Author Topic: ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission - Nov 2013 launch to September 2014 arrival - UPDATES (Read 818748 times)

Star One · « **Reply #40 on:** 12/19/2012 07:17 pm »

Quote from: antriksh on 12/18/2012 07:49 pm

Quote from: Sparky on 12/18/2012 07:11 pm
Quote from: antriksh on 12/18/2012 05:31 pm
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.

If it's anything like the TGO with ESA I would have thought NASA would provide the communications package pre-built by them?

antriksh · « **Reply #41 on:** 01/04/2013 04:29 pm »

India reaches out for Mars in October

India’s space mission to Mars, expected to be launched in October, will look for signature of life and the reasons for loss of atmosphere on the red planet, a top scientist said here.

“We should get the five payloads by March and we plan to start integrating them in the satellite from April,” Jitendra Nath Goswami, director of the Physical Research Laboratory and closely involved with the Mars mission, said.

As per existing plans, the satellite is expected to exit the Earth’s orbit on November 26 and embark on the journey to Mars which is expected to last for around 300 days. The scientists have drawn up plans to insert the satellite in an orbit around Mars on September 22 next year.

“The previous missions to Mars have shown that there was water on the planet. We would want to know how and why the planet lost water and carbon dioxide,” Goswami told reporters on the sidelines of the 100th Indian Science Congress here. “Nobody has done research why water was lost. We are trying to do things which were not precisely or exactly done,” Goswami said.

Payload
Among the payloads for the mission is the Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser which would study the Martian atmosphere and a Methane Sensor to look for of the gas, considered as a signature for life, on the planet.

“We want to know whether the source of methane is thermogenic or biogenic,” he said. The Thermal Infrared Imaging System would take pictures of the planet during the night.

Challenges

A key challenge before the scientists is navigating the spacecraft from the earth to Mars in deep space using the Deep Space Network at Baylalu on the outskirts of Bangalore.

Another challenge would be to re-activate the temporary inactive sub-systems of the spacecraft once it reaches Mars after a 10-month journey through deep space.

Orbiter
The liquid rocket engine, capable of generating a 440 Newton thrust, would be required to steer the spacecraft into the Martian orbit.

The spacecraft will have bi-propellant system using monomethylhydrazine and di-nitrogen tetroxide as fuel with additional safety and redundancy features for Mars orbit insertion.

The spacecraft, with a 1350 kg lift-off mass, will have a single solar array with three panels of 1400 x 1800 mm capable of generating 750 watts of power in the Martian orbit.

It will also be equipped with a 36 AH Lithium-ion battery for power storage.

For attitude and orbit control, the spacecraft will be equipped with four reaction wheels, eight thrusters of 22 Newton each and a 440 Newton liquid rocket engine.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130104/news-current-affairs/article/india-reaches-out-mars-october

Galactic Penguin SST · « **Reply #42 on:** 01/04/2013 04:47 pm »

Quote

“We should get the five payloads by March and we plan to start integrating them in the satellite from April,”

This sounds awfully tight to meet the October launch date (for comparison, what is the current integration status of MAVEN?).......

Hopefully the Indian engineers and scientists aren't under too much pressure to meet the 2013 window - just as the Russians/Americans had learned the painful lesson of skipping whole system testing on Phobos-Grunt/MCO/MPL.........

antriksh · « **Reply #43 on:** 01/04/2013 10:05 pm »

antriksh · « **Reply #44 on:** 01/05/2013 02:49 am »

Mars orbiter payloads: (information collected from internet)

1. Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA)
MENCA (Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser) is based on the technique of quadrupole mass spectrometry and it operates in the mass range of 1-300 amu. The scientific objective of MENCA is to explore the Martian exospheric neutral density and composition at an altitude of ~500 km and above from the surface of Mars and to examine its radial, diurnal, and seasonal variations. The low inclination of the proposed orbit will provide an opportunity to encounter Phobos, one of the two natural satellites of the Mars, on few occasions. This will enable to estimate the upper limits of the neutral density distribution around it. The study of Martian exosphere is important for understanding the escape rate of of Martian atmosphere and its impact on Mars’ climate change.

2. Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP)
Measurement of atmospheric deuterium to hydrogen abundance ratio (D/H) is vital to examine the escape process of water in the current atmosphere and also understand the loss process of water in the evolutionary history of a planet. Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) is a miniaturized ultraviolet photometer primarily designed for D/H measurement of the upper atmosphere of Mars.

3. Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM)
It is designed to measure methane in the Martian atmosphere with ppb accuracy and map its sources. It is based on Fabry Perot (FP) etalon filters that work on the principle of multiple beam interferometry.

4. Thermal infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS)
It is a grating based spectromete that uses un-cooled micro-bolometer array as detectors. TIS will measure thermal emissions from mars surface.

5. Mars Color Camera (MCC)
It is designed to work in the visible range (0.4 micron- 0.7 micron) and is optimized to work from a highly elliptical orbit 500 x 80,000 km.

sanman · « **Reply #45 on:** 01/05/2013 03:04 am »

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/01040907-isro-mars-update.html

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/mars-mission-launch-in-october/article4272603.ece

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-set-to-launch-Mars-mission-in-November/articleshow/17895263.cms

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mars-mission-gets-october-2013-launch-date-deadline-as-india-reaches-out-to-the-stars/1054576/0

http://spaceref.com/mars/curiousmars-2013-to-debut-u-s-and-indian-mars-atmospheric-orbiters-while-challenging-china-in-asian.html

antriksh · « **Reply #46 on:** 01/06/2013 05:03 pm »

Mars orbiter payloads (Total wight = 14.49 kg):

1. Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) wt = 4 kg
MENCA (Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser) is based on the technique of quadrupole mass spectrometry and it operates in the mass range of 1-300 amu. The scientific objective of MENCA is to explore the Martian exospheric neutral density and composition at an altitude of ~500 km and above from the surface of Mars and to examine its radial, diurnal, and seasonal variations. The low inclination of the proposed orbit will provide an opportunity to encounter Phobos, one of the two natural satellites of the Mars, on few occasions. This will enable us to estimate the upper limits of the neutral density distribution around it. The study of Martian exosphere is important for understanding the escape rate of of Martian atmosphere and its impact on Mars’ climate change.

2. Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) wt = 1.5 kg
Measurement of atmospheric deuterium to hydrogen abundance ratio (D/H) is vital to examine the escape process of water in the current atmosphere and also understand the loss process of water in the evolutionary history of a planet. Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) is a miniaturized ultraviolet photometer primarily designed for D/H measurement of the upper atmosphere of Mars. LAP will measure the present day D/H ratio that will be compared with the original D/H ratio estimated from observing pristine comets and asteroids. The comparison will tell us how much hydrogen and therefore water has been lost over the life time of the planet.

3. Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) wt = 3.59 kg
It is designed to measure methane in the Martian atmosphere with ppb accuracy and map its sources. It is based on Fabry Perot (FP) etalon filters that work on the principle of multiple beam interferometry.

4. Thermal infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS) wt = 4 kg
It is a grating based spectrometer that uses un-cooled micro-bolometer array as detectors. TIS will measure thermal emissions from mars surface.

5. Mars Color Camera (MCC) wt = 1.4 kg
It is designed to work in the visible range (0.4 micron- 0.7 micron) and is optimized to work from a highly elliptical orbit 500 x 80,000 km.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/india-scales-down-mars-mission/article4279757.ece

I feel the current proposed orbit 500x80,000 might have changed as the payload weight has come down from previous 25 kgs to roughly 15 kgs allowing for more fuel that in turn will allow for orbit corrections at Mars. or they are adding more redundancy features and autonomous capabilities to the orbiter.

Mars Orbiter replica

Satori · « **Reply #47 on:** 01/07/2013 10:37 am »

From Xinhua, India scales down experimental flying payloads for exploring Mars.

sanman · « **Reply #48 on:** 01/08/2013 09:11 am »

antriksh · « **Reply #49 on:** 01/08/2013 05:15 pm »

From NDTV video

Star One · « **Reply #50 on:** 01/08/2013 05:37 pm »

This all seems very rushed I hope this aspect doesn't come back to haunt them.

antriksh · « **Reply #51 on:** 01/08/2013 06:19 pm »

Quote from: Star One on 01/08/2013 05:37 pm

This all seems very rushed I hope this aspect doesn't come back to haunt them.

ISRO and other concerned institutions are trying there best to meet the 2013 launch window. Its a technology demonstration mission. What ever may be the outcome, the learning will help in the future missions.

The main challenges ISRO is looking to overcome are:

Radiation shielding: In the Mars mission, the orbiter will have to face prolonged radiation in the Van Allen belt. This necessitates augmented radiation shielding for the orbiter.

In-built autonomy: Due to the large distance of 55-400 million km between Earth and Mars, there is a one way communication delay of 20 minutes. This necessitates high order of autonomy in-built within Mars orbiter.

Robust and reliable subsystems: Mars orbiter will take 300 days to reach the Mars where its subsystems will be switched on again. This demands robust and reliable subsystems design for the success of the mission. Particularly, propulsion system that will have to work again after 300 days of journey to Mars.

Mars orbit capture: Mars orbit insertion is the most critical part of the mission that will decide its success.

sanman · « **Reply #52 on:** 01/08/2013 11:39 pm »

It's always good to be pushing the envelope, because that let's you know where your deficiencies are.

Plus it's good practice for future lunar missions, since Mars is harder to reach and operate at across a distance.

At $80M, it's not like ISRO is risking the half-billion-dollar cost of NASA's Mars missions. And if it's successful, it could pave the way for more such low-cost missions.

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?

antriksh · « **Reply #53 on:** 01/09/2013 04:39 am »

Quote from: sanman on 01/08/2013 11:39 pm

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?

My guess, It is to do with the radiation exposure duration. Chandrayaan TLI took place after 14 days. During this period, the craft was passing through the belt. In the case of Mangalyaan, TMI will take place after close to 30 days (assuming Oct 23 launch and Nov 26 TMI), so much longer exposure duration.

sanman · « **Reply #54 on:** 01/10/2013 11:09 pm »

So I guess the spiral out to TMI is longer than the spiral out to TLI, thus resulting in the greater duration of Van Allen Belt exposure.

antriksh · « **Reply #55 on:** 01/11/2013 03:51 am »

From what I have gleaned from the net about the orbits, the final apogees before insertion are 267,000 km for CH and 215,000 km for MA. The perigees are 250 km for CH and 600 km for MA.

antriksh · « **Reply #56 on:** 02/11/2013 04:10 am »

Galactic Penguin SST · « **Reply #57 on:** 02/26/2013 06:07 am »

Informative short paper about the mission to be presented on the 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2013/pdf/2760.pdf

Star One · « **Reply #58 on:** 03/01/2013 04:06 pm »

Is there any possibility this mission will be delayed because of concerns over the comet approaching Mars and any difficulties it may cause even with a near miss?

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #59 on:** 03/02/2013 06:00 am »

I think its very unlikely that a comet will stop ISRO launching the probe. More likely are technical problems on the ground.