Mangalyaan: ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 05 Nov 2013 14:55

WOW! Critical First Step Over!!

manoba · Post by **manoba** » 05 Nov 2013 14:56

Primary deployment over. Congratulations to entire ISRO team!

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 05 Nov 2013 14:57

"Any mission is not beyond our capability".

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 05 Nov 2013 14:59

Congratulations ISRO! Vande Mataram!

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 05 Nov 2013 15:02

K. Radhakrishnan declares that Mangalyaan is in precise elliptical orbit around Earth!

rajanb · Post by **rajanb** » 05 Nov 2013 15:03

Youtube worked well. Surprised to hear ppl had glitches.

symontk · Post by **symontk** » 05 Nov 2013 15:03

Congrats to India, Indians and ISRO in particular

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 05 Nov 2013 15:03

India's first interplanetary mission to planet Mars launched

HAL contribution also mentioned.

manoba · Post by **manoba** » 05 Nov 2013 15:05

YouTube is slow, May be it's related to slow connection.

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 05 Nov 2013 15:06

I really appreciate how all the directors are getting a share of the limelight.

abhijitm · Post by **abhijitm** » 05 Nov 2013 15:07

Brilliant. Congrats ISRO

sohamn · Post by **sohamn** » 05 Nov 2013 15:09

super isro

Karthik S · Post by **Karthik S** » 05 Nov 2013 15:10

Congratulations to ISRO and India.

neeraj · Post by **neeraj** » 05 Nov 2013 15:11

ISRO confirms the primary and secondary deployment of the Mars orbiter's solar panels following launch.

manoba · Post by **manoba** » 05 Nov 2013 15:11

The course correction that happened in between was really awesome. A matured job. Good work ISRO.

manoba · Post by **manoba** » 05 Nov 2013 15:13

Just around 15 months to develop a mission of this complexity is an achievement of different class.

member_27808 · Post by **member_27808** » 05 Nov 2013 15:15

PratikDas wrote:I really appreciate how all the directors are getting a share of the limelight.

What really impressed me was the short, pithy and appropriate speeches made by each. None of the nonsensical, egotistical speeches of politicians. Thank god the netas have been kept away from the event.

shan · Post by **shan** » 05 Nov 2013 15:17

" indians spend 500 crore on diwali crackers which dont go even 10 feet, but question ISRO spending a fraction of that to go all the way to mars"

...U R Rao quoting some NASA scientists

manjgu · Post by **manjgu** » 05 Nov 2013 15:21

mr narainswamy was there..!! as the resident politician... ! just as the devils advocate...what special tech(s) are the spinoffs of this mission?? i thought ISRO would be working hard sorting the GSLV ??

akashganga · Post by **akashganga** » 05 Nov 2013 15:24

Congratulations ISRO for this perfect launch. I wish you all the best for the rest of the mars mission. I am sure we will have another celebration in september 2014 when mangalyaan enters successfully in mars orbit. Cheers.

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 05 Nov 2013 15:27

Dr Radhakrishnan just said that they are working on GSLV, and ISRO will be back in December for its test.

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 05 Nov 2013 15:27

shan, it is 5000 core (crackers)

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 05 Nov 2013 15:28

Nicely done. Congratulations to all scientists and other professionals who worked on the project. Next rendezvous December 1st?

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 05 Nov 2013 15:31

shan wrote:" indians spend 5000 crore on diwali crackers which dont go even 10 feet, but question ISRO spending a fraction of that to go all the way to mars" ...U R Rao quoting some NASA scientists

ashish raval · Post by **ashish raval** » 05 Nov 2013 15:33

^^ Cool

work by Indian Scientists. Great achievement by sons and daughters of Ma Bharati. Lungi Dance....

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 05 Nov 2013 15:34

Lalmohan wrote:pass out the peanuts

I was sitting with peanuts in front of the screen.

(but realized the NASA reference just now)

congrats ISRO, now we wait.

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 05 Nov 2013 15:35

Just wanted to capture the course correction in the 2nd green line. The yellow line near the apex of the altitude graph is for extrapolated data in the absence of continuous tracking.

The commentator mentioned that the course would be corrected in the powered phase after the PS4I injection point, and that's exactly what happened!

pragnya · Post by **pragnya** » 05 Nov 2013 15:37

watched it full on DD national. awesome show by ISRO. copybook it was. as Pratik Das mentioned the re. vel which was a touch higher was corrected in the course. congrats.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 05 Nov 2013 15:38

us.cnn.com/2013/11/04/world/asia/india-mars-space-race/index.html

Is India's Mars mission the latest escalation in Asia's space race?
by Tim Hume, us.cnn.com
November 5th 2013

Hong Kong (CNN) -- A successful mission by India's Mars orbiter would make the country the first Asian nation to reach the Red Planet -- and provide a symbolic coup as neighboring China steps up its ambitions in space.

Tuesday's launch was successful, but the plan to send the Mangalyaan, or "Mars craft," on a 680 million-kilometer journey into Mars' orbit has given further credence to claims of an intensifying -- although officially unacknowledged -- space race developing in Asia, with potentially dangerous ramifications.

