Indian Space Program Discussion

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Raveen
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Raveen »

Varoon Shekhar wrote:Incidentally, today, Sept 20th, is 20 years since the first PSLV launch, on Monday Sept 20/1993. I remember the day, and being disappointed at the narrow failure. Someone said it would be 3 years before they get the next one going, but that was incorrect, it was only one year, and the next mission, and all the following missions after that, have been successful. I actually have the "India Today" issue from Oct 15/1993, that covers the launch, excellent article written by Raj Chengappa. It's just a rocket launch, yet he wrote so stirringly about the minor failure and the hope for future successes.

Feel free to scan and post the article for those of us who were too young to remember this
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by symontk »

Hiten wrote:GSLV mission mid-December
Chennai: With ISRO postponing the GSLV-D5 mission due to fuel leak in the second stage, director Satish Dha­wan Space Centre, Sriha­rikota, Dr M.Y.S. Prasad said the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) GSLV fitted with the new AA219 aluminum alloy’s second stage fuel tank is expected to be ready for launch, by the second week of December.

Speaking to DC on the sidelines of Aar­ush, SRM University’s techno festival on Tuesday, Dr Prasad said the faulty second stage had been sent to Liquid Propulsion Sy­s­tem Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri, near Tirunelveli, for analysis.

“While the old second stage with Afnor 7020 aluminium alloy is under analysis, work is underway to assemble the new second stage with AA219 aluminium alloy. The Work is also progressing well,” he said.

Pointing out that the scientists noticed leak on UH25 fuel at T-minus, two hours before launch through the video monitoring system, the SDSC director said that since the fuel tank was also filled up with colourless fuel and water it took them a few minutes to determine that it was the only fuel, which leaked.

“As the leak was quite heavy, we had to call off the launch and fuel to the tune of 750 kg had spilled following the leak, which had to be neutralised for safety.”

Dr Prasad also said the GSAT-14 satellite and the heat shields were removed separately from the launch vehicle. “The next GSLV mission is expected in mid Dece­mber,” he added.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130918/n ... d-december

water in fuel tank?
Its used for cooling
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

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Australia keen to access ISRO’s space data

To guard its 59,736-km-long coastline against tsunami and storms, Australia is keen to collaborate with ISRO for scientific space data.

Australia has shown interest in getting data from Indian satellite Oceansat-2, which can measure ocean colour, a specialised property.

Measuring ocean colour helps to know in advance about tsunami risks and other storms, and also in evaluating shallow water depth, said Andy Barnicoat, Chief of Minerals and Natural Hazard Division at Geoscience Australia.
“Australia has a 59,736-km-long coastline and with data from Oceansat-2, we can know in advance about tsunami and other storms. We would like to have access to highresolution data from Indian Space Research Organisation,” Barnicoat told PTI.

Oceansat-2 is an Indian satellite designed to provide service continuity for operational users of the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) instrument on Oceansat-1.

Oceansat-2 is used to study surface winds and ocean surface strata, observe chlorophyll concentrations, monitor phytoplankton blooms and study atmospheric aerosols and suspended sediments in water.

Australia is also keen to have access to positioning satellite system of India.

The Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) is an autonomous navigation system being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

IRNSS is a network of 21 ranging stations located across the country and will provide data for the orbit determination of the satellites and monitoring of the navigation signal.

The Indian positioning satellite flies past Australia in its orbit. So, it does have some foot prints about Australia and we are keen to access it, Barnicoat said.

Also, Australia wants precise data from new microwave satellite RISAT, which can monitor precise ground level changes. It also boasts of foot print satellite laser facility which will help in precise calculation of orbits. It also has the capability of taking images of Earth during day and night, as well as in cloudy conditions.

Barnicoat said he will be meeting ISRO officials in Bangalore soon.

http://idrw.org/?p=27170#more-27170
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

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India’s Mars mission: Mangalyaan to begin its 10-month journey on October 28

October 28 is set to be the next big day for the Indian space programme as the Mangalyaan (or Mars Orbiter) will lift-off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh that day using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready for the launch of the Rs. 450-crore satellite, which weighs 1350 kg. It will take about 10 months to reach the orbit of Mars traversing a distance of over 400 million kilometres.
“The satellite is in the final stages of testing. We have also got thumbs up from the review committee,” an elated ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan told NDTV.
Mr Radhakrishnan says Mangalyaan will carry five Indian scientific instruments to study the atmosphere of the Red Planet, look for traces of Methane which could indicate if life exists on Mars, take colour photos of the planet and analyse the presence of water there.
In 2008, India successfully launched its maiden mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, which brought back the first clinching evidence of the presence of water on the lunar surface. Some even suggested that this is really now an Asian space race between India and China – the two regional rivals – on who reaches Mars first.

