes for a communication signal to go to MOM and come back, about the same time mom takes to make noodles !
Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, India's first interplanetary probe, was launched by PSLV-C25 at 1438 hours on November 5, 2013 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. In its voyage towards Mars, the mission successfully completes 100 days in space tomorrow (February 12, 2014).
The spacecraft health is normal. The spacecraft is continuously monitored by the ground station of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), located at Byalalu, near Bangalore. Except for a 40 minute break in the Telemetry data received from the spacecraft to the ground station, data has been continuously available for all the 100 days.
On February 6, 2014, all the five payloads on Mars Orbiter spacecraft were switched 'ON' to check their health.
The health parameters of all the payloads are normal. Presently, the spacecraft is at a radio distance of 16 million km causing a one way communication delay of approximately 55 seconds. After travelling the remaining distance of about 490 million km over the next 210 days, the spacecraft would be inserted into the Martian Orbit on September 24, 2014.
To Mars on a budgetSomewhat related, this article http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/pavan-srinath-running-the-space-marathon-113121500647_1.html suggests that the oft-quoted $75 million isn't the whole story.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/business/international/from-india-proof-that-a-trip-to-mars-doesnt-have-to-break-the-bank.html?_r=0
Somewhat related, this article http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/pavan-srinath-running-the-space-marathon-113121500647_1.html suggests that the oft-quoted $75 million isn't the whole story.
To Mars on a budget
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/business/international/from-india-proof-that-a-trip-to-mars-doesnt-have-to-break-the-bank.html?_r=0
"ISRO has learned to make cost-effectiveness a daily mantra. Its inexpensive but reliable launch capabilities have become popular for the launches of small French, German and British satellites."
Not really. They've struggled with reliability.
“The second of the four trajectory correction manoeuvres will be made, probably on April 9, to make minor changes that may be required owing to the solar radiation pressure on the spacecraft,”
If everything goes as planned, MOM will get inserted into its Martian orbit, exactly 200 days from 7th March
A senior official of Isro told HT: The spacecraft is absolutely healthy, on track and continuously being monitored. We are getting data from the Spacecraft Control Centre at Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bangaluru beside the three ground stations of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Madrid, Goldstone (California) and Canberra
Maintaining that the next challenge for the scientists would come on September 24, when the spacecraft will have to be energized after a hibernation of 9 months, he said: “ The firing at that time will last for nearly 1500 seconds. The Mars Orbiter Insertion would be a major challenge for us but we have done a lot of ground simulation for that.”
Updating on the status of Isro's Mars Mission, launched last November, Kiran Kumar said, "Right now MOM is 35 million km away. We are regularly checking the health of the satellite and it is satisfactory."
He also said the second of the four trajectory correction manouvre (TCM) planned on the Mars Mission was not necessary and the next TCM was being planned in June. The mission is expected to reach the Mars orbit by September 24.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/science/200-days-for-mangalyaan-to-get-into-mars-orbit/article1-1192345.aspx (http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/science/200-days-for-mangalyaan-to-get-into-mars-orbit/article1-1192345.aspx)QuoteIf everything goes as planned, MOM will get inserted into its Martian orbit, exactly 200 days from 7th MarchQuoteMaintaining that the next challenge for the scientists would come on September 24, when the spacecraft will have to be energized after a hibernation of 9 months, he said: “ The firing at that time will last for nearly 1500 seconds. The Mars Orbiter Insertion would be a major challenge for us but we have done a lot of ground simulation for that.”
Mangalyaan will be inserted into the Mars orbit after 200 days after which it will carry out scientific experiments, says Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
Mars Orbiter Spacecraft and its five scientific instruments are in good health. Periodic tests are being done on the different levels of autonomy built into the Spacecraft for managing contingencies.
There's also been only the one image of Earth so far.. (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1399270930310847)
actually, abstracts of the LPSC contained a few other pics
Latest update (from Monday this week):
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/mangalyaan-doing-well-will-reach-martian-orbit-on-september-24-isro-chairman-523085
Mars Orbiter is doing well, and a signal travels for about 4 minutes to reach the spacecraft.
Indian Space Research Organisation is likely to perform its next trajectory correction manoeuvre on its Mars Orbiter mission on June 11.
MOM Status Update
ISRO's Mars Orbiter spacecraft has traveled more than 460 million km distance in its 680 million km elliptical trajectory around Sun.
MOM is now at a distance of about 100 million km from planet Earth. The two way radio communication delay is approximately 11 minutes.
It will be 16 anxious seconds from 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) Station, Bangalore, when ground controllers will correct the trajectory of India’s Mars Orbiter, speeding towards the Red Planet.http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/mars-orbiters-trajectory-to-be-corrected/article6098712.ece
During the complex manoeuvre, the ground controllers will radio commands to the orbiter’s thrusters to fire for 15 or 16 seconds to correct its trajectory so that the spacecraft reaches the Martian orbit on the appointed day of September 24.
A missive from MOM confirms TCM2-Firing completion. Team MOM is busy crunching numbers to determine the post-TCM2 trajectory.
Mars Orbiter Mission’s second Trajectory Correction Manoeuver completed successfully. Keep Cruising MOM !
How many more does it have to preform before reaching Mars?
How many more does it have to preform before reaching Mars?
Two more trajectory corrections are planned (August and September), before Mars orbit insertion.
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/mars-orbiter-gets-its-first-course-correction/article5446749.ece
Date: 12/06/2014
- The second Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM-2) of India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft was successfully performed on June 11, 2014 at 1630 hrs IST. TCM-2 was performed by firing the spacecraft’s 22 Newton thrusters for a duration of 16 seconds.
- At present, the radio distance between the Spacecraft and the Earth is 102 million km. A radio signal from the Earth to the Spacecraft now takes about 340 seconds. The spacecraft so far has traveled a distance of 466 million km as part of its total Journey of 680 million km.
- ISRO is continuously monitoring Mars Orbiter Spacecraft using Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN). The spacecraft and its five scientific instruments are in good health.
Still, I think this will probably the longest period between LAM burns... when it does the orbital insertion. Unless an INSAT adjusted its orbit fairly drastically late in its life, or reboosted. Anyone aware of such an occurrence?
The final Mars Orbit Injection (MOI) is achieved by a braking or de-boost manoeuvre of about 1.1 km (a negative Δv) at the periapsis (closest approach to Mars) of the hyperbolic MTT. This, in fact, is the largest incremental (albeit negative) velocity, which means the MOI will demand the longest retro firing of LAM and it will have to deliver after lying idle for 300 days. Together, with the incremental velocity of 1.5 km/s given up to trans-Mars injection, the magnitude of the cumulative incremental velocity required of LAM is thus 2.6 km/s. The spacecraft will enter the Martian orbit in September 2014.
The LAM that will be used in this mission, both for orbit raising and MOI, is the same 440 Newton thruster that is used in geostationary satellite launches by ISRO. The first operation of orbit raisings is limited to the first one week. But MOI is only after 300 plus days of MTT. Once the valves get wetted by the propellant, they can swell a little bit and the performance will come down. They may also begin to leak. So the strategy that has been adopted is to close this path after orbit raisings, isolate the engine by operating pyro valves and open additional flow lines and valves when restarting the engine 10 months later to take care of the problem. The engine has been tested for its performance for a given number of days after use.
“In Chandrayaan-1 the engine was qualified for 30 days. Now we are talking of 300 days,” pointed out Radhakrishnan. “The performance deterioration in propulsion efficiency, which means specific impulse, is about 2 per cent. So we know it a priori. When you finally want to calculate how much the engine should fire to impart a given retro boost to capture a Martian orbit, this information is important but not very crucial at the same time because it is done in the closed loop mode. It will be looking at the accelerometers and then adjusting automatically. Also, the trans-Martian injection being very complex, you may miss this capture. We have kept fuel for one more try,” he added
follow-on" mission to the Red Planet between 2017 and 2020 having a lot of scientific content. the final decision will depend upon the success of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) orbit insertion on September 24, 2014
India plans another Mars mission in 2017-20Quotefollow-on" mission to the Red Planet between 2017 and 2020 having a lot of scientific content. the final decision will depend upon the success of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) orbit insertion on September 24, 2014
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-plans-another-Mars-mission-in-2017-20/articleshow/38565995.cms
ISRO on Thursday said, "The mission officials have just ruled out the need for a trajectory correction manoeuvre, originally planned for August. This means MOM needs only three out of four TCMs originally planned for the entire heliocentric journey."
"It is currently about 163 million kilometers away from Mars. It is travelling at a speed of 1.2 million kilometers per day. It is on schedule and on target. Originally we were planning to have a corrective manoeuvre on August 19. But in the current situation, we don't think it is necessary. So the next (trajectory) correction is scheduled for September 14 and on September 24, the orbiter is supposed to reach Mars and perform the manoeuvre to orbit the red planet,"
"We have 290 kilograms of fuel left, and we will require about 240 kilograms for the manoeuvre to enter the Mars orbit. The process will involve reducing the velocity of the spacecraft and allowing it to get captured by Mars' (gravity),"
he said adding that all the commands will be fed in to the spacecraft three days in advance (before the manoeuvre on September 24) and the manoeuvre is expected to happen using the autonomous features of the spacecraft at 7:30 am on September 24.
After the spacecraft is captured in the Mars' orbit, we will encounter the Siding Spring comet that will engulf Mars in October
The MOM will be using the instruments onboard to observe the Siding Spring's passage and its effects on the Martian atmosphere which is much thinner that compared to Earth.
Will ISRO test fire the LAM ( for a short duration ) prior to the actual MOI burn to check out and calibrate the LAM?
Will ISRO test fire the LAM ( for a short duration ) prior to the actual MOI burn to check out and calibrate the LAM?
The spacecraft is travelling at a speed of 22km/second. The challenge before Isro would be to reduce this drastically to 1.6km/second, so that the rules of gravity around Mars are employable and the spacecraft is sucked into the desired orbit.
To achieve this, the space agency must fire its LAM engine, which would have remained idle for 299 days by September 24. Not only will the engine have to be fired but it has to be done after changing the orientation completely.
"Right now MOM is travelling in one direction, if we just fire the engine, it will only add to the velocity. So we will have to re-orient it to look the opposite direction and then fire the engine. What this does is it will push the spacecraft in the opposite direction and thereby reduce velocity," a senior scientist said.
Will ISRO test fire the LAM ( for a short duration ) prior to the actual MOI burn to check out and calibrate the LAM?
I guess not. The original plan was to use all the redundant lines for the fuel during MOI, but a similar test in the earth orbit didnt work. Apparently, each line works individually but not in parallel. My guess, they will program it to open other line if one fails to produce required deceleration during MOI.
BTW, MOI will happen behind mars (just like chandrayaan 1), so any guesses how long we will have to wait for a confirmation?
Will ISRO test fire the LAM ( for a short duration ) prior to the actual MOI burn to check out and calibrate the LAM?
I guess not. The original plan was to use all the redundant lines for the fuel during MOI, but a similar test in the earth orbit didnt work. Apparently, each line works individually but not in parallel. My guess, they will program it to open other line if one fails to produce required deceleration during MOI.
BTW, MOI will happen behind mars (just like chandrayaan 1), so any guesses how long we will have to wait for a confirmation?
Maybe ( just guessing ) - if the LAM has issues in both the modes ( primary lines and redundant lines ) the MOI software could try to put the MOM in some kind of orbit around Mars using the attitude thrusters. This will buy time to try and fix the LAM issues.
"On Sept 24, the manoeuvring of the spacecraft will begin around 7.30 a.m. The spacecraft's speed will be reduced from the current speed so that the Mars Orbiter enters the Martian orbit. Whether the spacecraft has entered the Martian orbit or not will be known around 8.30 or 9 a.m."
Will ISRO test fire the LAM ( for a short duration ) prior to the actual MOI burn to check out and calibrate the LAM?
I guess not. The original plan was to use all the redundant lines for the fuel during MOI, but a similar test in the earth orbit didnt work.
Here are some interesting snippets:QuoteThe final Mars Orbit Injection (MOI) is achieved by a braking or de-boost manoeuvre of about 1.1 km (sic: it should be 1.1 km/s) (a negative Δv) at the periapsis (closest approach to Mars) of the hyperbolic MTT. This, in fact, is the largest incremental (albeit negative) velocity, which means the MOI will demand the longest retro firing of LAM and it will have to deliver after lying idle for 300 days.QuoteOnce the valves get wetted by the propellant, they can swell a little bit and the performance will come down. They may also begin to leak. So the strategy that has been adopted is to close this path after orbit raisings, isolate the engine by operating pyro valves and open additional flow lines and valves when restarting the engine 10 months later to take care of the problem. The engine has been tested for its performance for a given number of days after use.
As the s/c approaches Mars will it focus the camera and other instruments on the planet before MOI burn to (e/i)nsure some science return from the mission ?
As the s/c approaches Mars will it focus the camera and other instruments on the planet before MOI burn to (e/i)nsure some science return from the mission ?
I read in media that ISRO is planning to take pictures after MOI maneuver completes.
"Since the engine has been idle for more than 300 days, we may have to test fire it," Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan told TOI.
There is some uncertainty over a couple of valves and parts malfunctioning because of the corrosive fuel. After firing for the trans—Mars Injection, the primary fuel channel has been disabled to prevent leaks. The planned test—firing will be carried out using a secondary channel which will remain open for the actual firing on September 24 to remain in the Martian orbit. The test is not without handicaps. Since the spacecraft is moving at a speed of more than 22km per second, test—firing for a mere five seconds can take it away from the trajectory by more than 100km. This deviation will have to be factored in while carrying out the final orbit—capture manoeuvre around Mars.
“We are going to have the MOI on the September 24 morning. The engine firing is planned to start at 7.18 a.m. and last 28 minutes,” ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan told The Hindu.
The ultimate moment, according to Dr. Radhakrishnan, will be “when we get the message at 8.15 that morning that the orbiter has captured the Mars orbit. Theoretically, that fructifies the objective of this mission. But today, our job is to gear up for the orbit insertion.”http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/isro-gearing-up-for-date-with-mars/article6376971.ece
The spacecraft enters the Martian range of influence on September 22. ‘The action’ starts two days later when it would be about 700 km from the planet. First, at 6.50 a.m., the spacecraft will be turned or re-oriented.
The most crucial act is to fire the engines on it to slow the spacecraft from a velocity of 22 km a second to 1.5 km a second. ISRO plans to fire all nine ‘guns’ on board: the main ‘LAM’ or liquid engine and eight small thrusters.
The most crucial act is to fire the engines on it to slow the spacecraft from a velocity of 22 km a second to 1.5 km a second.
QuoteThe most crucial act is to fire the engines on it to slow the spacecraft from a velocity of 22 km a second to 1.5 km a second.
That's a delta-V change of 20.5 km/s! Surely there's a mixup somewhere. Mars orbit insertion is more like 2.5 km/s delta-V.
QuoteThe most crucial act is to fire the engines on it to slow the spacecraft from a velocity of 22 km a second to 1.5 km a second.
That's a delta-V change of 20.5 km/s! Surely there's a mixup somewhere. Mars orbit insertion is more like 2.5 km/s delta-V.
On September 22, about 48 hours prior to its crucial orbit insertion, the Mars Orbiter Mission's (MOM) 440N liquid apogee motor (LAM) will be test-fired for five seconds.
The engine's test-firing will result in the spacecraft deviating from its trajectory, which will be corrected later.
Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan told TOI on Friday that should there be a problem with the motor, the space agency will resort to its 'Plan B' for the Mars orbit insertion. This backup plan involves firing of the eight 22 Newton thrusters for the insertion.
I have trouble understanding a fundamental aspect of a Mars Orbit Insertion. Doesn't a spacecraft arriving on a Hohmann transfer ellipse really need a prograde (not retrograde) burn to match the heliocentric velocity of Mars? Isn't it at apohelion, and thus needing a "kick" to circularize its heliocentric trajectory? :-\
A good overview of MOM's science instruments from Aviation Week: http://awin.aviationweek.com/portals/awin/Interactives/AWST/mom/mom.html (http://awin.aviationweek.com/portals/awin/Interactives/AWST/mom/mom.html)
BTW maybe the thread can have a better title like "Indian Mars Orbiter Mission - Launch and Mission updates"? ;)
Can you take us through the chain of events scheduled from now to September 24? Also what is going to be the crucial challenge?
On September 14th, we will be uploading the sequence of commands in the spacecraft with time tagging. It will be followed by test firing and then on the crucial day (September 24) at 8.15 a.m we will be able to say the Mission is successful.
The crucial challenge will be restarting the 440N main liquid engine, the single main engine which has been sitting idle for 300 days, since the Trans-Martian Insertion Burn was performed. This is the longest interval between LAM firings ever - the engine is usually employed on Geostationary Satellites that use it over a period of days or weeks to achieve their planned orbit.
On the ground we did testing of a similar liquid engine to see its restart characteristic, this was done well before the MOM launch. It was positive. In the recent days also again we have done ground testing and it was also successful.
Do you have plan B, if there is a problem in restarting the engine?
Yes. Using the small eight 22 N thrusters for attitude control or orientation, which will not give you this original target though. It will be salvaging of the mission. But what we have tried to ensure before hand is to build in the necessary facilities for ensuring restart and also confirmation.
At the time of MOI if you find it didn't restart, then we will loose that opportunity to operate the contingency, since it has to start early considering they are small thrusters and it takes longer duration.
In Plan A it is 440N plus, with the eight thrusters, to be fired in the given duration. But if the main engine does not fire, then we have to do the entire job by the small thrusters but then you have to fire them for longer duration and if you have to get the correct ellipse around Mars, you have to start firing early. There must also be enough fuel for that purpose.
As the s/c approaches Mars will it focus the camera and other instruments on the planet before MOI burn to (e/i)nsure some science return from the mission ?
I read in media that ISRO is planning to take pictures after MOI maneuver completes.
antariksh: do you have any pointers to the media reports? -Thanks
Events to follow
September 24: At 6.57 am, Final phase of operation will start. Reorientation of the spacecraft should commence and it has to stabilise.
At 7.15 am: Liquid engine firing would start and in the nominal operation that should be for about 24 seconds. Then once the desired velocity is achieved, the computer will give the command to cut the firing based on the accelerometer, which is onboard the spacecraft.
Signal will take 12.5 minutes to reach here. That means Isro will know only after 12.5 minutes what is happening at the space.
At 8.15 am, Isro could confirm whether the operation is successful.
Later on the day: Colour camera will also be operated on the same date.
K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said, “Commands will be loaded into the Mars spacecraft on Sunday for its insertion into the Martian orbit.” Since the spacecraft is on its course to Mars, there would be no trajectory correction manoeuvre of the spacecraft, originally scheduled on the same day. “We are doing a re-start of the 440 Newton engine for four seconds at 2 p.m. on September 22. We are doing that re-start to confirm [that the engine will erupt into life on September 24],” he said
This mission is essentially a technology mission. It is to demonstrate our ability to orbit a spacecraft around Mars and the five scientific instruments we have put in are secondary ones.
A good overview of MOM's science instruments from Aviation Week: http://awin.aviationweek.com/portals/awin/Interactives/AWST/mom/mom.html (http://awin.aviationweek.com/portals/awin/Interactives/AWST/mom/mom.html)
BTW maybe the thread can have a better title like "Indian Mars Orbiter Mission - Launch and Mission updates"? ;)
Interestingly the camera slide says that it will be used to image the sattelites Phobos and Diemos.This is the first time I am seeing any mention of plans to study the sattelites. Hope they also have (revised) oppurtunistic plans for looking at the comet too.
The tri-colour MCC gives images and information about the surface features and composition of Martian surface. They are useful to monitor the dynamic events and weather of Mars. MCC will also be used for probing the two satellites of Mars — Phobos and Deimos, ISRO officials said
Does anyone have a link to the pork-chop plots for the MOI burn, and/or the entire mission?
... why did they include something like a Mars Colour Camera, instead of an experimental ion engine (in addition to the LAM)?Tech demonstration mission has to demonstrate they can use, power and operate scientific instruments successfully, get data and process them.
Tech demonstration mission has to demonstrate they can use, power and operate scientific instruments successfully, get data and process them.
These links might help
...an experimental ion engine (they do have one in the works IIRC)...ISRO had used ion thrusters in GSAT-4 in 2010 (but satellite didn't make it to orbit due to LV issues):
... why did they include something like a Mars Colour Camera, instead of an experimental ion engine (in addition to the LAM)? The scientific community already has a million images of Mars... taken from much closer than Mangalyaan's nominal peri-areion. They've got full-disk images too - and if AIUI, all this data is already in the public domain. Sure, more images always helps; but the tradeoff is having a system which enhances the chances of mission success, while validating a new indigenous implementation of an alternative propulsion technology.
In that sense, an experimental ion engine (they do have one in the works IIRC) would be as good, if not a better (as I said in my previous comment) 'payload'.MOM was built on an very compressed timeline for a planetary mission. Adding experimental technologies is not usually a good idea in this situation. If they get into orbit and return some data it will be tremendous success.
Not really. Data gathering and transmission from another planet is sufficiently different.Tech demonstration mission has to demonstrate they can use, power and operate scientific instruments successfully, get data and process them.They've already demonstrated a lot of that in the numerous Earth observation missions they've undertaken.
