Mangalyaan: ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 18 Dec 2013 03:42

^
Thanks prasannasimha! Nice graphics and info. As good as the ISRO facebook page is, and prompt and accurate as their responses to general queries from the public are, there is an irritating absence of detail on a day-to-day basis. Laymen( particulary this layman

) want to know: the distance that MOM has travelled so far, updated every day, even twice a day;
the distance of MOM from the earth; the distance from the Sun; the distance remaining to reach Mars. This is hardly esoteric information, it's something the public can understand, relate to, and be excited about.

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 18 Dec 2013 07:09

Varoon,I don't know if any space agency gives continuous information.Most of the so called "real time" sites are just giving extrapolated data.There have been requests for a count down clock of some sort(They had put one for the launch).
At least now we are getting some information. Previously even this was not there so it is indeed an improvement. I suspect that they have deputed one interested scientist to write on their facebook page so he may be posting whenever he can.

Problem now is that it is a 300 day trip so they may only give updates during a trajectory correction maneuver.
This is an example of extrapolated data

http://www.sankara.net/mom.html

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 18 Dec 2013 22:18

Mars Orbiter spent 55% of the total fuel so far: ISRO scientist

...
"We have already spent 470 kilogram of the bio-propellant we are carrying. However, we have not overspent,despite the glitch that we encountered during the fourth burn (while circling the earth. We are well within the nominal limit of spending," said AS Kiran Kumar, a senior scientist working on the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and the director of city-based Space Application Centre (SAC), an arm of ISRO.
...
The senior ISRO scientist said that indigenously developed Ceramic Servo Accelerometer (CSA) that measures the precise amount of velocity the satellite gains when the thrusters are burnt have "enabled in preserving the fuel on-board." This CSA on the MOM is an improved version of the one deployed during the Chandrayaan Mission.
...
...

Kakarat · Post by **Kakarat** » 22 Dec 2013 17:48

VSSC Chief Hints at Second Mars Mission Using GSLV

...
“The project is not yet approved. But we are planning a second mission to Mars with a more powerful launch vehicle in two years. The GSLV will be ready by then and also the GSLV Mk-III version,” he said. The second mission, unlike the first, will have a lander. The final clearance to the mega project will depend on the feedback received from the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) which is on its way to the Red Planet at present, he said. ISRO had to be satisfied with a modest payload on MOM as it had to depend on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for the mission’s launch. A prototype of the crew capsule that will be used for ISRO’s future manned space flight will be tested aboard the GSLV Mk-III, the heftiest rocket to be built in the country, before April 2014, he said.
...

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 29 Dec 2013 23:07

A Datewise chart showing how far is MOM ( in Million Kms ) is reproduced here from http://indiaspaceactivity.blogspot.in/2 ... ssion.html.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 14 Jan 2014 06:22

From ISRO's facebook site, a posting :

SkyLark: "While MOM's distance from earth is now 11.04 million km, it has actually traveled more than 120 million km."

So the distance between Earth and Mars seems to be fluctuating since their orbits are not 'even' with one another(?).

But the total distance travelled in the heliocentric orbit is an amazing 120 million km!

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 14 Jan 2014 10:24

I hope we can seriously work on a nuke engine.

like:
http://www.energy.gov/ne/nuclear-reacto ... er-systems

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 14 Jan 2014 10:28

Varoon the paths are two ellipses so the distance fluctuates.If you see SSalvi's diagram you can see the sudden spurt in distance after April 2012 - this is because we would have crossed the perigee points of the two orbital paths (earth and mars) so there will now be a huge difference accumulating though the speed of the probes will remain constant.