Other experts suggest that it is not so much the inter-planetary configuration but earth bound geo-political considerations that may be weighing on India’s mind referring to the space rivalry between India and China. “We are not racing with anybody and the Indian Mars mission has its own relevance,” says Mr Radhakrishnan. He, however, admits that there is an element of ‘national pride’ involved with the mission.

Some suggest after the success of Chandrayaan-1, the natural stepping stone for India was to try to reach Mars. Mr Radhakrishnan said, “We had to prepare the spacecraft on a fast-track mode as we had a deadline to meet. Though it is a complex spacecraft, but our people have done it.” He also said that it is a critical mission for the country because after Chandrayaan-1 ISRO is looking to go deeper into the space, on a longer voyage.

http://idrw.org/?p=27162#more-27162
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by sanjaykumar »

Why the phuck would India give these data to Australia?
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by vdutta »

sanjaykumar wrote:Why the phuck would India give these data to Australia?
Because either they will pay for it or we get something in return.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Bade »

That article is very poorly written. Ocean Color cannot provide warning for Tsunamis or even shallow water depth. There are perhaps easier ways to get the latter than via measuring bottom reflectance in the visible bands of Oceansat. I think they are more interested in the wind data from the satellite which has more uses in real time hazard management.

As for sharing the data with Australia, well India uses free data from the world over. In reality, India has so far been a poor sharer of data from its IRS platforms. From what I know it places data embargoes which make it next to impossible to use the data for anyone else in the world in real time. No wonder one does not see much use of such data except in the research domain even by Indian institutions.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by ashish raval »

^^ it is impossible for satellite to detect tsunami in any shape or form by satellite. In deep water, they behave like long waves or swell waves. The water surface hardly increases by 2cm so, hence even when you are standing at point of impact on water surface you will not feel it. Only the accumulated energy is transferred at the speed of sound in deep water and as it approaches shallow water these kinetic energy is converted to potential energy which gives so much destructive power to it. There is no way satellite can detect 2cm movement unless ultra mega high resolution camera is present for which I believe the technology does not exists yet.

Underwater techniques are the best bet.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

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Nasa finding throws wet blanket on Isro’s ambitions

Nasa’s Mars rover, Curiosity, coming up empty-handed in its search for methane in the planet’s atmosphere, is likely to throw a wet blanket on India’s forthcoming mission to the Red Planet.

The revelation is likely to affect Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro’s) Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), as one of the primary objective of the Rs450 crore venture is to detect the presence of methane, a gas that on Earth is a strong indicator of life, in the Martian atmosphere. A methane sensor for Mars (MSM) is among the five scientific instruments onboard the MOM spacecraft.
Curiosity landed on Mars in August 2012 to determine whether the planted, which is the closest to Earth in the solar system in terms of its atmospheric conditions, has or ever had the chemistry and conditions to support microbial life.

According to Nasa, the roving laboratory performed extensive tests to search for traces of Martian methane. The rover analysed Martian atmospheric samples for methane six times from October 2012 to June this year, but in vain.

Data retrieved from Curiosity pointing to the inexistence of methane in the Martian atmosphere, has given rise to concerns about the fate of Isro’s MOM, which is scheduled to be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota between October 21 and November 19.

Isro’s scientists involved in the MOM project could not be reached for comments on the development. However, Nasa’s lead scientist for Mars exploration, Michael Meyer, declined to accept that it is the end of the road for Mars-bound missions.

“This important result will help direct our efforts to examine the possibility of life on Mars. It reduces the probability of current methane-producing Martian microbes, but this addresses only one type of microbial metabolism. As we know, there are many types of terrestrial microbes that don’t generate methane,” Meyer is quoted in a Nasa press release.

http://idrw.org/?p=27176#more-27176
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by MN Kumar »

avinodhin wrote:Nasa finding throws wet blanket on Isro’s ambitions

Nasa’s Mars rover, Curiosity, coming up empty-handed in its search for methane in the planet’s atmosphere, is likely to throw a wet blanket on India’s forthcoming mission to the Red Planet.

The revelation is likely to affect Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro’s) Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), as one of the primary objective of the Rs450 crore venture is to detect the presence of methane, a gas that on Earth is a strong indicator of life, in the Martian atmosphere. A methane sensor for Mars (MSM) is among the five scientific instruments onboard the MOM spacecraft.
Curiosity landed on Mars in August 2012 to determine whether the planted, which is the closest to Earth in the solar system in terms of its atmospheric conditions, has or ever had the chemistry and conditions to support microbial life.

Isro’s scientists involved in the MOM project could not be reached for comments on the development. However, Nasa’s lead scientist for Mars exploration, Michael Meyer, declined to accept that it is the end of the road for Mars-bound missions.