In that sense, an experimental ion engine (they do have one in the works IIRC) would be as good, if not a better (as I said in my previous comment) 'payload'.Not realistic. In fact, trying to force newest and untested techologies into mission not specifically dedicated to test them is good way to fail project. So this is really bad idea.
1) ISRO engineers will start the final orbit insertion operation at 4.17 am on September 24 morning when the Mars Orbiter will switch to the Medium Gain Antenna for communications.
2) At 6.56 am, the Orbiter will be rotated in a forward direction.
3) At 7.12, a solar eclipse starts and two minutes later the thrusters will be used to get the Orbiter aimed in the right attitude.
4) At 7.17 am, the liquid engine burn will start and it will go on for 1454 seconds burning 249.5 kg of propellant to decelerate the spacecraft by 1098.7 Meters/second.
5) Around the same time, telemetry machines would be switched off as the Orbiter will lose communications with ground control being on the other side of the planet.
6) News of the confirmation that burn has started will reach ground control only after 12.5 minutes at 7.30 am.
7) The communication gap will end at 7.45 am and telemetry and doppler tracking will resume at 7.47 if all goes according to plan.
In the run-up to the D-day, the mission scientists will do course (trajectory) correction on September 22.
“The course correction has been postponed to September 22 from Sunday (September 14) to conserve the precious liquid fuel weighing (852 kg) and ensure the orbital insertion takes place when the spacecraft is closer to Mars for smooth transition from the sun’s orbit,” Mr. Rao said.
“The liquid apogee motor (LAM) or fuel engine at the bottom of the spacecraft will be fired on September 22 for four seconds to enter the Martian sphere of influence and the course correction will consume about 500gm of fuel,” Mr. Rao said.
The speed of the spacecraft will also be reduced to 2.14 metre per second from 22.2 km per second for enabling smooth transition into the Martian orbit from the sun’s orbit Sep 24.Must be a typo - maybe they meant the 2.14 m/s delta-v?
At 6.56 a.m., the spacecraft will be rotated towards Mars and five minutes later when sunlight is not falling on the Martian surface causing eclipse, the thrusters beneath the engine will give the Orbiter altitude control.
“The liquid engine will start firing at 7.17 a.m. and at 7.21 a.m., Mars occult begins. A minute later at 7.22 a.m., telemetry (radio signals) will be off or out of receiving radars on the earth,” Mr. Rao pointed out.
Scientists at the space agency’s deep space network at Byalalu, about 40 km from Bangalore, NASA’s Earth station at Goldstone on the U.S. west coast, the ESA’s Earth station at Madrid will confirm the insertion into the Martian orbit 24 minutes later at 7.54 a.m.
The spacecraft, with five scientific instruments, will be placed in an elliptical orbit, with the nearest distance from the Martian surface being 423 km and the furthest 80,000 km, to rotate around it in a duration equivalent to 3.2 earth days.
According to the press briefing, the delta-V is 1098.7 m/s.
As per the propulsion diagram ( Page:8 ) in the press briefing document, both the LAM and the attitude thrusters use the same propellant and oxidizer.
How come there is so much concern about the restarting and operation performance of LAM, but no apparent concerns on the thrusters operation?
How come there is so much concern about the restarting and operation performance of LAM, but no apparent concerns on the thrusters operation?My guess: The smaller thrusters are designed to operate for many years, and have done so on previous missions. They have also been used for the TCMs during the flight. The LAM was originally designed for a few firings immediately after launch, and doesn't have the same kind of record for long term use.
How come there is so much concern about the restarting and operation performance of LAM, but no apparent concerns on the thrusters operation?My guess: The smaller thrusters are designed to operate for many years, and have done so on previous missions. They have also been used for the TCMs during the flight. The LAM was originally designed for a few firings immediately after launch, and doesn't have the same kind of record for long term use.
That said, the fact ISRO decided to do a test firing so late in the process might indicate some more specific concerns were identified post launch. If it were a NASA mission, I would expect a test like this to be planned out before launch, unless it was driven by issues identified later. That logic might not apply to MOM though, given that it's ISRO's first deep space mission and was developed on such a tight schedule.
BANGALORE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed interest in witnessing the entry of Mars Orbiter Mission into the red planet around 7.30 am on September 24.
Modi would arrive in Karnataka on September 23 on his maiden visit, after taking over the country’s top job.
The Prime Minister is likely to visit ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) near Peenya here to witness the historic event and congratulate the ISRO team. The BJP state leadership has planned a grand reception for Modi on his arrival at the HAL airport in the evening. Former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashok and others inspected the airport on Tuesday to select a suitable spot for erecting a shamiana for the purpose.
BJP state president Prahlad Joshi, Union Minister H N Ananth Kumar and others would felicitate Modi, Subbanna of the BJP Bangalore city unit told Express.
Modi would stay at Raj Bhavan for the night and leave for Tumkur the next morning. He is keen on visiting ISTRAC before leaving for Tumkur.
With the NASA aiming to set up an office in Bengaluru, details of this collaboration would be finalized during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States later this month. The joint effort could help identify factors that played a role in changing the Martian climate over the years as both MAVEN (Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution) of NASA, scheduled to enter its orbit on September 22, and the Indian orbiter to Mars (D-day being September 24) have instruments to study the atmosphere of the Red Planet, sources said.
One possibility would be MAVEN and the Mars orbiter circling the Red Planet together, just as Nasa’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spun around the Moon along with Chandrayaan-I while scouting for water ice on lunar surface days before the Indian probe was lost in outer space. These probes would complement details picked up from the Martian surface by “Curiosity” which has been exploring the Red Planet since August 2012. They would also record the effect of comet Siding Spring on Mars in October 2014.
Sources said the two organisations would also explore the possibility of collaborating to launch probes to Mars in 2016, 2018 or 2020 when the Red Planet would be closer to Earth.
NASA’s ground stations have tracked the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) soon after its launch and would continue to monitor it during the crucial operations on September 22 and 24. Ending years of distrust and denial of technology, NASA had recently agreed to collaborate with ISRO for manufacturing an all-weather satellite to support disaster management and understand climate change.
I think it's more of them needing a TCM anyway (remember that a planned TCM was deemed unnecessary a few months ago) and deciding to use it as a test firing of LAM.This is possible, but the first reports of the test make it sound like an additional TCM would be needed to clean up the effects: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29440.msg1251519#msg1251519
It is too late for them to plan and execute a contingency in case of LAM failure, MOI cannot be achieved by the thrusters alone.If this were true, why test the LAM at all? The extra firing would just add more risk.
Koteswara Rao said that if the liquid apogee motor fails, Plan B will be implemented: using only the spacecraft’s eight 22-Newton thrusters. He acknowledged that this will definitely not be a satisfactory scenario because it will result in the consumption of all the spacecraft’s fuel. What is worse, the orbit will not be a good one for science.
Indian PM interested in witnessing Mars Orbital Insertion:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/Modi-Keen-on-Witnessing-Mars-Moment/2014/09/17/article2434963.ece
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/science/how-mangalyaan-is-helping-isro-attract-more-and-better-talent/articleshow/42749182.cms
... why did they include something like a Mars Colour Camera, instead of an experimental ion engine (in addition to the LAM)?Tech demonstration mission has to demonstrate they can use, power and operate scientific instruments successfully, get data and process them.
MOM approached Mars parallel to equator unlike MAVEN which approached over North pole. The reason for these two approaches is that the final orbits of MAVEN and MOM are inclined @ 75 deg and @ 19 deg respectively. This is evident from the ' cross roads ' seen between MOM and MAVEN release in the combination diagram shown below.
MAVEN however continues to fall for some time, but slowly the retros succeed in reducing its rate of fall and after some time it actually starts decelerating the MAVEN and this prevents its crash on Martian surface
Your team has mixed feelings about Plan B because some believe that it could compromise the profile of the mission.
The implementation of Plan B will result in a new and larger orbit as the eight thrusters will fire for a longer period of time. I will not be disappointed because it is possible some new science may come out of it. Let's just wait and watch. Basically, our mission is to demonstrate that we have the capability to capture the Martian orbit and once this happens on Wednesday we can declare we have been successful. We will be the first Asian nation to have reached Mars in the first shot itself.
On September 14th and 15th we uploaded the commands for the MOI. During the uploading process we verified them and after uploading everything we again went through the reading of all those commands. These are the commands for Plan A of the MOI manoeuvre. The idea is that all the commands are sitting in the spacecraft’s command processor and any major problem in the ground to satellite link will not affect the firing. The commands are time-tagged.
Plan A involves the main thruster engine, the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM), and eight small thrusters (22 N) working together for nearly 24 min. That is the nominal plan. We have also uploaded a possible Plan B if it has to be exercised.
Plan B would be the firing of small thrusters alone for a longer duration. But that would be decided after September 22 if it is essential. On September 22 we are going to have a test firing of the main LAM for nearly 4 sec. LAM was used for the initial six orbit raising (around the earth) operations as well as the Trans-Mars Injection (TMI) manoeuvre on December 1, 2013. After that it has not been used for nearly 10 months. The two Mars Transfer Trajectory (MTT) mid-course corrections that were done on December 11, 2013, and June 11, 2014, were done only with the small thrusters. Small thrusters are working; there is no issue. What we are now looking at is the working of the main engine. [See Fig. 1 for the Mars Orbiter Mission Trajectory so far.]
If you look at the fluid circuit all the flow lines coming from the fuel and oxidizer tanks to the main engine have two sets; each flow line has a second parallel path as well. Normally we have only one circuit. What is involved in the process here is, [after the initial operations] the first set was closed. Now the second set has to be energized. What we have to establish is that without any interruption fluid will pass through the second set of flow lines and reach the main engine. For the thrusters, however, fuel and oxidizer are tapped from a different point in the circuit and these flow lines were never closed and were always working as the thrusters were required for MTT corrections. Since we know from the corrections done that these Attitude and Orbit Correction (AOC) thrusters are working, these will always be available.
As for Plan A two things have to happen for the firing to take place. The solenoid coil igniter (there is a redundant second coil as well) above the main engine has to work and the flow lines have to be clear for the fuel and oxidizer to reach the engine simultaneously. Otherwise everything will be stuck.
Now there is some pressure in both the fuel and oxidizer tanks. We have seen on the ground that with this amount of pressure the entire operation works. Before the launch of the orbiter itself in 2013 we had the live test of an identical LAM engine. This LAM engine is the same as that we have been using for our Geostationary Orbit missions and this was also used in the Chandrayaan-1 mission after a gap. Now also we have seen that on the ground the engine operates after a long gap. Hardware identical to what is in the orbiter has been tested after a year-long gap. So, on the ground we have live tested for the restart of the engine after a long gap. This was actually completed last month.
Secondly we have also simulated the D-day firing with the propulsion parameters on that day – the tank ullage volume, the pressure, the temperature etc. – for nearly 2000 sec, which is more than the 1500 sec or so required for actual firing, and we have seen how it works. So that guarantee is also there. This was also done last month.
If there is a problem even then, these thrusters will be fired for a longer duration of 90 min. But the middle point of the firing arc will remain the same; only that we have to start early. But we will not get the same performance with Plan B. It will not be the same planned orbit.
The basic issue is you have to see that the pressure in the tanks is sufficient for the entire operation; it should not fall below a critical value of 11-12 bar. [1 bar is about one atmosphere pressure.] If it goes below this level you will not get the required performance. Right now the pressurization system above the propellant tanks – the pressurant tank (with very high pressure) and the two pressure regulators – have been isolated which normally come into the pictures only if the pressure falls below 11 bar. It was a conscious thought out decision to shut the system out and we find that there is no need for them as the pressure now in the tanks is being is at the optimum level of 16.5 bar. And we have tested on the ground the fuel-oxidizer flow performance in the ‘blow down’ mode [where the pressure is allowed to drop gradually from 16 bar] and we have seen that the pressure does not fall below the critical level even after the full firing of about 2000 sec as against 1500 sec during the actual firing. So if the flow takes place there is no issue. But if required at any point the pressurization system can be activated.
Now when the spacecraft will arrive in the vicinity of Mars, we have been talking about a distance of 500 km plus or minus something like 60 km. If we see the way it is going now the distance will be about 720 km. Our daily calculations also indicate that the trajectory is stable…
How did this gap of 200-odd kilometers arise? I thought you were maintaining the error margin of 50 km all through and that is why the planned April correction could wait to be carried out instead in June.
At TMI we took one route that should take us to about 500 km from Mars. To achieve this only we make those minor trajectory corrections. In the original plan we had provided for four corrections. The first was December 11, 2013; the second one was scheduled for April, the third in August and the fourth in September. We did not do the correction in April because it was felt that the spacecraft trajectory was steady and did not need any correction then. We then did the second correction on June 11. The question then was whether we required one in August. We found that there was no need for it because, without the August correction, the trajectory was going to be about only 700 km away from Mars.
[An altitude of] 700 km is a good number because as long as you don't come too close to about 200 km or it goes farther to about 1100 km so that it escapes Mars altogether, we are safe actually. So we didn't want to tinker unless it was essential and in any case September 14 option was available. And if we had done that we would have fired the small thrusters and that correction would have already brought the orbiter to about 500 km. But we did not do the September correction and instead what we have decided to do is to restart the LAM on September 22 when the orbiter will enter the sphere of influence of Mars. This firing, which will last only for about 4 sec, will impart some correction to the trajectory enough to bring the trajectory approximately to 500 km. So instead of firing small thrusters for a longer duration, and earlier, we will be doing it with the main engine on the 22nd for 4 sec.
Why four seconds? There are two considerations. There is a minimum time of firing necessary and four seconds are good enough to get at least 3 or 4 good points to know that the fluid flow is proper and also to measure the acceleration imparted correctly. So we will measure once in 520 milliseconds. The velocity change imparted will be about 2.14 m/s.
The second aspect is the correction from 720 km to about 550 km. The question is when you can do this. If you do it too early, it will give you a different number. And if you do it too close – you can do the previous day too – the problem is your ability or the time required to get into Plan B would be touch and go. That is why we have chosen to do this [test firing] 41 hrs before the actual MOI [that is, at 1430 hrs on the 22nd].
In that time frame [of 41 hrs] we are fully within the IDSN [Indian Deep Space Network] visibility. Actually it will be in the IDSN visibility range for about seven hours from then and so there is sufficient window to do the operation on that day. There is no issue there. As I mentioned, when we fire the LAM, there are two coils in the solenoid [igniter]. First we will try firing the solenoid Coil 1. If Coil 1 works and we get a good indication of the acceleration, then we are through. If it does not work we will fire Coil 2 after a gap of 1 hr. All these operations will be tested on the 22nd. If both the coils do not work, then we don't depend on LAM.
As I said before, the centre point of the firing arc is important for the orbit. If we are going to use Plan B we have fire for more time and so we have to start the process early but the mid point will remain the same. If everything goes well as per Plan A, the nominal orbit [Fig. 2] will have an apoapsis of 80,000 km, a periapsis of 423 km and an orbital period of about 3.2 Earth days [or 76.8 hrs]. If Plan B has to be used, the apoapsis will come to about 0.27 million km. But we have to ensure that the periapsis does not come closer and so we will have to make some small corrections to the orbit.
When we speak of velocity of the spacecraft it has to be with respect one of the three celestial objects involved in the mission: the Earth, the Sun and Mars. We don’t talk about the Earth any more. With respect to the Sun, it is 22.57 km/s [81,252 km/hr]. With respect to Mars, when the burn starts the orbiter is speeding at 5.127 km/s at an altitude of 1847 km from Mars. When the burn ends after 24 min, its velocity will be 4.316 km/s and the altitude will be 973 km. During the burn the lowest altitude that the spacecraft will reach is 462 km. This reduction will not be the same as the negative velocity of 1.1 km/s that is imparted because as it moves the velocity increases because of Mars’s influence and the geometry of the trajectory.
Before we start operations on September 24th, the orientation of the spacecraft has to be changed so that its thrust vector is in the appropriate direction to bring down its velocity. This condition has to be achieved for starting the LAM firing. The time given for the reorienting the spacecraft (rotating and changing the direction) and convergence is 21 min. So the reorientation begins at T-21 min. [Fig. 3]
When we get into this changed orientation, two things happen: one, there is an eclipse (of the Sun) [This occurs at T-5 min 13 sec; See MOI timeline]. Because of the eclipse there will be no power generation and so the batteries should have sufficient power to keep the operations going. Second, there will be an occultation taking place between the Earth and the spacecraft during the firing period [This occurs post-firing at T+4.3 min]. So there is no communication after about 4 mins of the start of LAM firing; there will be no signal coming to us in real time for about 20 mins. The thruster firing is only 1 or 0. So you will know whether firing has taken place or not and the required acceleration has to follow. Only that you will not be getting the signal. Once the braking velocity of 1098 m/s is achieved the accelerometer automatically terminates the firing. Then it is just physics and the orbiter should be in the correct orbit.
At the end also, we will start receiving the signal after the firing has just completed because the spacecraft has to be reoriented back. The reverse rotation takes about 10 min as compared to 21 mins for forward rotation. Once this happens we will begin to get the signal and power generation will also be okay. After that we have to get some 5-6 good points to measure the periapsis and the apoapsis so that we get the exact orbit achieved.
The TCM-2 [Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre] that we did in June was virtually a similar operation for our purpose. There was a telemetry cut off when the spacecraft was reoriented.
Now if you are not able to achieve the velocity reduction at that time it will follow the escape trajectory [Fig. 3] and will be lost. You cannot do anything about it.
The most crucial firing for ISRO’s orbiter in my opinion was the TMI. Because that trajectory, that arc, decides the direction in which we are going. If we had taken a longer duration also it would have been a difficult situation. That we managed successfully. Here now the system has to work. That is the basic issue. And our projections of distance etc. show that they are steady. That is a good indication and we have done the necessary simulations and whatever commands that we have uploaded have also been tested on the ground with similar systems.
For Plan A there is no issue. For Plan B we will be just on the brink because it has to work for a longer duration. The effective amount of fuel available now is about 285 kg and out of that we will be using about 250 kg for Plan A. But if Plan B has to be used we will come to about 281 kg. After that we only require for periapsis corrections. And at least 3 kg of effective will be left, which is sufficient for periapsis corrections. Otherwise what can happen is that after one orbit it may come very close to the Mars surface and it can get lost. So we need that amount for orbit corrections.
We have tested it. When the spacecraft was in the earth orbit, all the instruments were tested and some measurements were also made to see how they perform. And sometime in April-May-June, we went through all the instruments once again. Instruments are in good health.
As far as power is concerned, since power has to be provided by the battery, we have ensured that power is sufficient. So systems that are not required to be used at that time will not be powered. But thermal control systems have to be on power. Second aspect of the operation would be to test all those systems beforehand which are called upon during the MOI. There should not be any surprise. This is a basic principle which we have been following. All the autonomy provisions except the failsafe mode in case of major failure have been exercised and we have actually authorized the satellite for the autonomous operation of this process. So it will select systems like the appropriate processor, the appropriate gyro etc. The other thing is there should not be any man-made error during the entire operation.
Actually thermal control is not a very big issue like in the case of Chandrayaan-1 [orbital period of about 11 hrs]. But we still require thermal control for all the instruments. There are actually about 120 parameters in all to be tested and what we have seen from the analysis is that the predicted values and actual measurements match well. See we had 300 days for all this. That is the advantage.
MAVEN has not used any of its on-board fuel so far…
They have basically gone for a very different route. They have not gone straight as ISRO’s Mars Orbiter has done. They have gone up and coming back because their aim is to hit 150 km periapsis. There is a circuitous way of achieving that actually. They reached there anyway using their launch vehicle. Their apoapsis is around 6250 km and periapsis is nearly 150 km. Because of this low periapsis of 150 km they are going very cautiously. Trajectory corrections do not require much fuel anyway, only a few grams or so.
As of now I should say in the entire mission from November 5 to date we have had only a couple of small issues. One was during the orbit-raising operations. One we had to abort. The second issue was related to about half an hour telemetry loss during the entire mission. This happened we were switching over from one telemetry system to another. We have three antennas -- low-gain antenna, high-gain antenna and medium-gain antenna – and this happened at the time of switching over from one to another. Otherwise we did not have any issue as far as the entire system is concerned.
If Plan A works we feel that a lifetime of six months should be possible. Because what we require are minor corrections to the orbit. A periapsis of 423 km gives us enough margin. We should only not hit something like 150 km or so. Otherwise it is okay. If it is Plan B we have to see how much less it would be. Only when corrections are required we have to be careful. Even if we have only one propellant, either the oxidizer or the fuel, it may not result in combustion but that itself will produce minor thrust. A gas outage also has an impact. So we can use it. These are all the bonuses that we have.
Yes, but that is a different story.
Source (http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/mars-orbiter-mission-is-on-stable-trajectory-isro-chief/article6431827.ece)
Source (http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/mars-orbiter-mission-is-on-stable-trajectory-isro-chief/article6431827.ece)
Thanks for the link. I guess this is one of the most detailed interviews on mission profile.
