From ISRO's website....
- Second Stage (PS2) Propellant filling commenced.
- Mobile Service Tower (MST) withdrawal upto 50m is completed.
In Haresh's defence, it is just not the foreign tabloid that are asking the questions. In almost every article, even in Indian ones, a scientist or two is forced to ponder on the condition of India. I think it is even some Indians who are asking such questions.
http://zeenews.india.com/news/space/mar ... 87945.html
The technologies developed in building India's Mars Orbiter can be incorporated in other satellites the country would build saving costs and increasing performance, say Indian space scientists.
Speaking to IANS, scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the self corrective programmes incorporated in the orbiter, miniaturisation of components, cold starting of the orbiter engine after a gap of 300 days and other things can be incorporated in remote sensing and communication satellites that are built by India.
"The huge autonomy given to the space craft to fend for itself without human intervention from the ground, miniaturisation of components and other technologies can be incorporated in other satellites that India builds," A.S. Kiran Kumar, director at ISRO's Space Application Centre said.
"This is the first time in the world that anybody has realised a spacecraft like this in 15 months flat. If all the systems we have built works successfully, then we can say that India is one of the top nations in building satellites," S. Arunan, project director, Mars Oribiter Mission said
In addition, the space craft has been programmed to self diagnose and take corrective actions on its own. Normally people on the ground stations give commands to the satellites on corrective actions.
Queried about the benefits of these technologies, Arunan said: "These can be incorporated in our remote sensing/earth observation and communication satellites."
http://www.hindustantimes.com/comment/c ... 47229.aspx
Mars Orbiter Mission is an incredibly low-budget mission
The MOM will chalk up some firsts in the history of Mars exploration, too. It is the first mission to be launched into an elliptical Earth orbit. Space agencies like the Nasa and the ESA prefer a straight flight trajectory out to Mars. Besides, it is the first Mars mission to use a light booster like the PSLV
And the mission has been realised at an incredibly low budget: its Rs. 450-crore price tag is less than 0.01% of India’s annual budget, making it the cheapest ever to head for Mars. The Nasa, the ESA and Japan’s JAXA spend several times more. In comparison, Nasa’s new Mars mission, MAVEN, scheduled for launch November 18, took almost six years to fabricate, and cost more than 10 times. “Isro’s budget for 2010 happens to be our highest ever. And it’s just 3% of Nasa’s budget for the year 2010,” adds Radhakrishnan. So science apart, the MOM’s success will certainly give an enormous boost to Isro’s standing in the global launch business, promoting investor confidence.