“This important result will help direct our efforts to examine the possibility of life on Mars. It reduces the probability of current methane-producing Martian microbes, but this addresses only one type of microbial metabolism. As we know, there are many types of terrestrial microbes that don’t generate methane,” Meyer is quoted in a Nasa press release.

http://idrw.org/?p=27176#more-27176
Very very poorly titled article. Finding Methane is just one of the missions and not its only mission. The quoted content itself contradicts the title. Just pure sensationalism.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Bade »

ashish raval wrote:^^ it is impossible for satellite to detect tsunami in any shape or form by satellite. In deep water, they behave like long waves or swell waves. The water surface hardly increases by 2cm so, hence even when you are standing at point of impact on water surface you will not feel it. Only the accumulated energy is transferred at the speed of sound in deep water and as it approaches shallow water these kinetic energy is converted to potential energy which gives so much destructive power to it. There is no way satellite can detect 2cm movement unless ultra mega high resolution camera is present for which I believe the technology does not exists yet.Underwater techniques are the best bet.
Image
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Bade »

Was this ever posted here before, nice pictures of the Mars Mission from ISRO.

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-la ... ssion.html
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by ashish raval »

^^ https://earth.esa.int/live/lg_04.gif

Do you really believe it can predict tsunami and that too with statistical error and noise ?
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Bade »

I just put up evidence that sea surface height anomalies are being measured for a decade or more with accuracies of 2-3 cm, and even better longer term stability due to instrument degradation alone at a few mm/year. Technology exists, for sure to make accurate measurements of height above the geoid. Did you not look at the color bar at the bottom ?

From this data to have a real time Tsunami warning setup is not easy, though not impossible. It is far cheaper perhaps to have what is already in place.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by ashish raval »

^^ Well that does not mean anything to detecting a tsunami or even closer to it. Ideal environment does not exist in nature.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Bade »

Now I am confused. Are you implying all remote sensing satellites are good for measuring ideal environments alone. Far from the truth. Yes, they have shortcomings all well known. One is orbit, they cannot be at the same time at all places. Other is footprint it sees. All this means you need a full constellation of satellites to measure anything routinely 24/7. That is why I said there are cheaper methods at least for Tsunami detection. Besides, just measuring sea level anomaly given all the above, say is not a sufficient condition. All of that data has to go in to some model for wave propagation as well as earthquake detection system, and all that data processed within a reasonable amount of time to issue any warnings. Is it feasible is the real question. It is not about instrument noise or sea level height measurement errors.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by ashish raval »

The gist of what I mean is satellites are both useless and inaccurate in anything related to tsunami. The only way you can 'guess' about impending tsunami is the detection of earthquake in deep water. Current numerical models need very high resolution second order schemes and supercomputers to even simulate waves generated in laboratory conditions. There are plenty of sources which can lead to errors.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by vasu raya »

Does the data generated have sufficient resolution of say a 100*100km area with wind speeds sampled at regular intervals over a years time? the goal is to study coastal wind patterns for estimating the utility of offshore wind turbines
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Bade »

^^ That is why there is a concept of ensembles even in numerical weather prediction, and they do a decent job even with large source data errors. The ensemble average is like the least action principle in classical mechanics taught at grad level as an analogy.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Bade »

vasu, yes. Such weekly and monthly climatology already exist in the public domain at the resolution you mention.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Hiten »

symontk wrote:
Hiten wrote: water in fuel tank?
Its used for cooling
Ah, thank you. Just didn't occur to me then :)
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by vdutta »

Bade wrote:Was this ever posted here before, nice pictures of the Mars Mission from ISRO.

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-la ... ssion.html
Emily lakadawala is a great person. I have been on and off following her for a long time.
Here is something of concern from the link which even i noticed when i first saw pics of mars orbiter.
Still, ISRO's leaders have played up the question of extant life on Mars as being one of the drivers for the Mars Orbiter Mission. So it's a little surprising to me to see the lack of planetary protection precautions being taken in the photos from the Mars Orbiter Mission's so-called "clean room" above. Bare hands, unmasked facial hair, uncovered clothing, and street shoes must be bringing plenty of organic material into that room, and leaving it on the spacecraft. Compare the attire of the ISRO workers to that of the people preparing MAVEN for launch on the same kind of mission to the same planet:
this kind of carelessness is not seen in isro's previous operations though.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by vinod »

vdutta wrote:
Bade wrote:Was this ever posted here before, nice pictures of the Mars Mission from ISRO.

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-la ... ssion.html
Emily lakadawala is a great person. I have been on and off following her for a long time.
Here is something of concern from the link which even i noticed when i first saw pics of mars orbiter.
Still, ISRO's leaders have played up the question of extant life on Mars as being one of the drivers for the Mars Orbiter Mission. So it's a little surprising to me to see the lack of planetary protection precautions being taken in the photos from the Mars Orbiter Mission's so-called "clean room" above. Bare hands, unmasked facial hair, uncovered clothing, and street shoes must be bringing plenty of organic material into that room, and leaving it on the spacecraft. Compare the attire of the ISRO workers to that of the people preparing MAVEN for launch on the same kind of mission to the same planet:
this kind of carelessness is not seen in isro's previous operations though.
Surprised that there is no standard attire for entering these "clean" rooms. Probably, the smart guys in there don't think it impacts their mission in any possible way.