With just two more days to go for the Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI), the Mars orbiter had a perfect fourth trajectory correction manouevre and test burn for four seconds as programmed, ISRO said at 2.46 pm on Monday (September 22). The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will now go ahead with the nominal plan for Mars Orbit Insertion.
Prior to the test burn, the propellant lines were enabled for the Mars Orbit Insertion. These exclusive lines create a fresh path for propellants to reach the Main Liquid Engine.
Now that the spacecraft has entered the Mars’ influence, its velocity has to be controlled so that it does not escape the Mars’ influence, an official said, adding, the spacecraft is scheduled to enter the Mars Orbit Insertion at 7.30 a.m. IST on September 24.
Cruising towards its historic rendezvous with the Red Planet, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on Monday entered Mars’ gravitational Sphere of Influence ahead of its scheduled Orbit Insertion on September 24.
“Our navigators’ calculations show that MOM has entered the gravitational Sphere of Influence of Mars,” ISRO said on its social networking site, adding, the spacecraft was within 5.4 lakh km radius of the Mars’ gravitational Sphere of Influence.
Ex-ISRO Chiefs Prof Rao and Dr Kasturirangan with ISRO Chief Dr Radhakrishnan watch LAM test-firing
ops
Is there going to be a live webcast of MOI?
What is the URL of the telecast?Is there going to be a live webcast of MOI?
Live telecast will start from Sep 24th 6:45 AM IST, on Doordarshan National TV and ISRO website.
Mission timeline: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29440.msg1261060#msg1261060
What is the URL of the telecast?Is there going to be a live webcast of MOI?
Live telecast will start from Sep 24th 6:45 AM IST, on Doordarshan National TV and ISRO website.
Mission timeline: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29440.msg1261060#msg1261060
What is the URL of the telecast?Is there going to be a live webcast of MOI?
Live telecast will start from Sep 24th 6:45 AM IST, on Doordarshan National TV and ISRO website.
Mission timeline: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29440.msg1261060#msg1261060
ISRO webcast:
http://webcast.isro.gov.in (alternate links available in the same page)
DD National live YouTube link is not available yet. I guess it will be up by tomorrow morning:
http://webcast.gov.in/live/
https://youtube.com/user/DoordarshanNational
>Live telecast will start from Sep 24th 6:45 AM IST<
Apparently just gone past 5am on that timezone, for those wondering how to work it out.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is present in Bangalore to witness the historic event. So is Union Minister (addendum: of Science and Technlolgy) Jitendra Singh.
Remember, only embed if it's less than the page width, or we'll have to delete due to format. Attach as a priority.
That's cool AJA. Maybe we can get the webmasters to make that default! Good morning to you by the way ;)
Indian TV is fascinating. Switches back and forth with English, in the same adverts.
Good morning! But do you even know when you last slept? :D
Forward Rotation must have begun,it is required to align the direction of firing for effective braking. Confirmation reaches after 12.5 mins
"#MarsOrbiter start of forward rotation is confirmed."
Applause in the control room...
Confirmation of having entered Eclipse, and completed slewing?
"#MarsOrbiter is now in the shadow of Mars."
LAM schematic.
#MarsOrbiter Burn must have started. All engines must have started firing by now. Skip a few heartbeats and stand by for confirmation.
This blog:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/live-blog-isro-to-fire-mangalyaan-into-mars-orbit-in-a-few-hours-from-now/501385-3.html (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/live-blog-isro-to-fire-mangalyaan-into-mars-orbit-in-a-few-hours-from-now/501385-3.html)
states : Mars Mission - All engines have started burning. It has been flawless. Will burn out the fuel in 24 minutes and gets into Mars orbit.
Confirmation of occulation should be received by now, but no mention by ISRO. Showing a video instead!
All engines of the #MarsOrbiter are going strong. Burn start confirmed.
No one'll bother to translate "orbit insertion", or "Apogee motor"
Burn end? The firing must have been completed by now & MOM must be turning towards Earth to resume communication.
There's a lot of congratulations going on!
No peanuts from JPL?
"India is the only country to have succeeded in its very first attempt."
What I find most impresive of the PM's speech so far is the fact that he doesn't seem to be using a tele-prompter, and yet he seems extremely articulate and knowledgable. It's been a long time that I recall a PM or President who is that quick & knowledgable of the subject at hand.
Hogged it all.. Lets the 'real' people behind this come forward mate..
Final orbital velocity only deviated 0.3m/s from the planned target. Very precise!
Jealous of @MarsOrbiter? @MarsCuriosity is returning massive amounts of data right now http://www.midnightplanets.com/ (http://www.midnightplanets.com/)
I’ll be back after breakfast. Good ol’ sunlight. It’s good for your battery.
I’ll be back after breakfast. Good ol’ sunlight. It’s good for your battery.
PM signing something.
End of broadcast.
Quote"India is the only country to have succeeded in its very first attempt."
Maybe the first "single-country" to succeed in first attempt. Since ESA already made it in first attempt with Mars Express. ;)
What about Beagle 2?Beagle 2 was not an orbiter, but a lander carried with Mars Express, which did get into orbit successfully.
What about Beagle 2?
What about Beagle 2?Beagle 2 was not an orbiter, but a lander carried with Mars Express, which did get into orbit successfully.
https://twitter.com/MarsOrbiter/status/514618412417302528
Speaking of MOM's history....can someone explain how on Earth it could be launched 15 months after receiving the government's green light? I guess the individual parts of the spacecraft and its instruments were funded separately before as "R&D effort" projects? Or ISRO et al. simply can work on it without waiting for the snail pace Indian bureaucracy to approve it?
When did MOM started to become one project? ::)
"The periapsis achieved was 427 km and the apoapsis was 78,500 km. The final values will be obtained after several hours," said Mission Director, MOM, V. Kesava Raju.
Speaking of MOM's history....can someone explain how on Earth it could be launched 15 months after receiving the government's green light? I guess the individual parts of the spacecraft and its instruments were funded separately before as "R&D effort" projects? Or ISRO et al. simply can work on it without waiting for the snail pace Indian bureaucracy to approve it?
When did MOM started to become one project? ::)
I'd love it if people stopped talking about who went first. We had the advantage of learning from past missions. The ISRO chairman said as much in an interview, but it gets glossed over.
Speaking of MOM's history....can someone explain how on Earth it could be launched 15 months after receiving the government's green light? I guess the individual parts of the spacecraft and its instruments were funded separately before as "R&D effort" projects? Or ISRO et al. simply can work on it without waiting for the snail pace Indian bureaucracy to approve it?
When did MOM started to become one project? ::)
Three years ago, V Adimurthy wrote a feasibility report, the first ever, on a mission to Mars. Today, when India's Mars orbiter Mangalyaan successfully entered the red planet's orbit, he said, "It is a dream come true."
Even though the official approval for India’s mission has come just this month, the budgetary provisions were already included in the Union Budget of 2011–2012 and mission preparations had begun. Nonetheless, with the mission’s launch planned for November 2013, there is very little time left for completing all the arrangements. This is going to be a real challenge for ISRO, but it has very little option in this regard: if they miss the November 2013 window then the next chance available would be only around the year 2016 or 2018.
Various scientific payloads have been shortlisted by ISRO's Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS) review committee. Also, the baseline solar array and reflector configuration of the satellite has been finalized. Various details about the exact nature of scientific payloads are yet to be announced, though. Also, it is not known whether the entire scientific payload would be from India or ISRO is making the platform available for other countries to send their payloads, as was done during the Moon mission.
Mangalyaan, India's 2013 Mars mission, is now under construction
This is a great achievement, I can't resisting pointing out the negativity when this was first announced, 26 months ago, at the start of the thread.
(snip)
So it is great to see the Indians confounding it by being on time (yes 2013 was a launch window), on budget and, despite the alleged political smoke screen as a motivation, have delivered a scientific payload to Mars orbit on the first attempt.
@RonBaalke at the NASA JPL Mars control room, observing the Doppler shifts (https://twitter.com/RonBaalke/status/514591500621971456/photo/1)It looks like NASA was devoting quite a bit of DSN time to this mission. (2 70-m antennas and 2 34 meter antenna). USA domestic science projects have to pay for this (something like $5k/hour for a big dish and $1250/hr for a small one), plus there is always competition for the limited antenna time.
@MAVEN2Mars tweeted (https://twitter.com/MAVEN2Mars/status/514592305135620096/photo/1)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByQy-V2IAAAZqvZ.png)
May be he considers Mars 96 the first ESA mission. It was presented as such in that time.Quote"India is the only country to have succeeded in its very first attempt."
Maybe the first "single-country" to succeed in first attempt. Since ESA already made it in first attempt with Mars Express. ;)
Just heard @ibnlive that #MarsOrbiter has sent five pictures back to Earth. Will look for them as soon as I am done with TV interview!
Just heard @NDTV where Prof U R Rao said Mangalyaan saved precious fuel due to precise navigation and Insertion and It is now left with around 40 Kg of fuel, if that is the case it looks that Mars Orbiter Mission may have longer life than six months. I distinctly remember one of the article in Times of India, a year back, Scientific secretary V Koteswara Rao mentioned that it needs only about 20 kg of fuel to survive for six months, which has been set as its lifespan there.
Ok found the old source (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mars-Orbiter-Mission-may-have-longer-life/articleshow/26491457.cms)
The Spacecraft is now circling Mars in an orbit whose nearest point to Mars (periapsis) is at 421.7 km and farthest point (apoapsis) at 76,993.6 km. The inclination of orbit with respect to the equatorial plane of Mars is 150 degree, as intended. In this orbit, the spacecraft takes 72 hours 51 minutes 51 seconds to go round the Mars once.
This is a great achievement, I can't resisting pointing out the negativity when this was first announced, 26 months ago, at the start of the thread.
(snip)
So it is great to see the Indians confounding it by being on time (yes 2013 was a launch window), on budget and, despite the alleged political smoke screen as a motivation, have delivered a scientific payload to Mars orbit on the first attempt.
To be fair, at that time no-one really knows that the project was already undergoing since 2010, and the "final authorization" to build the spacecraft muddles the water even more.
For international projects like this, does NASA "donate" the time in a spirit of encouraging more space science? Or do the projects need to rent time just like anyone else?
For international projects like this, does NASA "donate" the time in a spirit of encouraging more space science? Or do the projects need to rent time just like anyone else?
My suspicion--I don't have any hard data on this--that NASA has some kind of agreement with ISRO that they will provide DSN time in return for access to data eventually. But it could also be a goodwill gesture to foster future ties. The cost probably comes out of a DSN discretionary budget.
An interesting question is if the MOM data will go into NASA's Planetary Data System database, which would be to everybody's benefit, including ISRO's. Of course, that might only happen after an embargo date so that Indian scientists get first crack at the data.
NASA actually provided substantial help to ISRO on thermal heating issues for their lunar orbiter, and I have heard that NASA also provided behind the scenes support on MOM as well (although when I asked the MAVEN PI if he had been in touch with them he said that he tried but nobody responded).
Given the basic DSN rates and overheads (for which you can find a spreadsheet on http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/advmiss/index.html , labelled "Aperture Fee Tool"), and an expected mission duration of a year and a half or so, it would seem they are paying roughly the usual rates.For international projects like this, does NASA "donate" the time in a spirit of encouraging more space science? Or do the projects need to rent time just like anyone else?
My suspicion--I don't have any hard data on this--that NASA has some kind of agreement with ISRO that they will provide DSN time in return for access to data eventually. But it could also be a goodwill gesture to foster future ties. The cost probably comes out of a DSN discretionary budget.
[...]
ISRO is paying 70 Crore rupees for DSN access, it's equivalent to $11.49 Million.
An very passionate post on MOM's success by Emily @planetary.org
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/09240910-reflecting-on-the-success-of-mom.html (http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/09240910-reflecting-on-the-success-of-mom.html)
Quite some reflections on the "first country" arguments and how that should indeed be irrelevant in the larger context of ISRO's achievement. Found it quite moving. :)
Given the basic DSN rates and overheads (for which you can find a spreadsheet on http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/advmiss/index.html , labelled "Aperture Fee Tool"), and an expected mission duration of a year and a half or so, it would seem they are paying roughly the usual rates.For international projects like this, does NASA "donate" the time in a spirit of encouraging more space science? Or do the projects need to rent time just like anyone else?
My suspicion--I don't have any hard data on this--that NASA has some kind of agreement with ISRO that they will provide DSN time in return for access to data eventually. But it could also be a goodwill gesture to foster future ties. The cost probably comes out of a DSN discretionary budget.
[...]
MOM's primary mission is six months. For non critical events they can probably use their own tracking stations. So I don't think they are getting a discount. If the mission is extended no doubt they will pay more.
ISRO is paying 70 Crore rupees for DSN access, it's equivalent to $11.49 Million.
The colour camera, on board India’s spacecraft to Mars, has beamed back about 10 pictures of the Red Planet’s surface which show some craters.
The other instruments will become operational one by one in the next few days.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials said the pictures were of “good quality.” They will be presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday before being released to the press, the officials said.
Orbiter sends back first picturesQuoteIndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials said the pictures were of good quality. They will be presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday before being released to the press, the officials said.
So, Big Boss gets to see it first. ;)
Given the basic DSN rates and overheads (for which you can find a spreadsheet on http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/advmiss/index.html , labelled "Aperture Fee Tool"), and an expected mission duration of a year and a half or so, it would seem they are paying roughly the usual rates.For international projects like this, does NASA "donate" the time in a spirit of encouraging more space science? Or do the projects need to rent time just like anyone else?
My suspicion--I don't have any hard data on this--that NASA has some kind of agreement with ISRO that they will provide DSN time in return for access to data eventually. But it could also be a goodwill gesture to foster future ties. The cost probably comes out of a DSN discretionary budget.
[...]
ISRO is paying 70 Crore rupees for DSN access, it's equivalent to $11.49 Million.
Given the basic DSN rates and overheads (for which you can find a spreadsheet on http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/advmiss/index.html , labelled "Aperture Fee Tool"), and an expected mission duration of a year and a half or so, it would seem they are paying roughly the usual rates.For international projects like this, does NASA "donate" the time in a spirit of encouraging more space science? Or do the projects need to rent time just like anyone else?
My suspicion--I don't have any hard data on this--that NASA has some kind of agreement with ISRO that they will provide DSN time in return for access to data eventually. But it could also be a goodwill gesture to foster future ties. The cost probably comes out of a DSN discretionary budget.
[...]
ISRO is paying 70 Crore rupees for DSN access, it's equivalent to $11.49 Million.
Is this included in the often mentioned $73 million cost of the mission? What about the launch vehicle? That seems incredibly cheap even with much lower labor costs, etc.
All through its journey MOM has controlled its temperature and cruised in the direction of Mars with very little prodding from Earth. While speeding at more than 82,000kmph, it never lost direction, thanks to the star-gazing equipment on board.
"It's not like driving on a highway, you know," says Alex. "In space, everything around you looks the same." To stay on course, MOM used the star-gazer to look at constellations of six to 10 stars every microsecond and compare them with preloaded patterns. "Distant stars are relatively stationary," he says. MOM continuously matched the patterns and, in relation to the constellations, determined its position and direction. That's autonomy.
Is this included in the often mentioned $73 million cost of the mission? What about the launch vehicle? That seems incredibly cheap even with much lower labor costs, etc.
“Arunan left for his office on Tuesday at 6 am and came back by 11 pm. He then slept intermittently for one-and-a-half hours and by 2 am (Wednesday) he had already left.
Insiders say when Isro suggested the idea of launching a Mars mission at Rs450 crore, some foreign scientists smirked. Today, some of them have offered Arunan jobs that he is not keen on. Arunan and his team of 200 scientists virtually lived at mission control in Bangalore for 300 days. "He would come home well past midnight and leave before dawn. I wondered if he was sleepwalking," says Arunan's wife Geetha
How did he fight stress? "Watching Bond movies, of course," laughs Arunan.
ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission captures its first image of Mars.
Taken from a height of 7300 km; with 376 m spatial resolution.
First picture is here :)
https://twitter.com/MarsOrbiter
First picture is here :)
https://twitter.com/MarsOrbiter
First picture is here :)
Some info[/url] on this picture:QuoteISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission captures its first image of Mars.
Taken from a height of 7.3 km; with 376 m spatial resolution.
First picture is here :)
https://twitter.com/MarsOrbiter
Edit:
Some info (https://www.facebook.com/ISRO/photos/a.1448404935382864.1073741828.1448364408720250/1556527811237242/?type=1) on this picture:QuoteISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission captures its first image of Mars.
Taken from a height of 7.3 km; with 376 m spatial resolution.
First picture is here :)
Some info[/url] on this picture:QuoteISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission captures its first image of Mars.
Taken from a height of 7.3 km; with 376 m spatial resolution.
7.3 km?? :P wth? zooming?
First picture is here :)
Some info[/url] on this picture:QuoteISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission captures its first image of Mars.
Taken from a height of 7.3 km; with 376 m spatial resolution.
7.3 km?? :P wth? zooming?
They corrected now. It's 7300 km ;D
Syrtis Major was the first documented surface feature of another planet. It was discovered by Christiaan Huygens, who included it in a drawing of Mars in 1659. He used repeated observations of the feature to estimate the length of day on Mars.
Some info (https://www.facebook.com/ISRO/photos/a.1448404935382864.1073741828.1448364408720250/1556527811237242/?type=1) on this picture:QuoteISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission captures its first image of Mars.
Taken from a height of 7300 km; with 376 m spatial resolution.
Wowww... Thanks.. The lower right corner gives me the impression that this has been taken at the periapsis at very high speed. Doesn't the camera have something like an image stabilization?
So, Big Boss gets to see it first. ;)
Ok. And I assume ISRO may not be planning to reduce the periapsis any further. I was wondering if they planned something of that sort since their original plan was to achieve a periapsis of 370km as against the 427 km that apparently became their new plan.
Wowww... Thanks.. The lower right corner gives me the impression that this has been taken at the periapsis at very high speed. Doesn't the camera have something like an image stabilization?
Nah.. motion blur would be uniform. For ALL Mars features. Those streaks are a feature of Syrtis Major.
Why do we have only this bit? Anyone know what the camera's usable Angle-of-View is (corresponding to full sensor area)? Anything >= 50 degrees x 50 degrees would've allowed imagery of the whole disk...It's much smaller, resolution at periapsis is stated as ~25m/pixel (http://www.spaceflight101.com/mars-orbiter-mission.html) The sensor is 2k square.
http://www.thenewsminute.com/lives/311
Wowww... Thanks.. The lower right corner gives me the impression that this has been taken at the periapsis at very high speed. Doesn't the camera have something like an image stabilization?
Nah.. motion blur would be uniform. For ALL Mars features. Those streaks are a feature of Syrtis Major.
http://www.thenewsminute.com/lives/311
To the world space community: Can we PLEASE start work on sample return already? Not a(nother) study, but cutting metal. Please (http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120920225730/victorious/images/f/f7/Please_puppy_eyes.jpg)?
The 2020 rover is supposed to be the first step towards MSR
I found this image on the net showing feature of Syrtis major that you mentioned that is also present in MOM's image
I found this image on the net showing feature of Syrtis major that you mentioned that is also present in MOM's image
Was about to jump with joy thinking it is second image from MOM.. Darn... Feeling like a 5 yr old kid waiting for toy promised by mom (pun intended).. :P
..image...
MOMs first picture of Mars - I was just trying to find the location on Mars, (MOMs picture in upside-down mode).
please see the attached jpg..
Which brings me to the question - what were the factors that limited the payload mass in MOM to 15kg? Considering that we used a standard I-1K satellite bus, was the bus a bit over-weight for the job? Or maybe it was the greater number of redundant systems that ISRO had to build into the spacecraft to ensure success?
..image...
Please, could you attach images instead of embedding them? It happens a lot in this thread, and it breaks page layout :'(
Also, congratulations to India for this impressive achievement!
As noted above, it's a PR victory as well, next to the scientific and technical feat.
I'm still a bit irked by the comparison regarding MAVEN price though..apples and oranges.
Which brings me to the question - what were the factors that limited the payload mass in MOM to 15kg? Considering that we used a standard I-1K satellite bus, was the bus a bit over-weight for the job? Or maybe it was the greater number of redundant systems that ISRO had to build into the spacecraft to ensure success?
Initial plan was to carry 25 kg of payload, but later non-availability of some of the the instruments on schedule led to reduction of total payload to 15 kg. So some space remained unutilized on MOM.
http://www.thenewsminute.com/lives/311
Yeah, but they'll demand 900 crores to go to Mars. Why? Because they won't get a return fare (https://www.facebook.com/salabhak/posts/853674464642661?comment_id=853677721309002&offset=0&total_comments=71)
To the world space community: Can we PLEASE start work on sample return already? Not a(nother) study, but cutting metal. Please (http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120920225730/victorious/images/f/f7/Please_puppy_eyes.jpg)?
What are the key learnings from this Mission?
One big learning is our ability to calculate Trans Mars Injection (TMI) and our ability to propagate and see what could be the arrival point has been quite successful. Our ability to understand the influence of the Sun and other planets on the spacecraft as it travels through the heliocentric arc. The other one is precious determination of the position using the deep space station that we have.