"I believe India's leadership sees China's recent accomplishments in space science as a threat to its status in Asia, and feels the need to respond," says Dr James Clay Moltz, professor at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, who sees increasing competition for space-related power and prestige in Asia that echoes the Cold War space race of the mid-20th century.

While Koppillil Radhakrishnan, the head of India's Space Research Organization, has stressed his country is not engaged in competition with any other nation, the mission -- to put a probe into an elliptical orbit around the red planet, mapping its surface and studying the atmosphere -- has been freighted with patriotic significance since its inception.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the 4.5 billion rupee (US$74 million) mission on India's Independence Day last year, just months after a failed joint mission to Mars by Russia and China -- India's great regional rival for superpower status and the most rapidly accelerating space power. To date, only the U.S., Europe and the Soviets have successfully sent spacecraft to Mars -- Japan's 1998 Nozomi orbiter was also unsuccessful.

But not everyone will be cheering from the sidelines. Economist Dr Jean Dreze of the Delhi School of Economics questions the wisdom of investing resources in a flag-waving trip to Mars when the country faces such pressing development needs at home.

"Much as I admire India's Mars mission as a scientific achievement, I am unable to understand the urgency of getting there," he told CNN. "The country would be better served if the same resources, talent and zeal were focused on public health or solar energy. This is a prime case of trying to climb the ladder from the top."

INTERACTIVE: Human exploration of the Red Planet -- from Viking to MAVEN

Even a former head of ISRO, Dr. G Madhavan Nair, has criticized the project as a waste of resources, saying the proposal was half-baked, too expensive and poorly conceived.

He told CNN's sister network CNN-IBN that while he was in favor of exploring Mars, "my contention is that it has to be done properly with complete set of instruments and with proper orbit." The elliptical orbit, which he said would bring the craft within 360km of Mars at its closest point and 80,000km at its furthest, was "the wrong kind of orbit to enable any clear observation of a planet."

"It is not value for money, that's what I feel," he told CNN-IBN. "With regard to priorities, we know there is severe shortage of communication transponders in the country. We need to prioritize that."

So why is India aiming for Mars? For much of its 50-year history, India's space program has prioritized developing technological capacity to help its population, such as improving its telecommunications infrastructure and environmental monitoring with satellites.

Just last month, points out Dr Krishan Lal, Fellow at the Indian National Science Academy, India's satellite network -- one of the largest communications systems in the world -- successfully gave advance warning of a cyclone heading for the eastern seaboard, allowing for the evacuation of about 900,000 people.

But since 2008, when India sent an unmanned probe to the Moon, the focus has shifted away from a utilitarian focus towards exploration.

Radhakrishnan, ISRO chairman, told CNN the mission had several aims, including monitoring the planet for traces of life that may have existed on Mars, but predominantly to demonstrate the technological capability for interplanetary travel. "First and foremost, what we are trying to do is reach there," he said.

Lal said the mission was "primarily about technology proving," and was also a matter of significant national prestige. "It can't be said that it is a scientific issue," he said.

Indeed, any scientific gains from the mission were unlikely to prove "earth-shattering," said Professor Russell Boyce of the Australian Academy of Science, chairman of the National Committee for Space and Radio Science. "It would be a modest scientific gain that's attempted in the first instance, to demonstrate the capability."

Rather, the mission was driven mainly by the desire "to demonstrate they can" -- a projection of India's technological expertise intended to boost its international prestige and credentials as a leading world power.

"It is a way of showing that you should be taken seriously: 'We are growing in status as a major spacefaring nation, which tends to go alongside growing in status as a great nation.'"

READ MORE: India strives to join elite Mars explorer club

And India is particularly motivated to do so at present, argues Moltz, due to regional rival China's rapid ascent as a space power. Since China launched its first manned spacecraft into orbit a decade ago, he believes, Asia has become the epicenter of a new space race, with China, Japan, and then India leading the way, and smaller powers such as South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan beginning to follow suit with ambitions of their own.

This increasing competitiveness, Moltz argues, is fueling regional tensions, and carries with it the risk for potential confrontations and a deepening militarization of space, unless it is accompanied by greater cooperation.

Conceived in the current regional environment, he said, India's Mars mission was "clearly linked to politics and prestige as much as science."

In terms of national security, he said, "India faces a serious challenge from China's rising space capabilities." "It cannot compete with China's vast resources head to head, as it would likely lose any space 'arms race' with Beijing," he said, adding that meant India would have to be "creative in crafting its response to Chinese developments" including potentially forming alliances with other spacefaring powers.

READ MORE: China sets course for lunar landing this year

But other observers differ in their assessments. Boyce said that while there had been a rapid acceleration of space activities in the region, "I'd hesitate to call it a space race."

Rather than being fueled by competition, he said, the heightened activity was largely due to an increasing appreciation of the importance to states of space assets and satellite technology. They provided vital functions in areas such as communications, or remote sensing for climate change monitoring, disaster management or resources prospecting.