Anyway, it would be nice if they "looked" professional with standard clothing and logos etc.! Atleast when being presented for the media.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by vdutta »

vinod wrote:Surprised that there is no standard attire for entering these "clean" rooms. Probably, the smart guys in there don't think it impacts their mission in any possible way.

Anyway, it would be nice if they "looked" professional with standard clothing and logos etc.! Atleast when being presented for the media.
though it is only an orbiter and there is no chance of it contaminating any possible life form on mars. But i agree, for photo ops or in general practice they should be more professional.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Vipul »

GSLV D5 to be launched on Dec 15: ISRO chairman.

he launch of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which was deferred on August 19 following a flaw in the rocket, will take place on December 15, ISRO head said here today.

"The launch of GSLV D5 satellite which was postponed on August 19 about two hours before liftoff after detection of a fuel leak in the rockets' second stage will now be held on December 15," ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan said at an interactive session with students and teachers here.

GSLV is a three-stage/engine rocket. The first stage is fired with solid fuel, the second is the liquid fuel and the third stage is the cryogenic engine. Geosynchronous satellites are placed in orbits 36,000 km above the earth.

Pointing to ISRO's numerous achievements in the last 50 years, he said India ranks sixth globally in space technology. The primary objective is to advance space technology and use its applications for national benefit and for the people.

Radhakrishnan said India's ambitious project Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will be launched from Sriharikota on October 28. It has undergone extensive pre-launch test at ISRO's satellite centre in Bangalore, he said.

Nearly 100 students and teachers attended the programme at the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium.
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Minerals extraction is also part of space programme goals’: ISRO

It was a long-term goal of all space research organisations to extract not only gold but also other metals, minerals and energy from other planets said ISRO Chairman K.Radhakrishnan at an interactive session with students and science teachers at the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium here on Friday.
In fact, active research was going on about tapping energy from asteroids, he said. Dr. Radhakrishnan along with Scientific Secretary V.Kodeshwara Rao answered many queries raised by the students.

“Mr. Rao is in the process of developing Astrosat to help astronomers. It will be a great contribution from India to the world,” Dr.Radhakrishnan said. Dr. Radhakrishnan explained the procedure to send a person to space which included a four-year training to survive in various conditions.

He said there were many schemes to resolve the dearth of transponders for communication in the country. India had around 195 transponders in nine communication satellites while 90 had been leased from foreign satellites. There was a requirement of around 150 more transponders that would be met in due course by launching more communication satellites, Dr. Radhakrishnan said. He explained the problems created by satellite debris in space and how it was being managed by sending them to a graveyard orbit.

Dr.Radhakrishnan was in Kozhikode for the launch of Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) forecasts for fishermen in Kannur on Saturday. The system developed by ISRO has been successfully implemented in Gujarat. With the help of the forecast, fishermen will be able to identify and go to the area where the density of fish is high.

http://idrw.org/?p=27345
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by nvishal »

I'm waiting for ISRO to disclose the possibilities of the leak
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

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Spacecraft for Mars to reach Sriharikota today for tests

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) scientists are gearing for the launch of Mars Mission this month. All the tests have been successfully cleared and the spacecraft for Mars Mission would be taken from Bengaluru to Sriharikota on Wednesday.

“The spacecraft has cleared all environmental tests and will now be moved to Sriharikota in a special container with environmental monitoring system. It will reach Sriharikota by Thursday afternoon,” Isro chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan said.
The Mars Orbiter Mission is due to be launched on October 28 at 4.15pm. At Sriharikota, a few more tests would be conducted on the spacecraft followed by fuel filling. This will then finally be integrated with the launch vehicle.

Mars Orbiter Mission —onboard PSLV-C25, is India’s maiden effort to explore the red planet.

It will place India among the six nations to launch a mission to Mars.

After leaving the Earth’s orbit, the spacecraft will cruise in deep space for about ten months using its own propulsion system and will reach Martian transfer trajectory in September 2014.
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Mars spacecraft taken to Sriharikota for October 28 launch

MUMBAI: At 6am on Gandhi Jayanti, the 1,350kg Indian Mars Orbiter began its initial journey towards the Red Planet. After a puja for the mission's success, the spacecraft was flagged off from the Isro Satellite Centre in Bangalore towards the launch centre at Sriharikota near Chennai.

The orbiter, with its five payloads, is expected to reach Sriharikota on Thursday evening. There it will undergo more tests before the launch at 4.15pm on October 28.

Fuel-filling operations will be initiated prior to its integration with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) around October 10. Simultaneously, tests will be carried out on the PSLV. The Indian Mars Orbiter Mission will also mark the silver jubilee flight of the four-stage PSLV.