At Chandrayaan times we had spacecrafts with four lakh kms, but here we are looking at spacecraft which would have reached 227 million kms (on September 24). We have upgraded or deep space stations for MOM and now we are clear and confident about its performance.
In the spacecraft we have built several levels of autonomy. Most of these provisions have been exercised and they are working. These attorney will be useful if we adopt them for future communication and remote sensing satellites.
What is the life of Mangalyaan?
It would be about six months if you look at it, but may also go for a longer period than expected. We have around 40 kgs of propellant in the spacecraft.
The comet, Siding Spring (which was named after the Australian Siding Spring Observatory, which discovered the comet on January 3, 2013) is expected to pass through on October 19. Will it have any impact on MOM?
Radhakrishnan: The Science team will meet tomorrow [26 Sep] to have a view on the details of it.
Kiran Kumar (who replied for this question) We are getting unique opportunity on October 19, when the Siding Spring comet's tail would touch the Mars. Originally it was thought that tail will cover, but as time changed it is expected that the tail will touch the Mars.
When are you planning to set up Joint Mars Working Group with US space agency NASA?
During Prime Minister's visit to the US, you will hear some news. Soon you will see that happen.
@MarsOrbiter
A shot of Martian atmosphere. I'm getting better at it. No pressure.
The 2020 rover is supposed to be the first step towards MSR
Are we soothing ourselves with that now? I know the 2020 rover's caching samples... but come on. There's nothing in the pipeline to go bring them back.
Quote@MarsOrbiter
A shot of Martian atmosphere. I'm getting better at it. No pressure.
Quote@MarsOrbiter
A shot of Martian atmosphere. I'm getting better at it. No pressure.
Altitude of 8449 km according to ISRO FB
It definitely looks like that MCC is not calibrated as it is having ghost or double images. Looks at images captured of Earth during earth bound maneuvers. I hope that MCC has not got impacted during the journey and it is just a calibration issue.
Which brings me to the question - what were the factors that limited the payload mass in MOM to 15kg? Considering that we used a standard I-1K satellite bus, was the bus a bit over-weight for the job? Or maybe it was the greater number of redundant systems that ISRO had to build into the spacecraft to ensure success?
Initial plan was to carry 25 kg of payload, but later non-availability of some of the the instruments on schedule led to reduction of total payload to 15 kg. So some space remained unutilized on MOM.
Thanks antriksh. So I guess PSLV is perfectly capable of sending a greater orbital payload to Mars, and more so if the spacecraft were to follow a more exotic, time-consuming path to Mars like Nozomi did. Maybe not as much as MAVEN, but atleast half as much. (EDIT: for a similar orbit)
A committee headed by former Isro chairman U R Rao will decide what kind of study should be carried out. But MOM will definitely examine if the comet has methane. "We all know there is enough water and methane on comets. So that will be one thing we will look for it
We'll know the exact details only when MOM completes the entire orbit/ellipse. We know the position of the comet on October 19, but we can only determine what we can do based on where our spacecraft is
MOM has 40kg of fuel left as against the 20 kg that was thought necessary for its predicted six-month life span. This indicates that the orbiter may have a longer life than thought. if MOM can weather the solar eclipse expected to occur in the Martian orbit in April-May 2015, and maintain its health and course, its life expectancy will increase by a few weeks, allowing India to probe more
MAVEN reached there before us and has completed the orbit around the Red Planet. I have received mails about what they are going to do, and we know what we should. But MOM has to ascertain its position. It will be known in 2-3 days
But if you would like to contribute, you can write a check to the US Treasury and write "For NASA Mars sample return mission" at the bottom...
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) may accept and utilize monetary gifts, donations, or bequests given as cash, check, or money order, provided they are unsolicited and offered without conditions on their use.
...
These monetary gifts will not be attributed to or associated with any contractual or other legal instruments for performing work or services for the donor or for the donor's interest.
who needs to return samples when we should be sending people?
There are two options. The first is to use the fuel to extend the life of the spacecraft beyond six months to one year or more. The second option is to finetune the orbiter’s trajectory to obtain more data.
The decision on utilisation of fuel will be taken in the next few days with scientists waiting for the orbiter to revolve around Mars at least twice so that there is adequate data to be examined. Each revolution will take 3.2 earth days.
The folks over at UMSF's forum seem to have a fix on the location in the second image (http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=7898&view=findpost&p=213387). Syrtis Major with the first, and Indus Vallis with the second? AppropriatenessScore++
The above website says the second photo is at 20.01N, 31.54E. According to Google, Indus Vallis is at 19.1N, 38.7E.
One more thing to notice is that the Mars images released by ISRO so far are upside-down, any specific reason for that?
One more thing to notice is that the Mars images released by ISRO so far are upside-down, any specific reason for that?
Spacecraft specialists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are getting ready to uplink the commands and switch on two more scientific payloads on India’s spacecraft to Mars on Saturday, according to V. Kesava Raju, Mission Director, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).
The two scientific instruments that will become operational on Saturday are the Methane Sensor for Mars and the Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer.
Data would be segregated, processed and disseminated to the scientific community. ISSDC would publish the data on its website
On Sunday, another instrument, called Lyman Alpha Photometer, aboard the orbiter would be switched on
Spacecraft don't have to obey your prejudiced north-up preconceptions of correct maps! ;)
Spacecraft don't have to obey your prejudiced north-up preconceptions of correct maps! ;)
Playing to the galleries, by making comments like these will earn you lot of clap, and pat yourself at your back all by yourself..
Images are downloaded, studied, processed and then if required then only released to the public... nobody questioning anything about satellite and everybody knows these can be up or down or left or right, these images are not directly posted to the web by the Satellites.
It is the image processed and released by we humans that is being questioned here.. if you still want to proceed with my prejudice about satellites.. then carry on I have no further comments to make.
Spacecraft don't have to obey your prejudiced north-up preconceptions of correct maps! ;)
Playing to the galleries, by making comments like these will earn you lot of clap, and pat yourself at your back all by yourself..
Images are downloaded, studied, processed and then if required then only released to the public... nobody questioning anything about satellite and everybody knows these can be up or down or left or right, these images are not directly posted to the web by the Satellites.
It is the image processed and released by we humans that is being questioned here.. if you still want to proceed with my prejudice about satellites.. then carry on I have no further comments to make.
Woah, woah, I was just making a joke. I'm just pointing out how in space there's really no "up" or "down", and that the whole "the images are upside down" thing is really just a result of the common cultural view of north as "up" on maps. I'm not trying to offend :(
Spacecraft don't have to obey your prejudiced north-up preconceptions of correct maps! ;)
Playing to the galleries, by making comments like these will earn you lot of clap, and pat yourself at your back all by yourself. ...
1) Okay, we get it — India's Mars Orbiter Mission was spectacularly cheap, costing less than the entire budget of the Hollywood movie Gravity. But is this really what we —and India — should be focusing on?
2) No doubt, this is a stunning achievement for India. ...
3) "Our program stands out as the most cost-effective," noted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi back in June. "There is this story of our Mars mission costing less than the Hollywood movie Gravity... Our scientists have shown the world a new paradigm of engineering and the power of imagination."
4) Clearly, India is doing something right, and they deserve to be commended...
5) First, accounting standards are not the same across agencies such as ISRO and, say, [just to pick a USG Agency at random] NASA ...
6) The "cheapness" was forced upon ISRO because of earlier failures. ...
This is just the beginning... "That pay-off is long-term, and it cannot be easily quantified. But it is huge."
On NPR this morning, they suggested that an Indian engineer makes about $1K per month, compared to the US engineer at $10K per month. The fact of the matter is that when an Indian engineers sez "F=ma", it has the same value as when an American engineer sez "F=ma".
On NPR this morning, they suggested that an Indian engineer makes about $1K per month, compared to the US engineer at $10K per month. The fact of the matter is that when an Indian engineers sez "F=ma", it has the same value as when an American engineer sez "F=ma".
A few flaws in your responses, but this one stands out the most (even though there are some qualitative reasonings later).
We can all say F=ma, they even teach us the meaning in schools.
It's how one applies it, the experience to work it effectively, cheaply, and safely, and to bring about the desired (or expected) outcome that really matters.
It's been mentioned that some previous Mars missions have also used methane sensors - does anyone have any links to sensory-data-based maps generated from them?No previous orbiter mission had sensors specifically intended to detect methane. The only claimed detection from a spacecraft was ESA's Mars express PFS. See http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063310002138 (pdf from ESA at ftp://ssols01.esac.esa.int/pub/workshops/09_MEX_VEX_DW_June_2011/PFS/EXTRA_MATERIAL_WORKSHOP/PAPERS_PFS/PAPERS_ON_CH4/Geminale_2011.pdf)
It's been mentioned that some previous Mars missions have also used methane sensors - does anyone have any links to sensory-data-based maps generated from them?No previous orbiter mission had sensors specifically intended to detect methane. The only claimed detection from a spacecraft was ESA's Mars express PFS. See http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063310002138 (pdf from ESA at ftp://ssols01.esac.esa.int/pub/workshops/09_MEX_VEX_DW_June_2011/PFS/EXTRA_MATERIAL_WORKSHOP/PAPERS_PFS/PAPERS_ON_CH4/Geminale_2011.pdf)
There were also some claimed detections from ground based telescopes, you can find references in that paper.
By far the most sensitive methane detector sent to Mars is Curiosity's SAM. The non-detection by SAM casts significant doubt on the previous detections. While the claim has been made that methane is variable in time and location, the expected lifetime and mixing of methane in Mars atmosphere would make it difficult to reconcile the previous reported levels with the SAM results. Of course, planetary science is pretty good at throwing curve balls...
It's worth noting that MOM's methane sensor was manifested before the SAM results.
Ready for Jan 2016? ;)
Rumour has it that there might be more coming about on atmospheric methane and SAM in the near future.IIRC, they have a pre-enrichment technique that wasn't used in the primary mission. That should either finally detect some or push the upper limits down to the sub ppb level. Either would be newsworthy. Or maybe it's finally methane season in Gale ;)
Ready for Jan 2016? ;)
Ready for Jan 2016? ;)
It has been mentioned before that GSLV Mk II won't be able to put the spacecraft on a direct-to-Mars trajectory and slingshot manoeuvres, although less as compared to PSLV, would still be required. The stats that you posted, do they correspond to dry mass or the mass at launch?
100% agree
On NPR this morning, they suggested that an Indian engineer makes about $1K per month, compared to the US engineer at $10K per month. The fact of the matter is that when an Indian engineers sez "F=ma", it has the same value as when an American engineer sez "F=ma".
A few flaws in your responses, but this one stands out the most (even though there are some qualitative reasonings later).
We can all say F=ma, they even teach us the meaning in schools.
It's how one applies it, the experience to work it effectively, cheaply, and safely, and to bring about the desired (or expected) outcome that really matters.
Robert: India got to Mars, "effectively, cheaply, and safely". On the first try. Unqualified praise is due.
The Kinja article is disparaging the "cheaply" part with no cause. Where is my error? Their engineers are paid a tenth of what ours are.
I don't believe there are any logical flaws in my responses and I'm aware that I'm not popular amongst our titans of industry.
The Indians are exactly as human as are Americans. Their political situation is subject to evolving the same flaws that we have evolved here. What happens in the future is not subject to speculation.I agree with all but the last sentence, but that's personal opinion (as is all of our discussion, I suppose).
extended autonomous operation / hibernation during communicaton blackouts,/ whiteouts due to earth - sun -mars geometry.
Spacecraft don't have to obey your prejudiced north-up preconceptions of correct maps! ;)
Why is any of this a hazard to the spacecraft? With that light-time delay, pretty much everything done by the spacecraft is autonomous operation.Several spacecraft have been lost because commanding or programming errors (sometimes combined with other circumstances that would normally be recoverable) made it impossible to communicate with them. This isn't unique to interplanetary missions, but longer communication delays and weaker radio signals increase the risks.
Cometary dust impacts might hasten the MMOD aging, but Earth satellites too... undergo that.As noted in http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31205.msg1253253#msg1253253 the risk is believed to be pretty minimal.
Ready for Jan 2016? ;)
Thanks antriksh! A couple of questions came to my mind (Maybe it makes more sense to ask this in the separate thread for the follow-on mission, but I'm just posting it below)..
1. I remember reading that one disadvantage of using GSLV-II for a Mars mission was that it cannot make the coasting that PSLV did during MOM launch to adjust its Argument of Perigee (AOP), probably because PSLV has a separate 3rd and 4th stages while GSLV-II has a single non-restartable 3rd stage. I guess the mentioned payload capability take this into account?
(EDIT: Would bundling an additional hypergolic upper stage with the spacecraft be of some use here, something in the lines of PAM-G? Spacecraft+Upper Stage does the coasting, then US fire multiple times for any necessary orbital adjustments and then do TMI and separate.. Not sure how much of sense it makes considering we are talking of bundling a less efficient hypergol on top of a more efficient cryo, just a thought that came to my mind..)
2. Is the mentioned circular orbit equatorial? For a polar or high inclination orbit like MAVEN, the payload will be lower?
EDIT: As per news reports, former ISRO chairman U.R.Rao had mentioned recently that ISRO might target the 2018 launch window for the next Mars mission as 2016 is too close to plan a good science oriented mission. So we may have to wait for the 2018 then.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the Chinese might attempt their mission on 2016. As per reports in Xinhua, they want to make it better than MOM as they got left behind this time (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-09/25/c_133671880.htm).. ;)
Ready for Jan 2016? ;)
It has been mentioned before that GSLV Mk II won't be able to put the spacecraft on a direct-to-Mars trajectory and slingshot manoeuvres, although less as compared to PSLV, would still be required. The stats that you posted, do they correspond to dry mass or the mass at launch?
Robert: India got to Mars, "effectively, cheaply, and safely". On the first try. Unqualified praise is due.
100% agree
The Kinja article is disparaging the "cheaply" part with no cause. Where is my error?...
I am saying that your explanation by using F=ma as an argument is flawed (but not 100% wrong). But no matter, let's focus on the mission, shall we?
India's ... political situation is subject to evolving the same flaws that we have evolved here. What happens in the future is not subject to speculation.
I agree with all but the last sentence, but that's personal opinion (as is all of our discussion, I suppose).
Keep going India!
Regional dust storm activities over northern hemisphere of Mars - captured by Mars Color Camera on-board ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission.
The image was taken from an altitude of 74500 km from the surface of Mars.
QuoteRegional dust storm activities over northern hemisphere of Mars - captured by Mars Color Camera on-board ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission.
The image was taken from an altitude of 74500 km from the surface of Mars.
QuoteRegional dust storm activities over northern hemisphere of Mars - captured by Mars Color Camera on-board ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission.
The image was taken from an altitude of 74500 km from the surface of Mars.
I see outline of the 'Indian subcontinent' in the latest pic...
Hi-res versionWhat a wonderful image!
Hi-res version
none of the other orbiters really give us this kind of view.
If the Mars Orbiter Mission does nothing else but return to us a variety of global images of Mars from different positions and phases, the mission will be a great success, as far as I'm concerned. It'll be a data set unlike any generated by any other mission, and the single-frame photos should find their way into lots of books and magazines, informing the public perception of Mars for years to come.
If they can use a 0.8 m resolution camera on cartosat,why didn't they use the same on MOM ?
here is a picture of mars taken by the 70's era viking mission...compare and contrast
here is a picture of mars taken by the 70's era viking mission...compare and contrast
here is a picture of mars taken by the 70's era viking mission...compare and contrastThat isn't "a" picture, it's a carefully assembled and processed mosaic of many images. Individual Viking orbiter frames looked something like this http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/vo1_022a54.html
I really do hope that the newspapers here in India carry this image in their front pages tomorrow.. 8)
here is a picture of mars taken by the 70's era viking mission...compare and contrastThat isn't "a" picture, it's a carefully assembled and processed mosaic of many images. Individual Viking orbiter frames looked something like this http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/vo1_022a54.html
The images from MOM so far single frames, presumably pretty much as taken.
Are you saying that this is the best 'Single frame global view' Image ever taken ? ??? (If it is indeed single frame because we were told many were taken but only few are released.. )
Are you saying that this is the best 'Single frame global view' Image ever taken ? ???No, I didn't say that. The point I was trying to make is that the comparison to a heavily processed mosaic isn't very meaningful. If ISRO wants to, they could probably do rasters at medium altitudes to produce higher resolution mosaics.
...north-up preconceptions...... pat yourself at your back all by yourself. ...
Nova up there was making a funny about ... o' them smiley things. Personally, I've always preferred Bucky Fuller's map of the world.
While attending the International Astronautical Congress, the two space agency leaders met to discuss and sign a charter that establishes a NASA-ISRO Mars Working Group to investigate enhanced cooperation between the two countries in Mars exploration. They also signed an international agreement that defines how the two agencies will work together on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission, targeted to launch in 2020.
Can someone expand the acronyms in the ISRO brochure picture below? I didn't get SPDM (in the context of the Solar Arrays), CASS, SPSS (I assume it's Solar Position Sensor ___ ?), LE (as in the 440 N thruster), and CCSDS, BDH, SSR, TTC (Telemetry and Telecommand?) in the context of communications...
here is a picture of mars taken by the 70's era viking mission...compare and contrast
That's a mosaic generated from many images, not a single picture. Apples and oranges.
Please send inquiries regarding use and licensing the Fuller Projection to [email protected].
Voices of ISRO social media, and MOM:
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/Follow-me/articleshow/43738536.cms
If you guys are reading this thread: Good going guys, two thumbs up :)
1) Being able to Launch -- Success
2) Escape Earth Gravity -- Success
3) Enter into Helio-Centric Orbit towards Mars -- Success
4) Arrive at Mars -- Success
5) Enter into an elliptical Mars Orbit in full autonomous operating mode -- Success (the signal propagation delay between Mars and Earth is an average of 12 mins)
6) Observe Mars -- Ongoing
7) Crash on to Mars -- 6 to 9 months from now
Crash on to Mars?? Are you really sure that is an objective? Never mind the question of whether any scientific knowledge can be gained out of doing it, but did the spacecraft undergo the level of microbial decontamination that is required of a Mars landing? If not, with the tenuous atmosphere of Mars, isn't it probable that parts of the spacecraft will survive re-entry and bring earth's microbes to its surface? This is not Moon we are speaking about, as the question of Mars's capability to sustain microbial life isn't resolved yet. The worst nightmare that can happen to our efforts to find answers for Mars would be to find earth's microbes colonizing it. :-\
MOM is going to crash on Mars sometime in the future anyway (unless it is recovered, which is probably unlikely). By doing it at the end of the mission, its in a controlled fashion into a known location. It also removes any possibility of creating future orbital debris around Mars.
Is it just me or do the low res. pictures look like paintings and not pictures. Can't they get better resolution from their pictures.
7) Crash on to Mars -- 6 to 9 months from nowIs there a source for this? I don't recall seeing this in any of the ISRO materials, but could easily have missed it. They do mention a possible extended mission after the nominal 6 months.
1. I remember reading that one disadvantage of using GSLV-II for a Mars mission was that it cannot make the coasting that PSLV did during MOM launch to adjust its Argument of Perigee (AOP), probably because PSLV has a separate 3rd and 4th stages while GSLV-II has a single non-restartable 3rd stage. I guess the mentioned payload capability take this into account?
In order to utilise the GSLV and GSLV Mark III, the cryogenic engines on those rockets will need ‘multi-start’ capability so that they can be shut down after one burn, undergo a period of coasting and restart, noted Dr. Adimurthy.
Starting, shutting down and restarting a cryogenic engine in space is complicated, noted S. Ramakrishnan, who retired recently as director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO’s lead centre for launch vehicle development, and earlier headed the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre that develops liquid propellant engines needed for the space programme.
Restart capability has not yet been demonstrated with the GSLV’s cryogenic engine. As for the cryogenic engine being developed for the Mark III, “once we do the initial engine-level tests, we can look at introducing the restart capability,” he remarked
(EDIT: Would bundling an additional hypergolic upper stage with the spacecraft be of some use here, something in the lines of PAM-G? Spacecraft+Upper Stage does the coasting, then US fire multiple times for any necessary orbital adjustments and then do TMI and separate.. Not sure how much of sense it makes considering we are talking of bundling a less efficient hypergol on top of a more efficient cryo, just a thought that came to my mind..)
ISRO has designed and ground-tested a ‘Payload Assist Module’ using a liquid-propellant engine that powers the PSLV’s fourth stage. This module had originally been developed so that the GSLV could launch Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) satellites, a proposal that ultimately did not materialise.
The module could go atop the GSLV or GSLV Mark III and enhance their capabilities to send probes to Mars, said Mr. Ramakrishnan.
EDIT: As per news reports, former ISRO chairman U.R.Rao had mentioned recently that ISRO might target the 2018 launch window for the next Mars mission as 2016 is too close to plan a good science oriented mission. So we may have to wait for the 2018 then.
For future missions, ISRO will have to turn to the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and GSLV Mark III that can lift much heavier spacecraft than the PSLV.
ISRO needed to carry out a system study of how the GSLV and GSLV Mark III launchers could be used to carry probes for Mars, observed its chairman, K. Radhakrishnan “Certainly for the next mission we have to go for [a spacecraft with] higher mass.”