"There's a growing realization if you're engaged in space, if you have access to space assets and space-based information, then you stand to gain economically, and in terms of prestige as a nation," he said.

The extent to which countries were motivated by pragmatic interest or prestige varied from nation to nation. "For a country like Australia, the space aspirations are extremely pragmatically driven. On the other hand, a country like Malaysia is intent on putting astronauts in space -- that's very prestige-oriented."

Lal also disputed that a space race was occurring, saying his country acknowledged its limitations in being able to compete with superior space powers and was content to play to its technological strengths, including through comparatively low-cost missions like Mangalyaan. "A space race? This is not the right way to look at it. If you look at the technological base of Japan, we are not comparable. In many ways, China has done better than India, we have no issues with that," he said. "We are trying to collaborate, in my opinion."

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 05 Nov 2013 15:39

Congratulations to ISRO on achieving the 1st mile stone (with a series of firsts) for Magalyaan.

The PSLV is truly a versatile work horse.

The ISRO team put together a complex mission in a short period of time.

Control systems corrected 3rd stage over performance.

Injection parameters are very precise (desired versus actual numbers were mentioned but I could not jot them down)

ISRO live feed crashed. DD saved the day.

DD commentators need to know when to shut up. Commentating is an art - there is a time to keep quiet and let the audience soak it in - non stop chatter is not required.

"Primary" and "secondary" deployed probably means the solar panel and antenna.

Orbit raising in the next 10 days.

ISRO has worked within several limitations to make this mission possible - particularly using the least possible energy to reach Mars.

GSLV qualification delay is hurting heavy lift capability, - Geo-sats, Manned space programme and limited Magalyaan payload are directly affected.

Unlike Chandrayaan - 1 it's an all Indian mission. That's good branding.

If all goes to plan, we will now leave the earths orbit. This makes us great (space) voyagers (once again). Is it the first after Rajendra Chola I?. It's a great feeling.

A successful GSLV D5 in December would be a phuntaastic end to the year.

Thank you and all the best to ISRO.

juvva · Post by **juvva** » 05 Nov 2013 15:48

^Yes. The commentators were chatting away, even as the count down went thru -10 to launch.
oh!! for a raw feed without any commentary, where we can hear the controllers call out clearly.

hope we get to see atleast a recording of the raw feed.

girish.r · Post by **girish.r** » 05 Nov 2013 15:52

Congrats ISRO. I missed the launch, and just hope there is some video of the full launch for timezone challenged souls.

manoba · Post by **manoba** » 05 Nov 2013 15:54

Why these loosers, belly achers, whiners, complain only when a nation like India spends money in scientific advancements, but not the crores of rupees spent on Bollywood, cricket, reality shows, other mind numbing entertainments and mad consumerisms.

Because, that's the sign of degenerating societies.

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 05 Nov 2013 15:56

India launches mission to Mars

Indian Mars mission blasts off from southern spaceport

India launches spacecraft to Mars (The usual spectrum of comments best ignored)

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 05 Nov 2013 16:06

just remind everyone that the space programme generates jobs and wealth - and otherwise the sdre's will come live in pasadena!

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 05 Nov 2013 16:06

In fact, rahulm, such articles are best not linked. Why drive even more traffic to BBC?

Comer · Post by **Comer** » 05 Nov 2013 16:08

Congratulations to all involved, very proud day! anybody has a link to raw video, DDM doesn't know when to shut up.
OT, what's with the Brits and whinging? was scanning twitter for live commentary but got lots of moaning from only Brits and almost no one else. Strange!

Karthik S · Post by **Karthik S** » 05 Nov 2013 16:10

manoba wrote:Why these loosers, belly achers, whiners, complain only when a nation like India spends money in scientific advancements, but not the crores of rupees spent on Bollywood, cricket, reality shows, other mind numbing entertainments and mad consumerisms.

Because, that's the sign of degenerating societies.

Or may be because despite the fact that they are a 'rich' country, they still don't have such accomplishments till date.

Comer · Post by **Comer** » 05 Nov 2013 16:11

rahulm, chola series will be great names when we start doing space voyages!

vina · Post by **vina** » 05 Nov 2013 16:12

Brilliant. The skinflint miserly dhoti clad Yindoos seem to have done some remarkable things with the Mars mission. A full mission in only 15 months, weighing just some 1.3tons, and launched by a thin short starving runt of a rocket, while the Americans, Russians and Europeans used some pretty Beefy red meat fed well built rockets .

The timing was probably close to perfect in choosing the lowest energy point in time to try and fly to Mars. The Russian-Chinese mission Fobos-Grunt two years ago tried using brute power and size to fly to Mars. The Russians made a hash of the software (design, testing and validation) and their craft never even left earth.

But, look at the leaps ISRO has made in terms of rocket guidance and control. Injected at pin point accuracy at 270 deg away on the other side of the earth in to space above the Pacific (could sea Baja in the map at the end of the trajectory) after a very loooooong coasting . Sure will set off a lot of dhoti shivering to the folks to taller than mountain folks.