Prior to its departure for Sriharikota, the spacecraft was placed in a special container equipped with an environmental monitoring system. The spacecraft is being taken in a truck and its route has been kept under wraps. It is being escorted by a battery of CISF personnel. Around noon on Wednesday, TOI was informed the convoy with the special cargo had reached Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu.

"As it passed various towns and villagers en route to Sriharikota, hardly anyone from these places knew what this convoy was carrying," an Isro official said. Throughout the journey, there was an exchange of information between those accompanying the convoy and the Isro team at the Bangalore centre.

With the lift-off date approaching, hotels in Chennai have started getting bookings from national and international media outlets looking to cover the much-awaited launch.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

http://www.isro.org

The ISRO website already has a feature on the Mars Mission, more than 3 weeks before the launch date. They seem to be buoyant and confident about this mission- that's good!

If a layman on the street were to ask "what's the major technological difference between the Moon and Mars missions" what would the answer be. Is it just software and tracking/communication( which is significant enough). The vehicle appears the same, and the weight/mass of the spacecraft is the same as Chandrayaan, 1380kg!
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Post by kit »

Varoon Shekhar wrote:http://www.isro.org

The ISRO website already has a feature on the Mars Mission, more than 3 weeks before the launch date. They seem to be buoyant and confident about this mission- that's good!

If a layman on the street were to ask "what's the major technological difference between the Moon and Mars missions" what would the answer be. Is it just software and tracking/communication( which is significant enough). The vehicle appears the same, and the weight/mass of the spacecraft is the same as Chandrayaan, 1380kg!
Though most people would say it is the deep space tracking,communications remote sensing and factual data from sensors., the fact is these nations will have pioneer status when a situation in the not so far off future makes it feasible to extract exotic materials etc. I find it surprising that it is hardly mentioned anywhere.India would do well in investing for its future.

analogy is very much like artic and Antarctic explorations..just imagine if it is suddenly feasible to extract large hydrocarbon deposits from Antarctic..
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ISRO-NASA to launch satellite

In a first, Nasa and Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will join forces to manufacture and launch an all-weather satellite to support disaster management, understanding movement of tectonic plates to climate change and estimation of crop and tree cover.

Dr K. Radhakrishnan, the chairman of ISRO, said, “It is the turning point in India-US relations,” adding that the new satellite will be the precursor for joint space missions in future. “It is a recognition of our ability to build and launch satellites,” he said.
An agreement to draw up the project report was signed on September 25, coinciding with the birth anniversary of the late chairman Prof. Satish Dhawan. Teams from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and ISRO’s Satellite Centre (ISAC), will put the satellite together for launch onboard an Indian rocket in 2019-2020.

He said on completion of the project report, the governments of both nations will decide on funding the project which,according to back-of-the-envelop calculations, could be in excess of Rs 1000 crores. “We have been talking to Nasa as a part of the India-US civilian space cooperation deal, and took the initiative forward during the recent visit of administrator Charles Bolden to New Delhi and Ahmedabad.

JPL has agreed to provide its ground station to monitor the orbiter to Mars.

http://idrw.org/?p=27503
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US govt shutdown may force Isro to delay October 28 Mars mission launch by 2 years

BANGALORE: While the US government shutdown has inconvenienced millions of Americans, it's also worrying Isro scientists working on India's ambitious space programme to Mars.

The Rs 450 crore Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), scheduled for lift-off at 4.15pm on October 28, could be without Nasa's communication and navigation support. US space agency Nasa has asked 97% of its 18,000-strong workforce to go on unpaid leave. This has left many of its stations worldwide unmanned. The Isro mission is banking on such stations to track the spacecraft.

If the programme misses the October 28-November 19 launch window, India may have to ground the mission for at least two years.

Nasa had agreed to provide reimbursable communication and navigation support to Indian Space Research Organisation for MOM during the launch and post-launch phases when the spacecraft is out of coverage area of its navigation system.

Nasa was to help in accurate determination/ reconfirmation of orbit and position of spacecraft. "Nasa is currently closed due to a lapse in government funding. I am in furlough status; therefore, I am unable to respond to your message at this time," was the auto-reply from Nasa spokesperson to TOI's queries on this matter. Last month, he had told TOI about Nasa support to MOM.

An Isro spokesperson said: "It is too early to comment about this." Nasa support will cost Isro about Rs 70 crore.

Sources in Isro explained that the launch window is crucial as Mars and Earth will not be in positions suitable for such a programme till the end of 2015 or beginning of 2016. Prof UR Rao, chairman of the national committee of experts which cleared the project, declined to comment, saying it's a "political" matter.

But he said: "The launch window is important. We're trying to launch the spacecraft in the beginning of the window. If not November 19, we have time till early December. But once that is lost, we'll have to wait for two years."

He said traditionally, Isro avoids launching from Sriharikota during October and November. "It is generally avoided as it is cyclone season. But given the fact that such an opportunity will not be available for years if missed, we scheduled the launch and are hoping that weather does not play spoilsport."