The space agency would not be in a position to send a spacecraft to that planet during the 2016 launch opportunity, he told this correspondent. The launch window that opened in 2018 would be the earliest that the next mission to Mars could go. It was also necessary to be clear what science such a mission could carry out, he added.
Quote7) Crash on to Mars -- 6 to 9 months from nowIs there a source for this? I don't recall seeing this in any of the ISRO materials, but could easily have missed it. They do mention a possible extended mission after the nominal 6 months.
It seems odd to me: AFAIK no NASA Mars orbiters have been intentionally de-orbited, and MOM has relatively little propellant to spare. The MOM orbit seems like it shouldn't decay for a long time, though perturbations might be an issue.
Once that mission is complete, the spacecraft will not be allowed to crash onto Mars but manoeuvered away.
The Indian Mars craft Mangalyaan would crash on Martian surface following exhaustion of fuel.
The idea of SC + upper stage coasting together has already been attempted, so to speak, by RKA for Phobos-Grunt with a modified Fregat attached to the craft.
But the problem for GSLV as mentioned earlier would be the payload loss due to bundling of an additional hypergol upper stage. The ideal solution would have been to make CE-7.5 restartable. But as S.Ramakrishnan says in the link, its complicated to add such a capability for cryo-engines and will take time to develop.
The idea of SC + upper stage coasting together has already been attempted, so to speak, by RKA for Phobos-Grunt with a modified Fregat attached to the craft.
But the problem for GSLV as mentioned earlier would be the payload loss due to bundling of an additional hypergol upper stage.
Meanwhile, the committee under former Isro chairman UR Rao met earlier this week to work out the possibilities of MOM studying Comet Siding Spring, which is expected to go past Mars on October 19. "Now that MOM has completed one revolution around Mars, we know its position vis-a-vis the comet," Rao told TOI.
Scientists are calibrating the various payloads. Rao said the final decision on what type of study should be conducted will be taken in October.
"The important payload to study the comet will be the methane sensor. But we'll have to work out the plan and what results we may expect with different options," another scientist said, adding, "A final decision will be taken around October 15 depending on MOM's position."
There was a discussion about PAM-G, cryogenic engine restart capability and how Centaur upper stage does it, in one of the GSLV discussion threads. You may find it interesting:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33622.msg1148624#msg1148624
Even if we use PAM-G, payload and mission life would be much more than what can be achieved using PSLV.
The final burn duration was only 23.08 seconds, a difference of nearly a minute from the planned duration. This duration is actually determined by the on-board accelerometer itself, which shuts off the engine automatically once the required change in velocity—actually a braking velocity to slow down the spacecraft to enable its capture into the Martian orbit—is realised. As against the targeted 1,098.7 m/s, the operation achieved a velocity change of 1,099 m/s. That is indeed an amazing precision. A difference of one minute in the burn time also means a significant gain in terms of the on-board fuel saved.
Before the MOI, the quantity of effectively available on-board fuel was 281 kg, of which about 250 kg was expected to be consumed during the LAM firing. But that difference of one minute has meant a fuel saving of about 10 kg and this can, in principle, increase the spacecraft life beyond the targeted six months. “We achieved a completely unexpected efficiency of 99.6 per cent in the LAM performance during the test firing,” Radhakrishnan said. “Normally, one does expect a performance degradation of about 2 per cent when you restart after leaving it idle for as long a duration as 300 days. Even our simulations had indicated that. But to our surprise, we got such high efficiency that we decided to reduce the burn time during the MOI,” he said. And even the final firing seems to have gone off with equal efficiency.
The idea of the September 22 test firing itself was quite innovative. It was actually a two-in-one operation: one to carry out a trajectory correction manoeuvre (TCM) of bringing the altitude of the final orbit down to the designated value of around 500 km from the 720-odd km that the spacecraft would have achieved if this firing had not succeeded and the spacecraft had gone along in its trajectory; two, to test the performance of the main engine for the crucial D-day operation. This TCM, which was otherwise scheduled to be carried out on September 14, was not done with this two-birds-with-one-stone operation in mind. You could argue that that there was a risk of not getting the correct altitude if the LAM had failed in the test. But, if the LAM had failed, in any case an optimum orbit with thrusters alone would not have been possible. So why not this? So went the scientists’ logic and it was indeed remarkable thinking.
Latest Frontline article about how ISRO planned the LAM test-firing and MOI in detailFabulous article. Covers several aspects of MOM propulsion system. Thanks for sharing!
http://www.frontline.in/science-and-technology/giant-leap/article6460749.ece?homepage=true (http://www.frontline.in/science-and-technology/giant-leap/article6460749.ece?homepage=true)
Ok.. So the Mars payloads you quoted in one of your earlier posts (1000kg for elliptical and 550kg for circular orbits), are they applicable when using PAM-G? What are the other solutions ISRO can consider for Mars missions using GSLV-II (barring, of course, the restartable cryo-stage) ?
The author of that article uses a pretty strange method of representing time... 24.14 minutes is an acceptable fraction, 23.08 seconds is a completely different thing altogether. ???
The author of that article uses a pretty strange method of representing time... 24.14 minutes is an acceptable fraction, 23.08 seconds is a completely different thing altogether. ???
I guess he meant to say 23.08 minutes - perhaps onboard accelerometer sensed that the MOI delta-v was achieved after 23 minutes of firing of LAM and shut it off (instead of predicted 24 minutes) and saved some fuel in the process.
here is a picture of mars taken by the 70's era viking mission...compare and contrast
here is a picture of mars taken by the 70's era viking mission...compare and contrast
Which one is closer to what Mars actually looks like to naked eye? Seems there's a big difference in hue and lightness.
There was a discussion about PAM-G, cryogenic engine restart capability and how Centaur upper stage does it, in one of the GSLV discussion threads. You may find it interesting:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33622.msg1148624#msg1148624
Thanks vyoma! I vaguely remember reading these posts sometime back, but then later forgot the forum. Its quite informative. :)Even if we use PAM-G, payload and mission life would be much more than what can be achieved using PSLV.
Ok.. So the Mars payloads you quoted in one of your earlier posts (1000kg for elliptical and 550kg for circular orbits), are they applicable when using PAM-G? What are the other solutions ISRO can consider for Mars missions using GSLV-II (barring, of course, the restartable cryo-stage) ?
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has a methane sensor, based on Fabry-Perot etalon, which can measure the CH4 at several ppb levels (Goswami et al, 2013). Detailed measurements of methane levels in the atmosphere over long periods from an orbiting platform would definitely answer some of the pertinent questions regarding the Martian methane.
New image showing the Elysium
Ok.. So the Mars payloads you quoted in one of your earlier posts (1000kg for elliptical and 550kg for circular orbits), are they applicable when using PAM-G? What are the other solutions ISRO can consider for Mars missions using GSLV-II (barring, of course, the restartable cryo-stage) ?
Indian Space Policy wise, you can spin the first mission of every kind as a technology demonstrator, but the next one is going to have to be a service carrying some foreign science payload. I think most other agencies are maxed out on their Mars budgets right about now. So... I'd rather the second Mangalyaan... if there is indeed going to be one in 2018 - be our first foray into ion-engines (on the Earth end), and aero-braking (at Mars).
While certainly there should be openings for ionternational payloads, what makes you think that idia can't develop useful instruments itself? Indeed, what makes you think that MOM's payload isn't useful now?
To commemorate Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Mars Orbiter Mission’s (MOM) grand success and with a view to make coming generation aware about the milestone, Indore Development Authority (IDA) is going to rename an intersection at Super Corridor near Indore Airport as Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) roundabout.
"This is for the first time that we are dedicating a crossing to our scientists and the intersection would be renamed "Mars Crossing" or "Mangal Chouraha," he said and added that "The crossing will display a mars shaped ball installed over a red pillar with a message ‘In honour of successful mars mission’ along with details about MOM."
The space agency moved MOM to a "safer position" on Tuesday to avoid any damage to its payloads from the comet's debris. Tuesday's manoeuvre which consumed 1.9 kg of fuel will put the spacecraft at an approximate distance of 1,40,000km from the comet when it flies by. Kumar said MOM was now 400km away from the surface of the Red Planet on the opposite side of the comet.
The spacecraft will carry out observations of the comet and even capture it on its Mars Colour Camera. The duration between the comet's arrival and departure on October 19 will be approximately one-and-a-half hours.
MOM's payload Methane Sensor for Mars will check for presence of Methane on Siding Spring, which is travelling at a velocity of 56km/second relative to the planet
Is it not possible to have attitude control using the reaction control wheels only as long as solar / battery power is available ?
in Earth's orbit you can desaturate reaction wheels using magnetic coils interacting with the Earth's magnetic field as is done on Hubble (which has no propulsion system), but you can't do that in Mars orbit or in deep space.
in Earth's orbit you can desaturate reaction wheels using magnetic coils interacting with the Earth's magnetic field as is done on Hubble (which has no propulsion system), but you can't do that in Mars orbit or in deep space.
Why is this not used for all of the Sats. in Earth orbit? and for planets with a magnetic field?
Thank you! for the explanation.
Reaction wheels would also incur extra mass penalty and are prone to failures over longer mission durations.AFAIK MOM uses both, like most planetary spacecraft. Desaturating occasionally is more efficient than doing everything with thrusters, and reaction wheels are generally better for fine control.
In the second last image, Phobos (encircled) transit over Mars was captured.Nice find, thanks.. 8)
ISRO engineers handling MOM from the command centre at Bangalore have been trying to balance MOM’s safety with the visual treat the fly-by promises, according to MOM Mission director V. Kesava Raju. For the October 20 encounter, the 25-plus team of engineers associated with the five MOM instruments were working out the best position for the instruments.
Opportunities to take pictures of the comet and its tail during October 19 – 21 are also under discussion. Post-encounter, the key concern would be to protect MOM’s body from exposure to the large cloud of dust.
Olympus Mons, collinear mons - Arsia, Pavonis & Ascraeus and Valles Marineris canyon system!
The comet will be closest to Mars at 11.40 p.m. on Sunday and the encounter will last 21 minutes.
ISRO’s payload teams plan to operate four of the five instruments during this period, including the Mars Colour Camera and the Methane Sensor for Mars and the Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer.
They will keep vigil from 10 p.m. on Sunday until 4 a.m. on Monday.
Mr. Arunan said MOM would cover the comet before and after the encounter. It would take pictures of the comet and take a peek at the composition of the gases in its tail, which include hydrogen and methane coming from the origin of the Solar System.
ISRO expects the earliest pictures to be processed by Monday afternoon while the science data will take longer to interpret.
Phew! Experience of a lifetime. Watched the #MarsComet #SidingSpring whizzing past the planet. I'm in my orbit, safe and sound.
ISRO officials involved in the Mars Orbiter Mission(MOM) said the images and data that MOM sent were being processed as on Monday evening. The first pictures could be made public in a couple of days while data on the comet may take longer to interpret.
Kiran Kumar, director of Isro's Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre, told TOI MOM's five payloads were active when the comet made the 90-minute flyby.
But, after the closest approach to Mars, they were deactivated for three hours. "We did a post-event check of the spacecraft and noted that it is healthy and normal despite it being closest to the comet," he said.
Kumar said the MOM team is eagerly awaiting the data about the comet, which the spacecraft has gathered. It is expected to be downloaded from Monday night onwards. The Mars Colour Camera has taken a photo of the comet and the Methane Sensor For Mars sniffed for methane.
Kumar said MOM will now be operating in a 400 km x 72,000 km orbit, which he added was good.
India’s Mars Orbiter Mangalyaan is expected to send clearer pictures in two months’ time, said a senior official of the Indian space agency Friday, as currently the pixtures are hazy and obliterated.
A.S. Kiran Kumar, director, Space Application Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS over phone from Ahmedabad: “The Mars Orbiter is fine. There are no issues. Each time the spacecraft completes one orbit, the data is being studied. The data from the scientific instruments on the Orbiter is being collected and studied. It will take some time to come out with the conclusion.”
He said the sun’s position is moving, hence the Orbiter is expected to send clearer pictures of the planet’s surface in two months’ time.
It is only next year that the Orbiter is expected to face some challenges, he said.
Kumar said: “The sun’s position will then be closer to Mars. As a result, the Orbiter’s antenna may not be working and there will be a blackout situation for 10-12 days around May next year.”
India launched its Mars Orbiter Nov 5, 2013 and it inserted the spacecraft into the red planet’s orbit Sep 24.
Later, ISRO repositioned the Mars Orbiter as a precautionary measure against the Comet Siding Spring that flew by the red planet Oct 20.
According to Kumar, around 1.9 kg of the fuel was spent on repositioning the spacecraft.
He said: “The fuel position of Mars Orbiter is comfortable. It has more than 40 kg fuel on board.”
Kurian Mathew, principal investigator of the Methane Sensor For Mars, said: "We are analyzing data from both from Mars and comet Siding Spring. We will highlight them at an appropriate moment."
The quality of the pictures taken by the Mars Colour Camera in the last one-and-half month has attracted considerable praise from across the world. However, for some unexplained reason the first anniversary of MOM's launch on Wednesday remained a quite affair with no mention of it in Isro's Facebook and Twitter accounts.
It's amazing what a faint object that is, given how close it was to Mars!
The data being collected from the Mars Orbiter will soon be used by ISRO and NASA to enhance knowledge about the red planet. “We have to see how to proceed and what should be done with the data,” he said. NASA is expected to discuss the issue with ISRO in two months time.
As the world rings in the New Year on January 1 Indian space scientists will have another reason to uncork the champagne: The day will mark 100 days of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) in the red planet's orbit.
I was just informed that the data application and payload people are going to release a bunch of processed data products on 1st January. They hinted that MENCA apparently has a lot of cool new information. Fingers crossed for some good papers coming out of this !
Also, some tidbits :
We are currently receiving data at around 20 Kbps, down from a max of 40 Kbps, and it'll keep going down as Mars moves further away.
Apparently, we are at the moment in occultation (hidden behind the planet)
We are still yet to have a "Lost in Space" event for MOM : which is record that nobody (not even JPL) has had till date.
The autonomy system designed for MOM is helping the Chandrayaan-2 rover immensely, shortening quite a bit of design cycle
"The mission was completed in a record time of 4 years 2 months and the spacecraft was tested in a very short span of 18 months. We expected it to have a lifespan of 6 months. It has already completed 100 days of existence in the Mars orbit and is expected to last at least 6 more months."
"It would be too early to speak about the findings of the mission. But the data being received from the craft is of very good quality. Scientists find it to be very useful while analysing it," Radhakrishnan said replying to a question.
The ground team was able to manoeuvre the craft to save it from a possible encounter with a comet, he said. The 'auto' mode of the mission too has been tested. Scientists are now waiting for June, when the craft would be out of reach of the ground control for around 15 days.
"If we could regain control over the craft after that period, that would be one more major achievement," Radhakrishnan said.
India’s Mars Orbiter programme team has won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the science and engineering category from the US based National Space Society (NSS), the society said.
In a statement issued in Washington on Monday, the NSS said its 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the science and engineering category has been won by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Mars Orbiter Programme team.
“This award will be presented to an ISRO representative during the National Space Society’s 2015 International Space Development Conference, the 34th ISDC, to be held in Toronto, Canada,” the statement said.
Pictures of Phobos and Deimos!
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/02040740-mars-orbiter-mission-images.html
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is likely to make an announcement regarding extended life in the coming days. However, how much longer MOM will live will be known only after a solar eclipse in April-May.
An Isro official told TOI last week that MOM's fuel consumption has been minimal.
Confirming this on Saturday, a senior scientist said: "As we speak, only about a kilogram of the 40 kg fuel it had after insertion into the Martian Orbit has been used up. So yes, MOM will live longer."
"As of now, MOM is being maintained by ground stations. We have control over how much fuel to expend, whether a manoeuvre is required or not and other specifics. But during the eclipse, MOM will get into an autonomous mode and we will have no control over it," a senior official said.
Explaining that solar panels on MOM currently power a lot of sub-systems and fuel is only being used for small auto-corrections, he said: "During the eclipse, MOM may expend fuel to turn the panels to position it towards the Sun, or even use some for repositioning itself in the orbit and so on; we really cannot guess how much fuel it may use."
Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) payload onboard MOM intends to detect the presence of Methane and measure the column density of the same. One of the secondary objectives of this payload is to measure the reflectance of Martian surface in 1.65 micron. MSM has two channels, Methane and reference to measure the radiance from the surface of Mars.
All planets in the Solar system receive Sun’s radiation to varying degrees depending on their distance from the Sun. Observing the surface of the planet depends on how this radiation is reflected back. Reflected solar radiation from Mars is a diagnostic signal of the planet which provides lot of information about the planet’s surface as well as its atmosphere. When we measure the radiance in a specific wavelength of light (in this case, 1.65 micron), then we can generate a reflectance map.
The map presented here shows the surface reflectance of Mars as viewed at 1.65 micron from the reference channel of MSM till December 16, 2014. In the map, the blue colour indicates low albedo features and the red shows high albedo features on the Martian surface.
The map resolution is 0.5°x0.5° in Latitude-Longitude. By correcting the data for CO2 absorption, a major part of atmospheric effects is taken care of. This data along with the reflectance measured by Mars Colour Camera will be useful to study the surface properties of Mars.
(Image credit: SAC, ISRO)
Mangalyaan — the country's first spacecraft to Mars — will complete its six-month mission next week on March 24, but will remain operational even after its assignment duration expires.
Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman Dr Kiran Kumar told HT the mission would technically end next week. "The satellite will remain operational even after that as there is no fuel constraint. This will help us delve deeper into the seasons and climate on Mars. We have been able to capture some beautiful images of Mars and have got ample data. Analysis of the data is being done and once this is final, it will be made public," Kumar said.
The Isro chief said a lot would depend on the blackout period for Mars in June. "The next challenge for the spacecraft will be in June next year when all three - Mars, Earth and Sun-will be in one line. There will be no communication (blackout period) with the spacecraft for nearly 14 days."
The blackout would be experienced between June 8 and 22 as the Sun would come between Earth and Mars. During the blackout period, the spacecraft would be in fully autonomous mode and no data would be transmitted to or from it.
Pital Crater - Picture from Mars Color Camera (MCC) on 23-04-2015
Pital crater is an impact crater located in Ophir Planum region of Mars, which is located in the eastern part of Valles Marineris region. This image is taken by Mars Color Camera (MCC) on 23-04-2015 at a spatial resolution of ~42 m from an altitude of 808 km.
Wall of the crater and chain of small impact craters are clearly seen in this image. This crater is having the diameter of ~40 km.
Most of craters observed on planetary surfaces are circular in shape. Some of the craters are in elliptical shape. However, this Pital crater is in different shape. This could be due to the eastern extension of regional fracture in the W-E trending fracture zone.
Tyrrhenus Mons as seen by Mars Color Camera (MCC)
Image of Tyrrhenus Mons in Hesperia Planum region taken by Mars Color Camera (MCC) on 25-02-2015 at a spatial resolution of 166m from an altitude of 3192km.
Impression of flow features and NE-SW trending fractures are clearly seen in this image. Impressions of wind streaks can also be seen image.
Tyrrhenus Mons is a volcanic mons. NE-SW oriented fractures indicate stresses due to volcanic process in this region. Approximate direction of wind which created the wind streaks is East-West.
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission will be in the communication blackout phase between June 8 and 22 when there will be no communication between MOM and the ground stations.
The Rs 450-crore MOM has been moving into the blackout phase since May 27 and transmitting only three hours of data every day. Between June 8 and 22, the sun will come between earth and Mars causing a complete communication blackout.
An Isro official told TOI that MOM has already been configured for the challenging phase and was currently in “safe mode”, wherein some of the payloads have been deactivated. This will be the first time since its launch on November 5, 2013, that MOM will be completely autonomous.
“Right now MOM has a reserve capacity of about 37kg of fuel, which is a comfortable situation. However, during the two-week blackout phase, we will not know how much fuel it will consume while executing manoeuvres. We will be able to assess its mission life only after doing an analysis after the blackout ends, especially with regards to availability of fuel,” the Isro official said.
Simulations relating to the blackout have indicated that there was no cause for anxiety. MOM has so far transmitted about 200 images. Data from the other four payloads are being analyzed.
Image shows part of Hesperia Planum region, taken by Mars color camera (MCC) on 31-01-2015 at a spatial resolution of 58m from an altitude of 1132km. Wrinkle ridges and craters of smaller diameters are clearly seen in this image. Wrinkle ridges on planetary surface are formed due to compressional stress regime. Ridge means linear/ curvilinear elongated raised structure.
"From June 8 to 22, the sun will block Mars from the earth snapping communication with the satellite.
MOM during this period will go into an "autonomous mode" and will take its decisions, a senior Indian Space Research Organisation official told PTI.
"This will be for the first time that there will be a communication break for such a long period of about 15 days. During this period, there will not be any communication with the satellite," he said.
Expressing confidence about regaining control over the satellite once the blackout phase is over, he said, "the scenario has been tested for earlier; line of communication will be established."
