Bharat Rakshak

Is this Mark 2 or Mark 3?

You mean a journalist must not titillate?

But what this piece of doubt is doing in this space program forum, until we not get any clarification or exact description.

So it was a payload faring and not related to warhead

http://tarmak007.blogspot.com/2012/03/gslv-mk-iii-payload-fairing-completes.html

I was about to post the same:p

So they are skipping ahead to Mk-III without qualifying the basic design?

[quote="Kailash"]So they are skipping ahead to Mk-III without qualifying the basic design?[/quote

MKIII is a completely different design with not much in common with the others.

Just like repeated failures of ASLV did not deter ISRO to launch PSLV

From Tarmak's blog.

Is that a typo or do they mean qualifications for both types are on concurrently?

^^
A Mk2 launch now would not be the first, would it It should be the Mk-III

The D3 which failed was a Mk2, if I am not totally mistaken.

**Added later From ISRO website:

India's spy satellite to be launched in April

About Risat-1. Anyone know when Cartosat-3 is due for launch?

^^^
Nice to hear about the RISAT-1 launch coming up.It's eagery awaited! Not to be nitpicking, but wasn't this supposed to be launced around March 15th? A good side note is that RISAT-2 is confirmed to be an Indian satellite with an Israeli made SAR. A couple of reports tended to suggest that the entire satellite was Israeli.

^^ As per a chaiwallah outside ISRO campus, the SAR was the major delaying factor and the guys in that team literally put in their blood, sweat and tears to resolve all the SAR related issues.

Apparently, the worst is now behind them and the RISAT is good to go after final testing..

Wonder what the huge weight difference between RISAT-2 and RISAT-1 is only due to SAR antenna or something else (a jingo would hope for extra fuel for maneuvers to increase revisit time).

^^^ there are multiple differences, SAR being one... Mission payload, fuel, longer lifespan - so larger solar array, SDRE over engineering, enhanced number crunching. Packing multiple mission requirements into one satellite...

Isro gets Rs 125 cr for Mars mission, eyes Nov 2013 launch.

After the moon mission, Isro's plans for Mars exploration got a shot in the arm with the government allocating the ambitious programme Rs 125 crore in the Union Budget announced today.The budget documents state that the space agency plans to launch a Mars Orbiter as early as November next year with a 25 kg scientific payload.

Isro got a Rs 2,283 crore hike in allocation in the Union Budget, presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, over the 2011-12 revised estimates of Rs 4,432 crore.

The Mars mission, which comprises putting a spacecraft in the Red Planet's orbit to study its atmosphere, could be launched in November 2013 by Isro's warhorse rocket -- the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The space agency had identified three launch windows -- one each in 2013, 2016 and 2018.Top Isro officials were earlier targeting launch opportunities in 2016 and 2018, but the budget papers show that the plans have been advanced.
"We are yet to finalise the scientific experiments for the Mars Mission," a Isro official said.

Besides the Mars Orbiter Mission, Isro's Human Spaceflight programme has got Rs 60.46 crore in the budget.

The agency's ambitious plan to put in place a regional navigation satellite system for the Indian subcontinent, on the lines of the US-operated Global Positioning System, has been allocated Rs 170 crore in the budget.

The Chandrayaan-II mission, planned for launch in 2014-15, has been allocated Rs 82.50 crore. This amount also includes some allocation for Chandrayaan-I mission

^^^^
A payload of 25 kg to mars and assuming commonality with chandrayaan's Indian payload the most likely candidates for the mission might be
1.) Terrain Mapping Camera (6.3 kg.)
2.) Hyper Spectral Imager (2.5 kg)
3.) Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) (11.37 kg).
Probably can accomodate a pair of magnetometer also.

chandrayaan payload

After the yinghuo-1 setback wonder when the chinese are trying to get back to mars.

Not quite right as per the link
So looks like we are past that barrier also.. But jingoes might need more confirmation before celebrating this acheivement..

There was a discussion on this a couple of pages ago. Not sure why the weight (& consequently power requirements) of RISAT 1 is 6 times that of RISAT 2. Another poster had mentioned that it might be due to the fact that RISAT 1 is a Phased Array radar. It might also be that the Israeli SAR technology is much more advanced than ours. I dont know for sure.

Standard revisit times of RISAT 1 and 2 are identical - unless you are talking about an "on-demand" revisit by expending onboard fuel for an emergency visit

I was also curious about the article mentioning



There has been only RISAT 2 prior to this. Unless there has been some secret payloads to test out SAR from space.

^^^ Chandrayaan had a SAR from the US. Isn't it ironical that the US still has no SAR payload in the public domain, despite its usefulness in disaster management. It uses non-US data sources for such purpose.

while we are on the topic of mars mission , a small problem to ponder over
what would be the theoretical minimum velocity increment for a two impulse transfer from earth to mars about the sun??

Yes exactly that. Some of the increased weight should be for more fuel for on-demand shortened revisit times when really, really required.

I don’t agree with this allocation.

Why do we need to spend Rs 125 crore on Mars Orbiter Mission when we can give that amount to speed up our regional navigation satellite system for the Indian subcontinent, on the lines of the US-operated Global Positioning System.