The spacecraft which left Bangalore on Wednesday, reached launch site Sriharikota on Thursday evening. With components of the launch vehicle PSLV C 25 already at the launch site, integration of the spacecraft will begin on October 10.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 546498.cms
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NASA findings won’t affect Mars mission, say ISRO officials

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists denied Thursday findings relayed by NASA rover Curiosity on September 19, that there is no trace of methane on the surface of Mars, have undermined Mangalyaan Mission or Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).

The first ISRO mission outside the gravitational field of the Earth, scheduled for launch on October 28, is also set to look for methane, a possible sign of life having existed on the red planet.
“The main MOM objective is to be a technology demonstrator for interplanetary missions, to demonstrate that we can travel to outer space and insert a spacecraft into the Mars orbit,” said Deviprasad Karnik, director of public relations at ISRO.

S K Shivakumar, director of the ISRO Satellite Centre who shipped the spacecraft to Sriharikota Thursday, said MOM findings from a distance could support Curiosity findings or provide evidence of a portion of Mars not explored by Curiosity.

ISRO has, meanwhile, altered science objectives of the mission to study “Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments”.

It hit the final lap of the Rs 450-crore mission Thursday, with the spacecraft dispatched from Bangalore Wednesday reaching Sriharikota signalling the next phase — integration of the orbiter with its launch vehicle, the ISRO workhorse PSLV-C25.

The spacecraft and the launch vehicle will undergo a series of checks before the integration by October 10.

“We have now entered the 24/7 work mode. All stations will be in constant work mode. What has been a fairly big and national effort will now narrow down to a core team effort. There may be 40-50 scientists involved in the phase to the countdown,” said Shivakumar.

“Though spacecraft launches on the PSLV are routine for ISRO, there is anxiety about the Mars mission because it is new. We have not ventured outside the

influence of the Earth,” Karnik said.

Over the next few days, ISRO will also undertake fuelling of the launch vehicle. The mission will require some 852 kg of rocket fuel, 40 kg more than Chandrayaan 1, to take the orbiter on its 299-day, 400-million-km journey to the Mars orbit.

The spacecraft will rotate around the Earth orbit for a month before launching to the Mars orbit on November 30. It will be injected into Mars orbit on September 21, 2014.

ISRO officials said the weight of the spacecraft and its payload of five scientific instruments had been kept 1,343 kg because the PSLV can carry only around 1,600 kg.

“With a lower mass, we can achieve a higher apogee (furthest distance from Mars). It is not a compromise,” Shivakumar said.

Former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair, however, said the PSLV restricts the scope of the mission, the 52nd such in the world. A mission using the under-development heavy lift GSLV (geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle) would have taken the orbiter closer to Mars with more instruments, he said.

“We cannot get anywhere near a circular orbit of Mars on this mission. For any remote-sensing application to be accurate and meaningful, it has to be a circular orbit. In this case, the closest distance between the spacecraft and Mars is expected to be around 350 km and the farthest 80,000 km.

“No meaningful experimentation can be done,” the former ISRO chairman said.

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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

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http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/scienc ... 204371.ece

India's October 28 Mars mission on schedule: ISRO
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

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Varoon Shekhar wrote: If a layman on the street were to ask "what's the major technological difference between the Moon and Mars missions" what would the answer be. Is it just software and tracking/communication( which is significant enough). The vehicle appears the same, and the weight/mass of the spacecraft is the same as Chandrayaan, 1380kg!
That is a good question. To me, just getting into the orbit of Mars is both mind-boggling and so beautiful. Sure it is all science. But close your eyes to imagine, we are shooting out a vehicle (from a moving object), and targeting another moving object which is at the minimum 50+ million kilometers.
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Nasa reaffirms support to India's Mars orbiter mission: Isro

BANGALORE: Nasa has reaffirmed its communications and navigation support to India's Mars orbiter mission and stated that the current US government partial shutdown would not affect Isro's launch schedule.


India's Mars 0rbiter mission (MOM) spacecraft is scheduled for launch on the afternoon of October 28. The launch window remains open till November 19.

The American NASA/JPL ( Jet Propulsion Laboratory) is providing communications and navigation support to this mission with their Deep Space Network facilities.

"Nasa/JPL authorities have reaffirmed support for the MOM as planned and stated that the current US government partial shutdown will not affect the schedule of MOM," Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation ( Isro) said in a statement.
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Re: Indian Space Program Discussion

Post by Bade »

This is not surprising as JPL is still in business as it is out of Caltech. There was an article in CNN on NASA's Hubble which mentioned it too.

http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/anten ... tions.html

The site is not completely off the web like other NASA sites either. It is all contractors manning it and perhaps all paid already so need to work, even if from home.
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Deep Space Network is an essential government service. It won't be shutdown unless something beyond imaging happens. We have missions on going from Pluto to Jupiter to Mars. We also have Mission Control with astronauts in space. None of that can be shut down unless we have civilizational failure. Trust me, if the IRS is still demanding money from US citizens (and it is), Deep Space Network is still functioning.
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India’s Mars mission: The countdown begins for ISRO’s voyage to the Red Planet