Jun 08, 2015
Mars Orbiter Spacecraft under ‘solar conjunction’ at Mars
Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (MOM) is under ‘solar conjunction’ at Mars, which means the spacecraft, which is orbiting Mars, is behind the Sun as viewed from the Earth. As a result of this event which happens once in 2.2 years for Mars, communication signals from the spacecraft are severely disrupted by the Sun’s corona (outer atmosphere). The reason for this is the charged particles from the sun and they are responsible for the reception of noisy signals at the ground antenna from the spacecraft .
The conjunction for Mars Orbiter Spacecraft began on May 27, 2015 and will extend up to July 01, 2015. No commands are transmitted to the spacecraft during this period for safety reasons and only telemetry (spacecraft’s health related information) is monitored.. All payload (spacecraft’s scientific instruments) operations are also suspended. Health of the spacecraft is normal.
Space Pioneer award for the year 2015 was presented to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the Science and Engineering category during the 34th Annual International Space Development Conference held at Toronto in Canada during May 20 -24, 2015.
National Space Society (NSS) of USA presented this award in recognition of ISRO’s efforts in accomplishing Mars Mission in its very first attempt.
Part of wrinkle ridge located in Thaumasia Planum region was taken by Mars color camera (MCC) on 01-05-2015
Image of part of wrinkle ridge located in Thaumasia Planum region was taken by Mars color camera (MCC) on 01-05-2015 at a spatial resolution of 29 m from an altitude of 551 km. Wrinkle ridge passing through this region and impact craters of various dimensions are seen in this image. Wrinkle ridges on planetary surface are formed due to compressional stress regime. Ridge means linear/ curvilinear elongated raised structure
Part of Máadim Vallis, taken by Mars color camera (MCC) on 06-05-2015
Image shows part of Máadim Vallis, taken by Mars color camera (MCC) on 06-05-2015 at a spatial resolution of 31 m from an altitude of 595km. Fluvial channel bifurcated through this region and impact craters are clearly seen in this image.
Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in its 100th Orbit around Mars
India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft is in its 100th orbit around Mars today (Start : June 22, 2015 End: June 25, 2015). The spacecraft was designed for a mission life of six months in Mars orbit, which was completed on March 24, 2015. With this, the primary objectives of the Mars Orbiter Mission were realised.
Mars Orbiter spacecraft has outlived its prime mission life and is healthy and operational. The spacecraft, which had earlier entered the ‘blackout phase’ (due to Mars moving behind the Sun from Earth’s perspective), is gradually coming out of that phase. The spacecraft health data is now being received. The current elliptical orbit of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft has a periareion (nearest point to Mars) of 474 km and an apoareion (farthest point to Mars) of 71, 132 km.
The payloads onboard the Spacecraft were last operated in May 2015, and performance of all payloads were satisfactory. Mars Colour Camera (MCC) of the spacecraft had taken 405 frames so far. Operations of all payloads will restart in a few weeks from now.
Image from Mars Colour Camera (MCC), taken on May 09, 2015 at 16:11:23UT at an altitude of 535 km and resolution ~25m. This is the last image taken before going into blackout mode. The image shows the area between Sinai and Lassell craters
BENGALURU: The country's low-cost Mars mission spacecraft that is in a rendezvous with the red planet for an extended period has enough fuel for it to last "many years", Indian Space Research Organisation chairman Kiran Kumar said on Friday.
He said, "still about 45 kg of fuel is left; ...we are hardly using the fuel, fuel requirement is very small."
He said, "still about 45 kg of fuel is left; ...we are hardly using the fuel, fuel requirement is very small."
QuoteHe said, "still about 45 kg of fuel is left; ...we are hardly using the fuel, fuel requirement is very small."
They were saying they had 37 kg in December.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29440.msg1308601#msg1308601
Then 39 kg two months ago.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/mangalyaan-can-survive-for-years-in-martian-orbit-isro-chief/
I suspect they have a fuel generator on board ;D
QuoteHe said, "still about 45 kg of fuel is left; ...we are hardly using the fuel, fuel requirement is very small."
They were saying they had 37 kg in December.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29440.msg1308601#msg1308601
Then 39 kg two months ago.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/mangalyaan-can-survive-for-years-in-martian-orbit-isro-chief/
I suspect they have a fuel generator on board ;D
Image of impact crater located SW of Huygens crater, taken by Mars Color Camera (MCC) on 04-05-2015 at a spatial resolution of 30 m from an altitude of 576 km. Complex impact crater, superimposed over pre-existing crater is clearly seen in this image. This impact crater is having average diameter of 35 km. Terraces of complex impact crater and craters of small diameter distributed in this image are also seen.
Well done ISRO on the PDF booklet - be nice see a follow up containg images from Mars Orbiter and other science data facts they find.
Gale crater as seen by Mars Colour Camera on board Mars Orbiter Mission
Gale crater is located near the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle. The crater was named after Walter Frederic Gale, an Australian amateur astronomer of 19th century. Aeolis Mons rises (5.5 km) from the floor of the Gale crater. Gale crater formed when a meteor hit Mars in its early history, about 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago. This image is taken by Mars Colour Camera on January 17, 2015 at an altitude of 9004 km with a resolution of 468 m.
First image taken by MCC after MOM comes out of blackout
After MOM blackout, all the instruments are up and started acquiring data as usual. Mars Color Camera (MCC), the eye of MOM continue to send beautiful images of Martian terrain.
This image is pertaining to Sinus Sabaeus quadrangle of Mars, above Dawes crater and to the left of Schroeter crater.
This image was captured on July 14, 2015 at an altitude of 2555 km with a resolution of 132.8 m.
3D portrayals of Ophir Chasma terrain.
The image taken by Mars Colour Camera over Ophir Chasma,a canyon in the Coprates quadrangleof Mars at 4° south latitude and 72.5° west longitude. The word chasma has been designated by the International Astronomical Union to refer to an elongate, steepsided depression. Ophir Chasma is part ofthe largest canyon system in the solar system known as vallesmarineris. The walls of the chasma contain many layers and the floors contain large deposits of layered materials. This image is taken on 19th July 2015 at an altitude of 1857 km with a resolution of 96 m.
MOM first to take images of the far side of Deimos
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/MOM-first-to-snap-far-side-of-Mars-moon-Isro-chief/articleshow/48535485.cms
Here ya go.MOM first to take images of the far side of Deimos
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/MOM-first-to-snap-far-side-of-Mars-moon-Isro-chief/articleshow/48535485.cms
Might have been nice if the linked article had actually included said image...
four images of Deimos about 12 seconds apart at 13:06 UT on October 14, 2014. The images have a resolution of about 300 meters per pixel; Deimos is roughly 13 kilometers wide.Second pic...
...enlarged them 400% and stacked them to try to make something of them. If nothing else, the stacking reduced the artifacts of the Bayer color interpolation in the originals.http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/02040740-mars-orbiter-mission-images.html
Taytay Crater - Image from Mars Color Camerahttp://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/taytay-crater-image-mars-color-camera
Taytay Crater is an impact crater in the Oxia Palus quadrangle of Mars, located at 0 .37° N and 19.65° W. It is 18.4 km in diameter and was named after Taytay Philippines. Mars colour camera has taken this image on 13th August 2015 at an altitude of 3419 km with a resolution of 170 m
MCC image shows relatively smooth plains dotted with some craters and stepped mesas and knobs. This image is taken on August 24, 2015 by MCC at an altitude of 4282 m with a resolution of 222 m. It is located near the highland-lowland boundary scarp in a region called Nepenthes Mensae.
ENGALURU: As it prepares to celebrate the first anniversary of its spacecraft's tryst with Mars, ISRO today said the mission to the Red Planet will last for "many years" as there is not much of a "problem" and they have not had any failures so far.
"Mars (mission) is expected to last for many years now, because it has gone through solar conjunction also; so we don't see much of a problem," ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar told reporters here.
"We had planned it only for six months. Then we were not expecting so much fuel to remain after we completed our insertion activity," he said.
Pointing out that about 35kg of fuel was still left, he said, "There is still a lot of fuel... all other subsystems are working fine and so far we have not had any failures."
RO will mark the first anniversary of Mars Orbit Insertion by releasing an atlas containing photos taken by the colour camera on board the spacecraft.
"Currently, on September 24, we will be releasing one of the atlases -- the on taking images of Mars Colour Camera and also some results from the Methane Sensor.... then, on November 5, we are bringing out a book, 'Fishing hamlet to Mars'," Kiran Kumar said.
BENGALURU: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), whose successful Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft has put India on the global list of select countries will, on Thursday, release data from the methane sensor for Mars onboard MOM.
Data from the methane sensor is among the most anticipated data from MOM, which has four other payloads including the Mars Colour Camera (MCC), pictures taken by which have already been made public.
A positive finding is something the global scientific community will take note of. Just month before MOM's launch in November 2013, Michael Braukus a spokesperson of Nasa had told TOI: "We wish full success to MOM...We are interested in the mission data when Isro makes it available to the international science community."
A senior Isro official told TOI on Tuesday: "Thursday marks one year of MOM's insertion into the Martian orbit. We've received a lot of data but there is an embargo on revealing the details until its officially announced. The country will know on Thursday."
The film is set to release on October 2, however, a special screening is being held on September 24, for these scientists in Bangalore in Ahmedabad today, exactly a year since Mangalyaan began orbiting Mars.
"The Martian is far more realistic and screening it was our way of congratulating the scientists on the first anniversary of the Mars Orbiter Mission. India is the only country to get on Mars in its first attempt," says Sunder Kimatrai, EVP Asia Pacific, Twentieth Century Fox from his Australian office.
It was Sunder who reached out to Padma Shri awardee, Dr. Subbiah Arunan, known for his prominent role in the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).
Before The Martian opens, Matt Damon will appear in a video, congratulating ISRO on Mangalayaan first anniversary.
Enjoy guys! I'll be catching up with the movie on October 2 :)
Apparently, SpaceX has set up its own space station, and the Hermes Spacecraft was a join project from NASA, the ESA, JAXA, ISRO and private interests.
Celebrating one year of Mars Orbiter Mission in Orbit; Release of Mars Atlas
Mars Orbiter spacecraft marks one year of its life around the red planet today. After successfully completing one year of the mission life around Mars, now a large data set has been acquired by all five payloads of MOM. On this occasion Space Applications Centre, (ISRO), Ahmedabad has brought out a Mar Atlas which contains a compilation of images acquired by Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and results obtained by other payload results in a form of scientific atlas.
The images from MCC have provided unique information about Mars at varying spatial resolutions. It has obtained Mars Global data showing clouds, dust in atmosphere and surface albedo variations, when acquired from apoapsis at around 72000 km. On the other hand high resolution images acquired from periapsis show details of various morphological features on the surface of Mars. Some of these images have been showcased in this atlas. The images have been categorized depending upon the Martian surface and atmospheric processes.
Mars is one of the closest celestial objects to the Earth and it has attracted humans towards itself since the time immemorial. A large number of unmanned orbiters, landers and rovers have been launched to reach Mars since early 1960s. These missions had provided large amount of data on various scientific aspects of the Mars. The knowledge acquired by the analysis of these data, suggested enhanced possibility of the presence of life, on this now dry and dusty planet. India has joined the club of space faring nations to explore Mars by sending its first planetary mission called, Mars Orbiter Mission or popularly known as MOM. The MOM spacecraft was designed, built and launched in record period of less than two years. MOM carried five science instruments collecting data on surface geology, morphology, atmospheric processes, surface temperature and atmospheric escape process.
Edit:Having a bit trouble uploading pdf.
The knowledge acquired by the analysis of these data, suggested enhanced possibility of the presence of life, on this now dry and dusty planet.Has there been any more said about their methane results than this enigmatic sentence?
“The MCC was developed at SAC at the cost of about Rs 10 crore and has so far clicked 1020 images. Some of these images are part of the Mars Atlas,” said Tapan Misra, director of SAC while speaking to The Indian Express.
“The MCC which is onboard the Mars Orbiter can click eight images of Mars during one single orbit of the planet. One orbit however takes about over three days and it takes over six hours for one image to travel back to Earth,” Misra added.
Currently the Mars orbiter is placed in an elliptical orbit around the red planet and the camera onboard clicks pictures at different altitudes ranging from 400 to 70,000 kilometers.
QuoteThe knowledge acquired by the analysis of these data, suggested enhanced possibility of the presence of life, on this now dry and dusty planet.Has there been any more said about their methane results than this enigmatic sentence?
MOM has detected signals of the presence of methane on Mars” but scientific validation is still not complete for the results
Thanks, I found that yesterday but as it was an op-ed I didn't know how reliable a source it was.QuoteThe knowledge acquired by the analysis of these data, suggested enhanced possibility of the presence of life, on this now dry and dusty planet.Has there been any more said about their methane results than this enigmatic sentence?QuoteMOM has detected signals of the presence of methane on Mars” but scientific validation is still not complete for the results
Source (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/on-mangalyaans-first-anniversary-understanding-the-gains-from-indias-foray-to-mars-and-the-moon/article7685529.ece?homepage=true)
SRIHARIKOTA/BENGALURU: While Nasa's claims of water streams on the Mars made headlines globally, it isn't that the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) hasn't found anything on the Red Planet.
However, the Indian space agency is mum on the findings for two major reasons: one, to allow the scientists who designed the payloads to make the first claim; and two, for some peer review on the findings to be completed.
Answering a specific question after the launch of Astrosat, India's first astronomy satellite, on September 28, Isro chairman AS Kiran Kumar told TOI: "I cannot get into the specifics. I can, however, say there are several firsts that MOM has found. But it is only fair that the principal investigators (scientists who made the payloads) claim it first in scientific journals."
"We have got interesting data from the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), but it needs lot more analysis, it needs to be validated by research," ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar said.
ISRO has extended till October 10 its "Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for India's research community for using data from MOM.
The AO is for using data from five payloads of MOM, Mars Colour Camera (MCC), Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) and Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA).
"We have made the entire data accessible to research community through the AO, we will also be looking forward to research community carrying out their independent research for all five instruments," he said.
"On the prospect of finding presence of water in Mars, he said "with respect to water...our set of instruments do not have much scope...except the Mars spectrometer which is there."
"We are flying at an altitude of of minimum about 300 kilometres which is still far, in the end of operation we will take satellite to the surface of Mars or very close to it at that time we may get something different but otherwise the kind of instruments which we are carrying are still like baby steps in exploration compared to what Americans have done."
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mars-data-interesting-more-work-needed-on-it-isro-1226905Quote"We are flying at an altitude of of minimum about 300 kilometres which is still far, in the end of operation we will take satellite to the surface of Mars or very close to it at that time we may get something different"
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mars-data-interesting-more-work-needed-on-it-isro-1226905Quote"We are flying at an altitude of of minimum about 300 kilometres which is still far, in the end of operation we will take satellite to the surface of Mars or very close to it at that time we may get something different"
Do they really have plans to crash MOM on Mars at the end? Was the spacecraft sterilized to the necessary level before launch?
Hopefully they might be dissuaded from the crashing part.
MCC image, taken on September 03, 2015 at an altitude of 6144 km with a resolution of 320 m, shows an intermediate sized shield volcano known as Tharsis Tholus. It is located in the eastern Tharsis region of the planet Mars. The Tharsis Tholus is dome-shaped with flank slopes ranging from less than 1° near the summit to up to 16° at the base. The average flank slope is 10°, making it one of the steepest volcanoes on Mars. The volcano rises to an elevation of about 9 km (5.5 miles).http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/shield-volcano-tharsis-tholus
Hopefully they might be dissuaded from the crashing part.
Which is riskier? Reentry burn up of ~500 kg orbiter or a being in orbit space debris?
Also Emily Lakdawalla's latest write up on Mars orbiter mission.
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/10061556-mars-orbiter-mission-update.html
Agreed we need more global views!
Meanwhile latest image shared of Shield Volcano Tharsis Tholus.QuoteMCC image, taken on September 03, 2015 at an altitude of 6144 km with a resolution of 320 m, shows an intermediate sized shield volcano known as Tharsis Tholus. It is located in the eastern Tharsis region of the planet Mars. The Tharsis Tholus is dome-shaped with flank slopes ranging from less than 1° near the summit to up to 16° at the base. The average flank slope is 10°, making it one of the steepest volcanoes on Mars. The volcano rises to an elevation of about 9 km (5.5 miles).http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/shield-volcano-tharsis-tholus
Hopefully they might be dissuaded from the crashing part.
Which is riskier? Reentry burn up of ~500 kg orbiter or a being in orbit space debris?
Also Emily Lakdawalla's latest write up on Mars orbiter mission.
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/10061556-mars-orbiter-mission-update.html
Agreed we need more global views!
Meanwhile latest image shared of Shield Volcano Tharsis Tholus.QuoteMCC image, taken on September 03, 2015 at an altitude of 6144 km with a resolution of 320 m, shows an intermediate sized shield volcano known as Tharsis Tholus. It is located in the eastern Tharsis region of the planet Mars. The Tharsis Tholus is dome-shaped with flank slopes ranging from less than 1° near the summit to up to 16° at the base. The average flank slope is 10°, making it one of the steepest volcanoes on Mars. The volcano rises to an elevation of about 9 km (5.5 miles).http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/shield-volcano-tharsis-tholus
Far riskier to let it reenter, and possibly have pieces survive to the surface, though only if MOM wasn't sterilized to a safe level.
The space debris around Mars is a number of magnitudes lower than that of the Earth, and spacecraft can be tracked rather accurately, so the possibility of MOM threatening another mission if left in orbit seems rather low. Far safer to leave it in orbit after passivization.
AIUI, burn up in the atmosphere is considered a good sterilization method.
Far riskier to let it reenter, and possibly have pieces survive to the surface, though only if MOM wasn't sterilized to a safe level.
The space debris around Mars is a number of magnitudes lower than that of the Earth, and spacecraft can be tracked rather accurately, so the possibility of MOM threatening another mission if left in orbit seems rather low. Far safer to leave it in orbit after passivization.
Henry Crater -IMAGE FROM MCC
Henry Crater is a large crater in the Arabia quadrangle of Mars, located at 10.9° north latitude and 336.7° west longitude. It is 171 kilometers (106 mi) in diameter and was named after the brothers Paul-Pierre Henry and Mathieu-Prosper Henry, both of whom were French telescope makers and astronomers.
Henry Crater has a large mound in its center that shows layers in certain parts. The layers can be a few meters thick or tens of meters thick. It is believed that the regular pattern of layers in Arabia is connected to the regular way in which the rotational axis of Mars changes.
This image was taken on Aug 29, 2015 at an altitude of 5800 km with a resolution of 301 m by MCC.
First(?) paper based on MOM data "Estimation of dust variability and scale height of atmospheric optical depth (AOD) in the Valles Marineris on Mars by Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) data" http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103515004832 (paywall)
Arabia Terra-image from Mars Color Camera
Arabia Terra is a large upland region in the north of Mars located mostly in the Arabia quadrangle.
Arabia Terra is a large upland region in the north of Mars located mostly in the Arabia quadrangle. It is densely cratered and heavily eroded. This battered topography indicates great age, and Arabia Terra is presumed to be one of the oldest terrains on the planet. Gill Crater is an impact crater in the Arabia quadrangle of Mars.
This image is taken by Mars Color Camera on 22nd October 2015 at an altitude of 14893 km with a resolution of 774 m.
Data from MOM Scientific Instruments
The first important operation carried out in the Martian phase was to operate all the five payloads (scientific instruments). All the payloads have been operated and tested successfully. Mars Orbiter Spacecraft is now circling the Red Planet in an orbit with a periareion of 311 km and an apoareion of 71,311 km. All the five payloads of MOM are in good health and continue to provide data.
The Mars Colour Camera (MCC) has acquired more than 440 images so far. A Mars Atlas has been released and the same is made available on ISRO website. MCC has achieved almost all the intended goals. It is planned to study temporal variations of features in comparison with older images of the past from other spacecraft and its own images.
The MENCA payload has observed several atomic species in its neutral mass spectrum. Specific studies of altitude variation of theses were made from the data in Dec. 2014, when the observations were made near periareion at low altitude and conditions were favourable. Prominent atomic species noted are with mass units 28, 44; trends with varying altitudes were also discussed. These results will be consolidated for a publication in the near future. The results are also being compared where possible, with the MAVEN data.
The analysis of the TIS payload was also presented during the meet. Since the instrument has an uncooled bolometer as detector, good sensitivity is obtained only during higher temperatures and therefore requires appropriate conditions for observations. This instrument found the variation in temperature during dust storms to be lowered by 10-15 degrees, which was verified using data from Earth based observations also.
The LAP payload had 80 operations so far and hydrogen Lyman Alpha intensity is estimated as a function of altitude. Calibrations with UV stars are to be done, for which the payload team will work out the sensitivity. Besides, the joint analysis of data using multiple payloads was also presented.
The dust patterns around high altitude regions and in Valles (Valleys) were studied and mean height of dust layer was estimated to be ~1.5 km. Albedo using the 1.65 micron studies of the reference channel of Methane sensor for Mars (MSM) was also estimated. Atmospheric optical depth and its variation was also estimated.
Additionally, joint morphological studies using MCC and the high resolution mineralogical data with the NASA CRISM data was also presented, which enables the identification of different compounds like sulphates and ferrous based compounds.