Imagine what our scientists can achieve with the total budget of Rs 295 crore (Rs 170 crore + Rs 125 crore). We must focus first on building our satellite system for our security. We need to be independent of GPS as well as Glosnass as fast as possible. I don’t really see any purpose of sending a rocket to Mars which we can ill afford.

^^^

Last 3/4 years our satellite programs appear to be more oriented towards trying to get clappings from the gallery rather than the real utility to national requirements. Man to moon, Mars probe ( when is our man to Mars planned? ).

ISRO nowadays thinks that the space programs are for show more than utility.

Why should'nt ISRO aspire to send a probe to Mars or Moon?
All work and no play makes Ramu a dull person.

On the other hand, if they don't… and if i live for another 50 years, i can foresee people complaining, why din't India plan for Mars trip few decades back and missed the golder opportunity etc.

When i get time, i participate in a programme that teaches school children in villages science and stuff. You should see when i told them that india sent a probe to the moon. It makes them so proud and confident that they can do something. If you have been following Macaulay education and stuff on BR you know what i mean and the importance of it. Frankly, i am happy that my tax is being put to good use by ISRO by inspring next generation. For the past few decades they have done silent work and it is time to show path to next generation and set bigger and more amibitous targets.

Reddyji

What you consider as ‘put to good use’ is in my opinion sheer waste of money.

Money does not grow on trees.

We are a poor nation.

We have to prioritise.

What is more important – having our own satellite system or sending a rocket to Mars?

USA, Russia and China (very soon) have their own satellite system. We also need our own satellite system for security reasons. We must aim for independence.

One can also argue that we can have so many schools and/or hospitals built from this amount. So it boils down to prioritisation.

We don’t really need to send a rocket to Mars to get inspired. There are thousands of other ways to get inspired. How about getting a few gold medals at Olympics?

India should do the Mars Mission. It will be a technologically challenging. The entire world will watch and appreciate. The money allocated for this is comparatively small. I hope ISRO goes ahead with this in 2013.

Mate, you are highly wrong here.125 crores is not a big money.As far as i know india can very well afford a mars mission as well as Navigational system.Mars mission will help in maturing our space program and more and more youngsters will be encouraged to join ISRO rather dreaming of migrating to USA and working for NASA.

Rs 125 crores will get you just 25 super luxurious villas in and around Bangalore. Peanuts I say. ISRO needs to do more robotic missions on planetary exploration.

Mars mission sounds good, and doable. But first, ISRO needs to get the GSLV Mark 2 up and running. It's been almost 2 years since the last flight. Then the GSLV Mark 3, which seems to have some encouraging news around it. Also, the RISAT-1, Astrosat, SRE-2 and Insat-3D are way behind schedule, going by what was projected about them many years ago.

One needs to decouple in our thoughts between successes and failures of launching rockets and payload missions. Both are done by different sets of skilled people. We need to retain and also nurture talent where people who plan payload missions and execute them also have enough things to do while the rocket engineers fix their issues.

I am surprised why Astrosat is so way behind schedule. SRE-2 maybe has to do with timing and funding for a manned mission, for which PSLV/GSLV success or readiness counts more.

Just wait till the Brit tabloid press gets to know this! No more peanuts to Pranabda!!! ye hear.

It is surprising that India which is so impoverished is spending money on a mission to MARS. Indian politicians seem to be totally oblivious of the hardship that they common man is undergoing. Rather than spending XX crores on MArs mission they should try and focus on building toilets and improve sanitation. Exploration of mars and others should be left for advanced nations like UK, Spain, Italy and Portugal. No wonder you have more cellphones than toilets in India.... this will be the gist of the next Uklistan article.

^^^ There is an untold small print to the above and that is
"We would rather dump all our wealth in the sea, rather than give it to you filthy brown monsters".

they would certainly not mind if Greece sends a mars probe but if India does then it is a big problem.I see racial angle to this issue

They don't mind that UK which has 400% external debt building a super-carrier but if india builds a medium size A/c then there is a problem.

They don't mind USA and UK spending 600 and 60 billion respectively on military but they have a problem if india spends 1.8% of it's GDP on defense.

AFAIK PSLV would suffice for the mars mission..Atlas centaur was used for viking..The team of people for each of this would be different..so one is not compromised by the other. All GSLV variants are going to be tested by the end of this year.

"AFAIK PSLV would suffice for the mars mission..Atlas centaur was used for viking..The team of people for each of this would be different..so one is not compromised by the other. All GSLV variants are going to be tested by the end of this year."

Thanks, good news. I was not making any connection between the success of the GSLV mark 2 and a possible Mars mission. Just wondering and hoping that a long delayed vehicle would fly successfully before the recently announced mission. It is good that there are different teams involved in all these projects. Shows the depth of the organisation, in a way.

Hopefully that will happen but at this point I'm skeptical.

Regarding Mars mission:
1] Its an important aspect since one never knows what all minerals we might find on Mars.
2] We end up developing technologies which have applications in varied fields....for example who says that the precision launching required for Moon mission wouldnt have impact on the accuracy of our Missile delivery systems.
3] Another advantage you get is that by being in the first-to-reach club you become part of all policy making ....an analogue is...had India tested a nuclear device in 60s it may not have faced nuclear apartheid imposed on in it by NPT.