It’s baby steps to deep space. But the 400-million kilometres, 299-day, rs 450-cr voyage to Mars, set to launch on October 28, is also a leap of faith for ISRO, explains JOHNSON T A

Though science is at the core of their work, scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation are a religious group. In the past, ISRO chairmen have been known to transport toy models of spacecraft and launch vehicles to temples around south India for blessings of gods. As work at over five different ISRO centres began converging this week towards the planned October 28 launch of the space agency’s Mission to Mars, or the Mangalyaan Mission, religious rituals are back to the fore.
Ahead of the rollout of the spacecraft—the 1,343-kg main bus carrying the 15-kg Mars Orbiter—prayers were conducted for success and blessings were sought for the spacecraft.

Over the next three weeks, as final checks are conducted, 852 kg of solid and liquid fuel is loaded for rocket engines, the spacecraft is integrated with the launch vehicle and the final countdown is started, a core group of 50 scientists will be at work 24/7.

***
The scientists can be forgiven for invoking god this time. Once at the forefront of space-faring nations, India has fallen behind in recent years, with no commercial launches of note, failed missions—including experiments with the heavy lift Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)—and a scam embroiled ISRO.

The Rs 450-crore Mars Orbiter Mission is being seen at the space agency as a chance at redemption. Despite its relative lack of novelty in global terms, the mission is a challenge for ISRO since it will be the agency’s first attempt outside the sphere of influence of Earth. A Russian-Chinese joint attempt to send an orbiter to Mars failed in November 2011 after the spacecraft failed to leave Earth’s orbit and crashed back.

The numbers alone tell the challenges: the interplanetary journey has been attempted 51 times since the Russians aimed for Mars in 1960, and only 21 of these—restricted to three space agencies (from the US, Russia and Europe)—have been successful.

It will take 299 days for the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft to traverse the 400 million kilometres to reach an orbit around Mars for example. Every piece of communication that the spacecraft sends will have a 40-minute lag before it is received.

The launch is scheduled for the October-November window, when Mars is closest to Earth (a window that opens every 780 days).

The priority of the mission, according to the Department of Space and ISRO, is to understand how to carry out deep-space missions in order to sit at the high table of nations with these capabilities. “It will bring strategic advantage to India in the international decision-making process on matters related to Mars,” believes the Department of Space.

As ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan stated a few months ago, following government nod to the mission, their next goal would be investigating the atmosphere of Mars. Dr M Annadurai, who was the project director for Chandrayaan-I and is responsible for the Mars Mission, says: “It is a logical extension of the Moon Mission.”

***
So, at the end of October, ISRO will send a small spacecraft with a 15-kg payload, comprising five instruments, to orbit around Mars—at distances ranging between 350 km and 80,000 km—and to carry out experiments that have largely been done by several other missions. Originally intended in 2006 to be an ambitious 500-kg payload with multiple instruments, it was scaled down primarily on account of the repeated failure of test missions of the indigenous GSLV programme since 2010.

The stalling of the GSLV programme, meant to carry heavy spacecrafts deep into space and expected to be the bedrock of the Indian space programme, has meant that the Mars Mission is going to be carried out by the PSLV XL, a tried and tested vehicle.

The PSLV XL was proven in the Chandrayaan-I, GSAT 12 and RISAT missions of ISRO. The main spacecraft on which the Mangalyaan mission will take place is a variation of the existing 1,350-kg Chandrayaan mission bus.

“Originally the mission was planned on the GSLV. In that case we could have had 12 instruments, and we could have gone to a respectable orbit around Mars. But now, since the GSLV is not ready, an alternative is being sent to Mars using the PSLV. This is a compromise solution,” says former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair, who was discredited in 2011 by the Antrix-Devas scam.

According to Nair, the Mars Mission is only a showpiece that is not going to push the Indian space programme forward in any way since it is largely an improvement on the Moon Mission and INSAT programmes in terms of mission strategies.

ISRO’s overall Mars Mission in-charge Dr Annadurai is however of the view that it poses new tests and challenges for the space agency. “The approach to Mars must be with the required velocity at the proper location and direction. This calls for doing orbit transfer at the precise time, precise orientation and imparting precise velocity increments,” he says.

“Mars, its atmosphere, its gravity field, these are all things one has to take into account in mission calculations,” notes ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan.
***
One of the key challenges the mission faces, according to ISRO officials, is restarting the spacecraft engine after 300 days, when the Orbiter enters the Martian orbit.

After its launch, the Orbiter will go into Earth orbit and six engine firings will raise the orbit to a maximum of 2,15,000 km and a minimum of 600 km in about a month. The Orbiter is scheduled to head for Mars with a final firing of engines around November 30, 2013, and will enter the Mars orbit on September 21, 2014.