During the meet, a presentation on future challenges and mission plan for the same was also made. Some of the points covered were
Long eclipses of ~500 minutes expected in Feb 2017 due to eclipses occurring in apoareion compared to the <100 minute eclipses which were near periareion so far ;
Maneuvering plans for payload operations with appropriate settings for the reaction wheels
Further imaging of the Martian Satellite Deimos
Opportunities for imaging North pole and other specific targets of Mars
This was followed by presentations on individual payloads, and joint activities with NASA undertaken so far
Regular health checks and orbit determination of MOM is also being carried out. The Spacecraft is in good health and continues to work as expected. Scientific analysis of the data being received from the Mars Orbiter spacecraft is in progress.
Far riskier to let it reenter, and possibly have pieces survive to the surface, though only if MOM wasn't sterilized to a safe level.
Sharonov crater-Image from Mars Orbiter
Sharonov crater is an impact crater of size 100 km located in Lunae Palus Quadrangle of Mars. Sharonov is located within the outflow channel system Kasei valles (Kasei mean Mars in Japanese language), a giant system of canyons is Mare Acidalium and Lunae Palus Quadrangle. This huge system is 300 miles wide in some places. In contrast, Earth's Grand Canyon is only 18 miles wide. This image is taken by Mars colour camera on 13th November at an altitude of 24023 km with a resolution of 1.2 km
Olympus Mons - Picture from Mars Orbiter
Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system which is present on planet Mars. The altitude of Olympus Mons is nearly three times the altitude of the largest peak on Earth, Mt.Everest.
Tharsis volcanoes are Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons. Tharsis Montes are product of volcanism and they are associated with tectonic processes which caused extensive crustal deformation in this area.
Water vapor clouds are seen around mons top which is a usual phenomenon during this season in Mars. This image is taken by MCC on November 27, 2015 at an altitude of 32,282 km with a resolution of 1679 m
Mojave Crater-Image From MCC
Mojave is a ~3 million year old impact crater (58 km in diameter) and is located in Oxia Palus quadrangle of Mars. It has land forms that are similar to southwest American Mojave desert on Earth. MCC has taken this image on August 4, 2015 at an altitude of 2987 km with a resolution of 155 m
#HappyNewYear, dear earthlings! North pole looks wicked cool here!
HDR Shot of mars full disc from a distance of 55000 km. North Pole is clearly seen.
This is a snapshot of mars full disc captured from a distance of 55000 km. North Pole is clearly seen in this shot. This High Dynamic Range (HDR) image was generated out of multiple shots of same view bringing dark to bright feature details in a better way
Global Albedo Map of Mars using MSM data from Mars Orbiter Mission
The albedo of the surface is defined as the fraction of incident solar radiation reflected by the surface.
The magnitude and spatial distribution of Martian surface albedo are important inputs for characterization of Martian surface and Atmospheric circulation. Global Short Wave Infra Red (SWIR) albedo map in wavelength band 1.64-1.66 µm has been derived using Mars Orbiter Mission -Methane Sensor for Mars (MOM-MSM) data for the surface of Mars. Five months (October 2014- February 2015) of MSM radiance data for reference channel are converted to the top of atmosphere reflectance normalised to sun-sensor viewing geometry and incoming solar flux. The global view of MSM derived Martian SWIR albedo has been averaged at ~50 km spatial resolution.
The bright regions (albedo > 0.4) are mainly localized over the Tharsis plateau, Arbia Terra and Elysium Planitia regions of Mars. The low albedo regions (< 0.15) are mainly localized in Syrtis Major and Southern highlands and parts of Northern hemisphere. In general low albedo values are associated with darker surface on Mars having volcanic rock basalt as surface exposures. Higher albedo values represents surface covered by Dust. The area shown in blue colour indicates the presence of basaltic composition while red indicates the dust covered regions of Mars.
After the completion of one year of primary mission (September 2015), MOM was made to dip down to 260 kilometers from its normal periapsis altitude of 400 kilometers. While dipping down, MENCA had better chances of collecting data on neutral species data. The newly published paper reports that MENCA has successfully measured the altitudinal profiles of CO2, (N2+CO) and O. It gives me an immense satisfaction and PRIDE that MENCA has come up with flying colors
Michael Meyer: recent ISRO-NASA talks have opened door to Indian instruments on NASA 2022 Mars orbiter, or NASA ones on ISRO orbiter #mepag
Snapshot of Mars terrain
Snapshot of Mars terrain captured from a distance of 26,300 km on Dec 30, 2015. The image shows major volcanoes of Mars. Tharsis montes, Ascraeus mons and Tharsis tholus are seen in this image.
Latest Picture From Mars Orbiterhttp://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/latest-picture-mars-orbiter
This MCC picture portrays a large area of Mars covering almost 1800 km x 1800 km. MCC frames cover different extents according to the altitude of the spacecraft. MCC frame captures 20 km x 20 km when MOM is in perigee and the entire Mars Disc from altitudes 60,000 km onwards.
The major features with high (bright) and low (dark) albedo regions are covered in this shot. High albedo regions are those covered by fine dust layer which are rich in ferrous oxide contents and the low ones represents bare rock basaltic regions.
This image is taken on Dec 11, 2015 at an altitude of 16,547 km and resolution of 827 m.
The Brightest desert region of Marshttp://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/brightest-desert-region-of-mars
MCC image taken over one of the brightest desert regions of Mars called Thymiamata located at the areographic coordinates (10°N, 10°W) surrounded by Shardi, Trouvelot, Rutherford, Radau, Marth and Kalocsa craters outside the image frame.
The features found in this image are yet to be named, other than the Thymiamata region.
This image was captured on August 13, 2015 from an altitude of 4490 km with a resolution of 225 m and has been enhanced for visual appeal.
Valles Marinerishttp://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/valles-marineris
Valles Marineris is a grand canyon system present along the equator of Mars. The Valles Marineris is a large tectonic crack present on the Martian crust running up-to a length of around 4000km, 200 km wide and 7 km deep. This is an MCC multiscene images ( from Nov, 2014 acquisitions) mosaic portraying complete Valles Marineris feature produced after applying geometric and radiometric corrections. Different canyons in the Valles Marineris were seen in MCC image such as Ophir Chasma, Hydrae Chasma and Melas Chasma.
MENCA observed the evening exosphere of Mars
The Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA), onboard Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is a mass spectrometer, provides in-situ measurements of the neutral composition of the exosphere of the Mars. MENCA is capable of measuring relative abundances of neutral constituents in the mass range 1 to 300 atomic mass unit (amu); the major gases in the Martian atmosphere fall in this range. In addition to acquiring the mass spectra in a specified mass range, the instrument has a provision to track the time variation of the abundances of a set of selectable species. The observation from MENCA will help in understanding the escape of the Martian atmosphere.
At the surface of Mars, the atmosphere is rich in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and very thin (~6 millbar), about 1% of that of Earth. In the upper part of the Martian atmosphere, at around 100 km, the ultraviolet (UV) rays of sunlight breaks CO2 molecule into Carbon Monoxide (CO) molecule and Oxygen (O) atom. The CO also can be broken by solar UV radiation into C and O atoms. The oxygen atoms are about three times lighter than the CO2 molecules and two times lighter than CO molecules. Hence, oxygen atoms have larger scale height, which means it's density at higher heights falls-off slower compared to that of CO and CO2. Hence, there comes a region in Martian upper atmosphere where the number of O atoms exceeds the number of CO2 molecules. The altitude at which this change-over (CO2 dominance to O dominance) happens depends on how deep the solar UV rays penetrate the Mars atmosphere.
The figure below shows the MENCA-measured abundances of the major gases, namely, atomic Oxygen (O, 16 amu), Nitrogen molecule (N2) plus Carbon Monoxide (CO, 28 amu), and Carbon Dioxide (CO2, 44 amu), in the exosphere of Mars on 21 December 2014, during Martian evening (around sunset in the sky of Mars), from 265 km to 400 km altitude. These observations correspond to moderate solar activity conditions and when MOM’s periapsis altitude was the lowest (~265 km).
MENCA observations have shown that the abundance of Oxygen exceeds that of Carbon Dioxide at an altitude of 270 ±10 km during Martian evening. From the variation of the abundances of different gases with the altitude, the temperature of the Martian exosphere was found to be about 271 ±5 K (-7 to +3 °C). These measurements were conducted when Mars was closer to the Sun in its elliptical orbit (i.e., at perihelion); it is still cooler when Mars is farthest from the Sun.
These are the first in-situ measurements of composition during the local dusk sector on Mars, which would help in setting up the boundary conditions for models dealing with thermal escape processes. The models are basically used to understand the evolution of atmospheres to its present state and its response to various forces.
It is important to note that the CO2-to-O dominance transition altitude differs in day and night, and also varies with different seasons of Mars (due to similar tilt of rotation axis as on Earth, Mars has seasons similar to that on Earth), as well as depends on how active is the Sun.
MENCA has provided several measurements of the composition of the key species of the Martian neutral exosphere.
The above results are published in American journal, Geophysical Research Letters. vol. 43 (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/2016GL067707/full), pp. 1862–1867, (2016).
Olympus Mons - a large shield volcano on the planet Mars
Olympus Mons is a large shield volcano on the planet Mars. It has a height of nearly 22 km. Olympus Mons stands almost three times as tall as Mount Everest's height above sea level. It is the youngest of the large volcanoes on Mars, having formed during Mars's Amazonian Period. Several meteorological factors contribute to cloud formation.
This MCC image was taken on April 11, 2016 at an altitude of 22,794 km and resolution of 1,185 meters. The image shows cloud around Olympus Mons Region.
Mosaic of North Pole of Mars by MOM-MCC
MCC on-board MOM captured many images of north pole of Mars during Dec 2015 to Jan 2016. Photometric and topography corrected mosaic showing ice cap is prepared
MCC snapshot covering large region of Mars
This MCC snapshot covers a large region of mars from Coogon valles and Oxia Palus at the bottom to focas region to the right top. Oxia Palus region has been studied to have abundant clay minerals. This is a map corrected MCC data set that can be overlaid on existing maps derived from earlier Mars observation missions. High, low albedo regions along with many craters are seen.
This image was captured by MCC on April 14, 2016 from an altitude of 21,924 km and with a resolution of 1.1 km. It covers 2100 x 2100 sq.km area approximately.
MARS ORBITER MISSION
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) completed two years after its launch on November 05, 2013 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. ISRO has been continuously monitoring the spacecraft using its Deep Space Network complemented by that of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA. MOM completed its design life duration of 6 months of orbiting around Mars on March 24, 2015. It has now outlived its expected life and has spent over an year (completed on September 24, 2015) orbiting Mars.
MOM went through a communication blackout as a result of solar conjunction from June 2, 2015 to July 2, 2015. Telemetry data was received even during most of the conjunction period except for 9 days from June 10 - 18, 2015, during superior conjunction. MOM was commanded with autonomy features starting May 18, 2015, which enabled the spacecraft to survive the communication blackout situation without any ground commands or intervention. The spacecraft could therefore successfully emerge out of blackout period with auto control of spacecraft systems.
The national and international scientific community accorded laurels on ISRO for successfully placing MOM in Mars orbit in the very first attempt, and MOM was awarded one of the 25 best inventions of 2014 as listed by American News magazine ‘Time’ and Space Pioneer award of 2015 instituted by National Space Society of USA. In view of attaining this significant achievement in space technology, ISRO was awarded with Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2014.
Mars Colour Camera (MCC) has acquired more than 440 images so far. By virtue of MOM’s unique elliptical orbit, MCC could image the full Martian disc at single shot and also the Phobos and Deimos, the two moons of Mars from close distances. MOM is the only Martian artificial satellite which could image the far side of Deimos.
Mars Atlas was prepared and made available on ISRO website (www.isro.gov.in) for general public.
The Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) payload has observed several species in its neutral mass spectrum. Specific studies of altitude variation of these are made. Since Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS) has an uncooled bolometer as detector, good sensitivity is obtained only during higher temperatures and a few images are taken under appropriate observation conditions.
The Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) payload has had 80 operations so far and hydrogen Lyman alpha intensity is estimated as a function of altitude and further studies are underway.
ISRO has made an announcement of opportunity for utilising the MOM data to encourage and expand the scientific community to access and analyse the data.
Mosaic of Martian North Pole and Ice Cap from MOM
Mars Colour Camera (MCC) on-board Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) captured many images of North Pole of Mars. Topographically corrected MCC reflectance mosaic is prepared by Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad using nine MCC images observed during December 16, 2015 to January 26, 2016.
The period of observation corresponds to the solar longitude (Ls) from 82° to 100° of 33rd Martian year. To keep the track of time on Mars, the position of Mars in its orbit around the Sun is used; it is a kind of longitudinal system that goes from 0 to 360 degrees. Therefore solar longitudes (Ls) is used to keep track of the seasons on Mars; the Ls=0° is the start of northern spring and Ls=180° is the start of southern spring.
The individual images are converted to atmosphere reflectance (I/F) and then, Minnaert topographic correction is applied. The image shown is projected into Sample Azimuthal Equal Area, the resulting pieces were mosaicked for full view of the polar cap. The seasonal Martian polar caps wax and wane in response to the condensation and sublimation of carbon dioxide (CO2) resulting from seasonal insolation changes on Mars.
In northern winters (Ls=270-360°), the polar cap grows much larger in area since atmospheric CO2 freezes and deposits a layer of dry ice (frozen CO2) on top of the ice cap and the surrounding terrain. When summer returns (Ls=90-180°), warm temperatures cause the dry ice to sublimate away, and the polar cap shrinks in size.
The period of North Pole observation from MCC belongs to the end of northern spring and early summers, showing seasonal sublimation. The northern ice cap on Mars extends about 1,100 km from pole. Major topographic and surface albedo features are easily seen in this mosaic. The edge of the ice cap is surrounded by "polar layered terrain", a series of layers of ice and dust. The ground throughout the Polar Regions appears to have lots of ice in or under the soil. Winds caused by temperature differences between the ice cap and its surrounding, blow throughout the Polar Regions. They carve interesting grooves into the ice cap, and build up sand dunes in areas around the pole. Light brown areas are a mix of ice and dust and are called "polar layered terrain". Dark brown areas around the ice cap are sand dunes. The huge canyon, Chasma Boreale is seen in the ice cap on the left side of the picture.
Arena Dorsum region of Mars
This MCC image was acquired on May 14 ,2016 at an altitude of 47,437 km with a resolution of 2.37 km. MCC image covers almost the entire disk of mars. The dark and bright portions owe their albedo changes due to the materials present in those regions.
True mars color composite was produced by additional processing taking into consideration of spectral bandwidths of red, green and blue profiles, their overlap and geophysical validation. This image was also enhanced for better visual appeal.
Retreat of Northern Polar Ice Cap observed by Mars Orbiter Mission- Mars Colour Camera (MOM-MCC)
The northern polar ice cap is a mass of ice and dust layers, comprising mainly CO2 & H2O. It is approximately 1,000 kilometers across. The polar cap shows dark, spiral-shaped bands (figure 1). These are deep troughs of polar caps. Using Mars Orbiter Mission-Mars Colour Camera (MOMMCC), area of North Pole Ice Cap has been measured for retreat of Northern Polar Ice Cap during northern summer of Mars. Analysis of MCC data has shown the changes in the area of polar ice cap during the northern summer period of Mars (26th December 2015 to 22nd January 2016). MCC has acquired a large number of datasets of northern Polar Ice Caps from Solar Longitude (LS) 86° to Solar Longitude (LS) 98°. The retreat of North Polar Ice Cap was observed during this period. Figure1 shows that the area of ice cover is decreasing from 381096 Sq. km. to 340538 Sq. km (10.5%) between(LS) 86° to (LS) 98° (graph in figure 1). Blue lines in figure 1 show the area from where the ice is sublimated.
Monitoring of Northern Polar Ice Cap by Mars Colour Camera onboard Mars Orbiter Mission
Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard Mars Orbiter Mission is in a unique eccentric & elliptical orbit around Mars, which helps it to image Mars & its Moons differently as compared to other international missions. The North polar ice cap (NPIC) of Mars was imaged by MCC between Solar Longitude – (LS) 86.970 to Solar Longitude (LS) 98.550), during northern summer season on Mars. Three images were taken by MCC between 26/12/2015 & 22/01/2016 during which the altitude of MOM, from Mars, was varying from 57169 km to 71217 km.
The sublimation of polar ice was in progress and the changes in the areal extent of polar ice cap during the said period has been very accurately captured by MCC. The area of polar ice cap is estimated to have reduced from 381096 sq.km. to 340538 sq. km. (10.5%) in 12 LS (from 86.970 to 98.550) It suggests an approximate rate of 3380 sq. km. per LS observed during the period of observation. The graph shows progressive reduction in areal extent of NPIC vis.a.vis the solar longitudes. The monitoring of Martian Polar Ice Cap by MCC is well facilitated by multi-temporal images of MCC taken from apoapsis. Continuation of monitoring of the Ice caps in future can lead to significant and vital scientific information . Images from MCC instrument onboard MOM, depicts views of the northern polar region of Mars on different Solar longitude.
MOM successfully came out of ‘whiteout’ Phase
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft experienced the ‘whiteout’ geometry during May 18 to May 30, 2016. The planets continuously in motion can align with the sun causing ‘whiteout’ or 'blackout' causing communication disruptions. In this particular geometry, the Earth came in between the Sun and Mars causing a ‘whiteout’.
A ‘whiteout’ occurs when the Earth is between the Sun and Mars and too much solar radiation may make it impossible to communicate with the Earth. The maximum duration of ‘whiteout’ is around 14 days. MOM spacecraft experienced the ‘whiteout’ during last month (May, 2016). However, MOM is built with full autonomy to take care of itself for long periods without any ground intervention.
The entire planning and commanding for the ‘whiteout’ was completed 10 days before the actual event. No commanding was carried out on the satellite in the ‘whiteout’ period. Payload operations were suspended. Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery were kept enabled, so as to take care of any contingency on the spacecraft. Master Recovery Sequencer was programmed, to acquire the attitude of the spacecraft and ensure communication with earth even in case of loss of attitude.
The spacecraft came out of ‘whiteout’ geometry successfully on May 30, 2016 and has been normalised for regular operations.
It may be recalled, MOM went through a communication 'blackout' as a result of solar conjunction from June 2, 2015 to July 2, 2015. Telemetry data was received during most of the conjunction period except for 9 days from June 10-18, during superior conjunction. MOM was commanded with autonomy features starting from May 18, 2015, which enabled it to survive the communication 'blackout' period without any ground commands or intervention. The spacecraft emerged out of 'blackout' period with auto control of the spacecraft systems successfully. This experience had enabled the mission team to program a spacecraft about one month in advance for all operations.
MCC 3D View Movie made from Mars global mosaic
MCC full disc images are actually obtained in perspective geometry. These images have been rectified using geometric correction steps to align to the Mars global map including a map projection step. Each one of the full disc images covers partial portion of the Mars disc but not complete. While mosaicing the images, relative geometric differences were removed by additional image registration procedure. A seamless Mars full disc canvas was prepared, adjusting the colour differences between images.
Subsequently, the Mars Global mosaic was rendered by a 3D Planet engine with the parameters specific to Mars enabling to take any view of the planet according to the viewer position and altitude.
Eight full disc images from Dec2015 and Jan 2016 MCC were used. The Pixel Resolution was uniformly scaled to 4 km pixels.
MCC Image of Impact Crater - Flammarion
This MCC image was taken on July 10, 2016 from an altitude of 5,439 km. It covers Impact Crater called Flammarion situated at Indus Vallis. Flammarion has several layers of deposit due to different geological processes. The picture shows a heavily cratered landscape with bright and low albedo features.
This image was obtained after the "MOM White Out" during June 2016 when there was no communication to Earth.
Long eclipses of ~500 minutes expected in Feb 2017 due to eclipses occurring in apoareion compared to the <100 minute eclipses which were near periareion so far ;http://www.isro.gov.in/second-anniversary-of-mom-launch-celebrated
“While this mission was meant to last for six months, this September 24 we will be completing two years and we still have enough fuel for the five payloads working on it to last many more years. We have one activity, which we will be doing in January of next year, when the long duration eclipse period could cripple the satellite if no corrections are done,”
<snip>
“The batteries on the satellite cannot support long duration eclipse and we are going to change the trajectory of the satellite so that the eclipse duration comes down. And once that is done the satellite can last many more years and we can study multiple seasons and activities on Mars,” he added
The eclipse of Mars is expected to happen in the first half of January will last 7-8 hours. By changing the trajectory, ISRO expects to cut down the duration of the eclipse by half.
Though Mangalyaan is close to spending two years in the Martian orbit, it still contains about 30 kilograms of fuel, the ISRO chief said.
First year data of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) releasedwww.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/first-year-data-of-mars-orbiter-mission-mom-released
Chairman, ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space has released first year of MOM Long-term archive data (Sept 24, 2014 to Sept 23, 2015) to public.
With the Mars Orbiter Mission completing two years, ISRO today said it will be doing a "major event" of effecting a manoeuvre on the Orbiter next year to reduce the impact of an " eclipse duration" to allow the spacecraft "survive" for more time.