According to Nair, the Mangalyaan’s orbit distance of a minimum of 350 km and a maximum of 80,000 km around Mars is also not conducive to the best of experimentation. “With the orbit varying over such large distances, no meaningful experimentation can be done. Not even a good picture will come out of it,” he says.

However, Annadurai counters him, saying that the Mangalyaan’s orbit will enable both near and far images of Mars.

***
There are already five other active Mars missions in progress in outer space—NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter, the European Space Agency’s nearly 10-year-old Mars Express Orbiter, NASA’s nine-year-old Mars Exploration Rover called Opportunity, the seven-year-old Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter and the one-year-old Mars Science Laboratory rover called Curiosity.

Some of the experiments that the Mangalyaan Mission proposes to conduct, like searching for methane on Mars as an indicator of the possibility of life, have already been conducted by some of the recent missions.

NASA’s Curiosity rover, which reached Mars in August 2012, is roaming the surface of Mars conducting experiments and NASA scientists using data from Curiosity reported on September 19 that there is no methane—a possible indication that there may be no life on Mars.

“It reduces the probability of current methane-producing Martian microbes, but this addresses only one type of microbial metabolism. As we know, there are many types of terrestrial microbes that don’t generate methane,” NASA’s lead scientist for Mars exploration Michael Meyer was quoted as saying in an official NASA release following the Curiosity findings.

ISRO scientists are of the view that the NASA findings will not have a bearing on the Mangalyaan Mission. “We will be looking at Mars differently from what Curioisity has done. There can be new findings or confirmations of findings,” says ISRO Satellite Centre Director S K Shivakumar.

NASA is also scheduled to launch its own new orbiter mission to Mars called Maven on November 18 to study the geography of Mars. NASA’s Deep Space Network will incidentally be supporting the Mangalyaan mission as part of US-India space cooperation that began with the Chandrayaan mission.

During periods when the Mars spacecraft cannot be tracked by the Indian Deep Space Network located outside Bangalore, it will be tracked by NASA.

MISSION OBJECTIVES

* Orbit manoeuvres to ensure final capture into Martian orbit

* Development of force modls and algorithms for orbit and attitude computations and analyses

* Maintain the probe in all phases of the mission, meeting power, communications, thermal and payload operation requirements

* Look for methane on Mars, for detection of life on the planet

EYE ON THE SKY

* During the launch, the Mangalyaan Mission will be tracked by two specially equippeed Shipping Corporation of India ships–Yamuna and Nalanda, positioned in the South Pacific Ocean.

* During its journey from Earth to Mars, the MarsOrbiter will be tracked using he Indian Deep Space Network at Baylalu on the outskirts of Bangalore and sea-borne S-band terminals.

*At the time of the Mars capture in September 2014, tracking and communication with the satelite will be done using the 70-metre antenna of NASA’s deep space network at Canberra in Australia.

Team

S K Shivakumar: The Director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, which built the Mars Orbiter and spacecraft. An engineer from the Indian Institute of Science, he was earlier the head of ISRO’s telemetry, tracking and command network, ISTRAC. He helped set up the Indian Deep Space Network that was used for tracking the Chandrayaan-I moon mission of 2008. He subsequently took over as director of the satellite centre, which is responsible for making all ISRO satellites. While he has babysitted dozens of ISRO satellites, Shivakumar calls India’s maiden mission to the moon his most challenging. “Now we are going even further—beyond the one million mile sphere of influence of Earth,” he says.

Dr Mylswamy Annnadurai: The Programme Director of IRS & SSS (Indian Remote Sensing & Small, Science and Student Satellites) at ISRO, he was the project director of the Moon Mission and is overseeing the one to Mars as well. Since joining ISRO in 1992, he has managed missions for the INSAT series communication satellites. Prior to the Moon Mission, he had been a recipient of the Hariom Pretit Vikram Sarabhai Research Award for outstanding contribution to sytems analysis and space system management. He works 18-hour days these days. “I see this as a lifetime opportunity,” he says.

P Kunhikrishnan: He is the Mission Director for the launcher. From the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kunhikrishnan has seven successful PSLV launches under his belt since 2009. He has been involved with development of three versions of the launch vehicle—generic, core alone and XL—to place spacecraft in different destinations. For the Mars mission, the XL version of the PSLV is being utilised.

S Arunan: The Project Director for the Mars Orbiter. For the senior scientist with the ISRO Satellite Centre, the Mars Mission is a maiden venture as Project Director. His team created the Mars Orbiter for ISRO in 12 months and is now bracing for sleepless nights as the mission approaches countdown.

Dr V Kesavaraju: The Mission Director for the post-launch operations. A team led by Dr Kesavaraju of the ISRO Satellite Centre will monitor the Mars Mission following its launch, including tracking it in outer space. Dr Kesavaraju has been involved with building multiple satellites

for ISRO over the years. He was mission director for ISRO’s Cartosat.

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