"Our next major event in the Mars Orbiter will be sometime in the beginning of next year when we will be doing a manoeuvre to reduce the impact of the eclipse duration the satellite is going to encounter," he told reporters here.
He said during an eclipse the battery in the satellite has to support its operation and if the eclipse duration is "very long" then the battery may not be able to support it.
"So we intend to do a manoeuvre of the spacecraft so that the impact of eclipse duration will reduce and with that we will be able to survive for many more years because the satellite still has large (amount of) fuel left in it," he added.
Global images of Mars: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2016/20161006-fun-with-mom-mcc.htmlBeautiful ! Emily's efforts in this deserves to be lauded. I too feel that the greatest impact that MOM would have in popularising Mars exploration would be through these beautiful global snaps, even if it has limited scientific value. Her feedbacks are valuable, and needs to be conveyed back to the MOM team and the ISRO leadership. I'm wondering how..
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is forecasting the arrival of a global dust storm on Mars within weeks. The storm is expected to envelop the red planet, and reduce the amount of solar energy available to NASA’s rovers, Opportunity and Curiosity. The storm will also make it harder for orbiters to do their work.
Masursky and Sagan - Craters on the planet Mars
The Masursky is a crater in the Oxia Palus Quadrangle of Mars. Another crater seen in the image is Sagan named after Carl Sagan, the famous astronomer.
This image was Captured on Sept. 16, 2016 from an altitude of 3319 km with a resolution of 166 m.
Juventae Fons and Baetis Chasma - Terrains on planet Mars
This MCC picture was taken on Oct. 16, 2016 from an altitude of 1015 km with a resolution of 51 m. This RGB image has been color corrected and enhanced for better visual appeal.
This spectacular terrain at the bottom of the image is known as Juventae Fons. Another terrain seen at the top left corner is known as Baetis Chasma.
Michael Mumma (who should know) says MOM methane sensor was fatally flawed http://www.seeker.com/india-mars-orbiter-mission-methane-detector-flaw-red-planet-2133861312.htmlISRO folks themselves admitted that this was kind of a rushed up mission and nothing more than a tech demo. They designed and developed most, if not all, instruments in-house and had very little input from the wider academic community. Even prior to the launch they had declared that the mission would be considered a success if it makes to the Mars orbit, and any subsequent data would be considered a bonus. By contrast, ISRO describes the upcoming MOM-2 as a pure science mission and is actively seeking proposals from the academics for its instruments.
Edit:
Some context from Nicholas Heavens
https://twitter.com/WeatherOnMars/status/806557720501489664
AHMEDABAD: Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully realigned the orbit of its Mars Orbiter Mission 'Mangalyaan' so it is not affected by long-duration eclipse, Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar said on Thursday.
"The duration of the eclipse was so long that had we done nothing, the Mangalyaan's battery capacity would have got exhausted due to lack of sun rays. No effect of the eclipse was felt on Mangalyaan on Wednesday.
"The experiment was successful. The spacecraft still has 30kg fuel left, and with realignment we expect it to work for a very long time to come," he said.
The correction in the trajectory of Mangalyaan was required to keep the power supply strong during the eclipse - caused by shadow of Mars falling on it for 7-8 hours - so that it could continue to function longer, as Mangalyaan's battery cannot support long-duration eclipse.
The correction in the trajectory of Mangalyaan was required to keep the power supply strong during the eclipse - caused by shadow of Mars falling on it for 7-8 hours - so that it could continue to function longer, as Mangalyaan's battery cannot support long-duration eclipse.
The fate of the probe was in jeopardy as it was to face an eclipse during which dark shadows of the Red Planet was to fall on the satellite, denying its solar panels any light.
The on-board battery which was to take over had a life of just about 1.4 hours, while the eclipse was to last for 8 hours. The spacecraft's future was bleak.
The scientists thought of a solution. On the night of January 17, a team of eight engineers at Indian Space Research Organisation's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, Bengaluru, sent a time-delayed command to the Mars probe.
The command set in motion firing of eight on-board thruster rockets. Each of them were fired for 431 seconds, pushing the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) space probe to a new orbit that completely avoids an eclipse up to September 2017. The shadowing in September is of a smaller duration, which the satellite's batteries can handle.
Last month's orbital manoeuvre exhausted almost 20 kg of fuel from the MOM’s stock of 30 kg.
The remaining 13 kg of fuel, Kiran Kumar said, was sufficient for the rest of its life.
The 1,337 kg probe, designed and developed on a shoestring budget of Rs 450 crore, was inserted into the Martian orbit in September 2014.
This image covers about 55 km x 55 km area with 28 m per pixel resolution in Margaritifer quadrangle of Mars. This image portrays the envelope of three linked craters outer rims.
This MCC picture was taken on December 26, 2016 from an altitude of 534 km. This RGB image has been color enhanced for better visual appeal.
MENCA has discovered 'hot' (suprathermal) Argon in the exosphere of Mars. The words 'hot' as well as 'suprathermal' indicate that they are more energetic compared to the thermal populations and hence their kinetic temperatures are higher. These observations were conducted during December 2014, when periapsis of MOM was closest to the Mars.
The presence of hot Argon atoms is revealed by the changes in its scale height in certain orbits. The increase inscale height indicates an increase in exospheric temperature, which in normal conditions is about 270 K while on orbits when hot argon is seen, the exospheric temperature is observed to be greater than 400 K. This increase in temperature is because of the significant presence of suprathermal neutral Argon atoms in the Martian exosphere. The discovery has important implications in the context of understanding the energy deposition in the Martian upper atmosphere and will help understand why the Martian atmospheric escape rates are higher than what was believed previously.
MENCA is a mass spectrometer, developed at Space Physics Laboratory of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram. MENCA is providing in-situ measurements of the neutral composition of the exosphere of Mars. MENCA has provided several measurements of the composition of the key species of the Martian neutral exosphere. Observations pertaining to the evening time exosphere of Mars, has already been published on May 02, 2016.
The above result has been published recently in the American Geophysical Union (AGU) journal Geophysical Research Letters vol. 44, 2017. doi:10.1002/2016GL072001.
This image covers about 450 km x 450 km area with 220 m per pixel resolution in sinus Sabaeus quadrangle of Mars, having Bakhuysen Crater of 64 km diameter size qualifying for large basin impact structure candidate in the southern hemisphere. There are many small craters seen above and below these features.Source (http://isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/mcc-image-of-bakhuysen-crater)
This MCC picture was taken on May 27, 2017 from an altitude of 4406 km. This RGB image has been color enhanced/local contrast enhanced for better visual appeal.
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), the maiden interplanetary mission of ISRO, launched on November 5, 2013 by PSLV-C25 got inserted into Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 in its first attempt. MOM completes 1000 Earth days in its orbit, today (June 19, 2017) well beyond its designed mission life of six months. 1000 Earth days corresponds to 972 Mars Sols (Martian solar day) and MOM completed 388 orbits.
Satellite is in good health and continues to work as expected. Scientific analysis of the data received from the Mars Orbiter spacecraft is in progress.
It's been four years since @MarsOrbiter successfully got inserted into Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 in its first attempt. #MOM's mission life was expected to be six months! So far, the Mars Colour Camera has acquired 980+ images. Mars Atlas is also ready.
India’s rendezvous with the red planet continues as its Mangalyaan (also known as Mars Orbiter Mission) completed four years in orbit on Sunday and in the process captured the seasonal variations of the planet for two Martian years. For a mission which was originally conceived for only six months, it is an achievement that all the five payloads of it is still functioning well.
The Rs 450 crore mission — hailed as cheaper than the Hollywood space movie Gravity - was launched with the PSLV-C25 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on November 5, 2013. After crossing more than 66 crore kilometres in 300 days it entered into Mars orbit on September 24, 2014 thereby creating history for India as the first nation to reach Mars on a maiden attempt.
“MOM is taking pictures from a higher altitude where it captures the whole planet. With Mars Colour Camera, we are able to see the seasonal variations of Mars for two Martian years,” says Mylswamy Annadurai, former director of Isro Satellite Centre and who was programme director for the Mangalyaan project.
Isro also released a Mars Atlas with several images of the planet.
“Some of the satellites that have survived are closer to Mars and they did not have the full view. Our orbit is bigger and we are able to take the full view of the planet,” he said. The imaging system is also able to map the topography through the dust clouds in Mars.
Currently, Indian and international scientists are analysing the data for traces of Methane, a possible signature of life. “The Methane Sensor for Mars has sent the data and the scientists are currently correlating it to establish traces of Methane. It will take time,” Mr.Annadurai said.
How has the spacecraft which carried the small scientific payload survived this long?
The Mangalyaan spacecraft carried 100 kg fuel along with it for contingency and orbit corrections. “Whatever the fuel available to control the satellite, during our manoeuvres the fuel is not wasted. It was the primary reason why the mission life was extended to four years. The spacecraft still has fuel left,” says Isro chairman K.Sivan.
In its long journey so far, the spacecraft had survived the passing of comet Siding Spring, avoided a long eclipse that could have potentially exhausted its batteries and survived the communication blackout for a period of one month from June 2, 2015, to July 2, 2015, due to the solar conjunction.
During the solar conjunction, MOM was commanded with autonomy features without any ground commands or intervention. The long eclipse was avoided by a course correction, which reduced the eclipse period from as long as eight hours to zero.
Isro designed, built and launched the spacecraft in a record time of less than two years. How was that possible? “The hardware used for Chandrayaan-1 was used for Mangalyaan which has reduced time period. It also had the novel of idea ‘slingshot’ mechanism where it orbited earth to gain the speed to escape the earth’s gravitational pull,” scientists said.
While some sections viewed it as a costly advertisement to India’s space industry, scientists said it has enhanced the image of India among the space-faring nations.
“I had a personal experience how the image of India was changed after the success of Mangalyaan mission. There is a difference in how they viewed us before Chandrayaan-1, Mangalyaan and after the two missions. The international community is taking us seriously now,” Mr.Annadurai said.
The present Isro chairman K.Sivan also echoed it. “It gave the confidence to go on bigger missions. We also tested several technologies. We will soon launch a second mission to Mars and we are looking at the technical aspects of the project,” he said.
With heavier GSLV-Mk-III rocket now ready, it could carry a larger spacecraft with heavier scientific payloads to the Mars. “After the Chandrayaan-2, Isro's next scientific mission will be Aditya-L1 to study the Sun’s corona or atmosphere,” Mr.Sivan added. The mission will study why the sun’s atmosphere is hotter than the actual surface of the sun.
The orbiter in Chandrayaan 2 is the same as the Chandrayaan 1 — that is why we were ready with the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter some three or four years ago. Unfortunately, the Russians dropped out (of making a lander and rover). That was the orbiter that was eventually used as the Mars orbiter in the Mars mission (2013-14). That is the secret behind how we were able to do the Mangalyaan project in 13 months. The lander is totally new.
Here's a small revelation on how the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft was completed so quickly -- it was the orbiter already prepared for the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which was itself a modified improvement of the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/dr-m-annadurai-project-director-chandrayaan-1-chandrayaan-2-isro-moon-5805873/QuoteThe orbiter in Chandrayaan 2 is the same as the Chandrayaan 1 — that is why we were ready with the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter some three or four years ago. Unfortunately, the Russians dropped out (of making a lander and rover). That was the orbiter that was eventually used as the Mars orbiter in the Mars mission (2013-14). That is the secret behind how we were able to do the Mangalyaan project in 13 months. The lander is totally new.
Srinivas Laxman
Mumbai:
In the excitement of India laying its footprint on the moon through Chandrayaan-2 in the early hours of September 7, perhaps not many remember that the country’s ground breaking interplanetary mission will complete five years of its operation next month.
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) pulled off a global space feat by being the first spacecraft to enter the Martian orbit on Isro’s maiden attempt itself, on September 24, 2014, at around 8 am (IST).
Launched on November 3, 2013, MOM was originally planned for a six-month mission span. But it has functioned for five years, flawlessly.
K Sivan, chairman of Isro, told TOI on Tuesday that as things stand “it can operate for several more years”.
Other Isro officials who spoke to this newspaper said that during the June 2015 solar eclipse, MOM’s orbit was slightly tweaked. This will ensure that the 2021 solar eclipse will not affect the spacecraft, one of them said. “This means the spacecraft can operate without a hitch for more years,” he said.
The officials said MOM has artificial intelligence and can function autonomously, pointing out that the spacecraft managed on its own during a solar conjunction and there were no problems.
The mission was more of a technology demonstrator than a full-fledged scientific mission. MOM’s cameras have captured breath-taking views of the Red Planet, which attracted the attention of space agencies like Nasa.
September 24, 2019 (Tuesday) marks five Earth years in the Martian Orbit for Isro's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), bringing subdued cheer at the space agency, amid a lull caused by an unsuccessful attempt at soft-landing Vikram, Chandrayaan-2's lander on Moon.
That MOM was designed for just six months around Mars makes its long life a feat for Isro, which had failed to achieve this with Chandrayaan-1, its first mission to Moon, in 2008. The lunar orbiter died before it's life, but not before a probe it dropped discovered presence of water ice.
And, it should have sent in at least 5TB of data by now, but the space agency is yet to officially announce anything on the detection of Methane at Mars, which was one of MOM's principal objectives.
"All the instruments are fine and are still sending in data. We cannot comment on the methane sensor at this moment as the data is still being analysed," an Isro official said, requesting anonymity.
Sivan K, chairman, Isro had told TOI earlier that the orbiter is expected to live on for many more years and continue sending data. "The payloads are healthy and there is sufficient fuel," Sivan said.
While multiple officials TOI spoke with said that MOM has provided the scientific community a treasure of data about the planet that has been the most exciting for Earthians, none wished to comment on methane.
A team at Byalalu (in the outskirts of Bengaluru), and scientists from the Isro Space Application Centre in Ahmedabad, which developed majority of the payloads are all working on deciphering the data, an official said.
Among the major studies the mission is conducting is the joint morphological studies using the Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and the high resolution mineralogical data with the Nasa’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) data.
The joint work with Nasa will enable identification of different minerals like sulphates and ferrous based compounds on the surface of Mars. Also, MOM has completed comprehensive imaging of the two moons of Mars—Phobos and Deimos—which has revealed new details.
And, it should have sent in at least 5TB of data by now, but the space agency is yet to officially announce anything on the detection of Methane at Mars, which was one of MOM's principal objectives.Outside experts concluded long ago that the methane sensor has a design flaw which prevents it from being used to detect methane: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29440.msg1616943#msg1616943
"All the instruments are fine and are still sending in data. We cannot comment on the methane sensor at this moment as the data is still being analysed," an Isro official said, requesting anonymity.
Feb 28, 2022
Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) used for Investigating the Solar Corona by ISRO Scientists
Utilizing the solar conjunction event, when the Earth and Mars are on the opposite sides of the Sun, a team of scientists from Space Physics Laboratory of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum; Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad; and ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore; used S-band radio signals coming from the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) to study the Solar Corona. During conjunction events, which usually happens once in approximately two years for Mars, the radio signals from MOM passes through the solar corona, as close as 10 solar radii (1 solar radii (Rʘ) = 696,340 km = about 100 Earth radii), from the center of the Sun, thus providing a unique opportunity to study solar dynamics. ISRO scientists used the conjunction event of May-June 2015 – a time when the Sun's activity was quite low, to study the turbulence in the solar corona and found that transition of solar wind from sub-alfvenic to super-alfvenic flow occurs around 10–15 Rʘ during low solar activity period.
The outer atmosphere of the Sun, called the solar corona, is the region where the temperature is several million degrees Kelvin, rendering it quite inaccessible for in-situ measurements thereby challenging the experimenters. The reason for such a high temperature of the corona is still an enigma. The solar wind, which originates in the corona and accelerates in this region, passes through the interplanetary spaces, shapes the magnetosphere of planets, as well as affects the near-Earth space environment through a phenomenon known as "Space Weather".
Since the solar corona is an ionized medium (plasma) and has its intrinsic turbulence, it is a dispersive medium for an electromagnetic radio wave passing through it. The radio signals from MOM spacecraft crossing through the solar corona during the conjunction event (cf. Figure 1) consequently experience dispersive effects. The turbulence in the corona produces fluctuations in plasma density which get registered as fluctuations in the phase of radio waves passing through it. Thus, the radio signals received at the ground station (Indian Deep Space Network, ISTRAC for MOM) contain the signature of propagating medium (solar corona) and can be spectrally analyzed to derive the turbulence spectrum of the medium. This forms the basis of the coronal radio-sounding technique which has been used by spacecraft to study coronal regions spanning maximum and minimum phases of different solar cycles.
ISRO scientists obtained coronal turbulence spectrum at heliocentric distances between 4 and 20 Rʘ by spectrally analyzing the Doppler frequency residuals from radio signals received from MOM spacecraft. This is the region where the solar wind primarily gets accelerated to velocities of a few hundreds of kilometers per second. The changes in turbulence regime are well reflected in spectral index values of the temporal frequency fluctuation spectrum. The scientists found that the turbulence power spectrum at a lower heliocentric distance (<10 Rʘ) has flattened at shorter frequencies with a smaller spectral index, which corresponds to the solar wind acceleration region. Smaller spectral index values closer to the Sun’s surface signify the energy input regime where turbulence is still underdeveloped. For larger heliocentric distances (> 10 Rʘ), the curve steepens with a spectral index close to 2/3, which is indicative of the inertial regime of a developed Kolmogorov-type turbulence, where energy is transported through cascading. This finding is consistent with those of theoretical models of solar wind turbulence and substantiates the process of turbulence energy transport and dissipation of magnetohydrodynamic waves, leading to coronal heating and solar wind acceleration in the near-Sun region.
Incidentally, this finding of ISRO scientists is also supported by the first direct observation of solar corona by Parker Probe, published very recently in an independent study.
Another intriguing observation is when the results of studies by MOM are compared with similar experiments conducted by the earlier missions which spanned past solar cycles. The work based on MOM data reports an insight into the feeble maxima of solar cycle 24, which is recorded as a peculiar solar cycle in terms of overall lower activity than any other previous solar cycle.
These outstanding science results on the solar coronal dynamics using MOM in an innovative way is published in the refereed journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, titled "A study on the solar coronal dynamics during the post-maxima phase of the solar cycle 24 using S-band radio signals from the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission", authored by Richa N. Jain,R. K. Choudhary, Anil Bhardwaj, Umang Parikh, Bijoy K. Dai, and Roopa M. V.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac056
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/mnras/stac056/6506470
PS: - India’s first mission to Mars, the MOM, was launched on 5 November 2013, and arrived at Mars on 24 September 2014. The MOM was planned for a mission lifetime of 6 months, but has successfully surpassed it by a factor of 10 – now in Martian orbit for more than 7 years, and is doing well in the extended mission phase. The MOM has provided the first measurements of the evening time exosphere of Mars (1) and has discovered hot Argon in its upper atmosphere-exosphere by the MENCA experiment onboard MOM (2).
‘Yaanam,’ the first science film in Sanskrit that revolves around the success story of India's historic Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) alias 'Mangalyaan', will be premiered before a selected audience on August 21 in Chennai
The first science film in Sanskrit in the history of world cinema, ‘Yaanam’ which revolves around India’s successful Mangalyaan mission, is all set to reach audiences this month.
He said 'Yaanam ' is based on K Radhakrishnan's [former ISRO chairman] book "My Odyssey: Memoirs of the Man Behind the Mangalyaan Mission".
"The objective of the documentary is to project the potentials of the ISRO and the capabilities of its scientists before the world. It explains how the Indian scientists have overcome all the limitations and made the complex Mars mission a huge success in the first attempt itself," he said.
Mankara said the movie was made with the complete support of ISRO, and added that the 45-minute documentary is a complete Sanskrit film by all means as the entire script and dialogues are in the ancient language.
https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/worlds-first-science-sanskrit-film-on-mangalyaan-set-for-premiere-this-month/article65730703.eceQuote‘Yaanam,’ the first science film in Sanskrit that revolves around the success story of India's historic Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) alias 'Mangalyaan', will be premiered before a selected audience on August 21 in Chennai
The first science film in Sanskrit in the history of world cinema, ‘Yaanam’ which revolves around India’s successful Mangalyaan mission, is all set to reach audiences this month.QuoteHe said 'Yaanam ' is based on K Radhakrishnan's [former ISRO chairman] book "My Odyssey: Memoirs of the Man Behind the Mangalyaan Mission".
"The objective of the documentary is to project the potentials of the ISRO and the capabilities of its scientists before the world. It explains how the Indian scientists have overcome all the limitations and made the complex Mars mission a huge success in the first attempt itself," he said.
Mankara said the movie was made with the complete support of ISRO, and added that the 45-minute documentary is a complete Sanskrit film by all means as the entire script and dialogues are in the ancient language.
India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft, which was designed to last for six months when launched on November 5, 2013, has lost communication with the ground stations, bringing an end to its life after 8 long years.
Isro is working out the details of whether the spacecraft ran out of fuel and battery power, or whether communication was lost because of an automated manoeuvre while moving out of a long eclipse changing the direction of the antenna.
However, multiple sources confirmed that it would not be possible to recover the spacecraft. Isro's UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) director on September 27 communicated the same and Isro will officially announce it soon, a scientist said.