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 14 Jan 2014 11:09

Saik we need the RTG's to power systems when sunlight is insufficent to activate the solar panels or when there is a along period of "night" that cannot be compensated by on board batteries.Of course we need to work on this but with our current missions it would not be needed.When we plan things to the big gas giants and beyond we will definitely need them. It should not be a big problem for our nuclear industry to produce them if needed.
One problem is the potential radioactive pollution that can occur if the space craft carrying an RTG fails and explodes.This has caused a lot of demonstrations even in the US related to accidents with radioactive materials in rocketry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisoto ... _generator

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 14 Jan 2014 12:43

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 15 Jan 2014 07:10

Added a figure explaining the difference in ' Distance between Earth and MOM' and ' Distance travelled by MOM ' towrds the end in my blog http://indiaspaceactivity.blogspot.in/2 ... .html#more

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 16 Jan 2014 10:33

A good figure about distances.. from https://www.facebook.com/isromom by Skylark More

Jayram · Post by **Jayram** » 18 Feb 2014 06:04

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/busin ... hoofinance

Good Article by Sarita Rai in NYTimes.. Finally some pointed repostes to the poverty before space argument

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 20 Feb 2014 09:39

^^^(xpost in other thread) ...For those who criticizes about space programs in " a country starved of even basic necessities like clean drinking water and toilets" and condemn the Mars mission as nothing more than showing off...

Here is a quote from Mr. Narasimha, the aerospace scientist according to NY Times:

If the Mars mission’s $75 million was distributed equally to every Indian, they would be able to buy a cup of roadside chai once every three years,” said Mr. Narasimha, the aerospace scientist, referring to the tea that many Indians drink.

“My guess is that even the poorest Indians will happily forgo their chai to be able to see their country send a rocket all the way to Mars.”

The whole story is quite interesting ..

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/busin ... -bank.html

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 02 Mar 2014 18:07

Parameters of Mars Orbiter Normal - The Hindu

All health parameters of the Mars Orbiter Mission are normal and a mid-course correction manoeuvre is likely to be carried out in early April, according to S. Arunan, Project Director, Mangalyaan.

“The second of the four trajectory correction manoeuvres will be made, probably on April 9, to make minor changes that may be required owing to the solar radiation pressure on the spacecraft,” he told journalists here on Saturday, on the sidelines of Probe-2014, a symposium at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi (NITT).

The mission boasted several new technologies, and the onboard autonomy was an important feature. Since there would be a communication delay in view of the long distance involved, the autonomy enabled the spacecraft to take decisions on its own. This option could be incorporated in the future missions of the ISRO as it would help to cut ground complexities and improve the reliability of satellites, he said.

The success of Mars Orbiter Mission, he said, enhanced the image and brand of the country in space technology. The ISRO proposed to bring India’s science laboratories under a wider umbrella to develop scientific payloads for more elaborate studies and investigations on planets, even possibly for a landing mission.

Later, in a presentation at the symposium, hosted by the Electronics and Communication Engineering Association of the NITT, Mr. Arunan said the Mars Orbiter Mission proved the country’s capabilities in deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.

member_28505 · Post by **member_28505** » 03 Apr 2014 14:54

why the mission duration was fixed at 300 days?

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 03 Apr 2014 16:45

Fuel load etc

member_28452 · Post by **member_28452** » 05 Apr 2014 17:42

Sirs, Can some one explain how the MOM is tracked enroute to Mars without any GPS with such precision?Can a star tracker do this?Wouldn't dust/meteor/asteroid/bright light from a star explosion make it difficult to use?

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 05 Apr 2014 19:29

ray_donovan wrote:Sirs, Can some one explain how the MOM is tracked enroute to Mars without any GPS with such precision?Can a star tracker do this?Wouldn't dust/meteor/asteroid/bright light from a star explosion make it difficult to use?

For ranging etc they use Delta Dor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-DOR

Also look at the references in the Wiki which gives detailed explanation (Delta Dor is being used in conjunction with NASA and Russian space agencies)

Star tracking etc is also used. Space is less noisy as far as star tracking is concerned comparing to atmospheric perturburations.

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 09 Apr 2014 16:50

Any news about orbit correction yet ? It is 9th April.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 09 Apr 2014 17:17

^
Since Mangalyaan is doing very well and in an excellent trajectory, no course correction at this time was required.

ISRO website http://isro.org/pressrelease/scripts/pr ... Apr09_2014

MOM has travelled half the distance to Mars. Which means it has gone about 340 million km.

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 13 Apr 2014 10:32

cskindia wrote:why the mission duration was fixed at 300 days?

Not 300 days ..

Launch was on 5th Nov 13.
6 orbit raisings were done upto 16 Nov 13
Launched in interplanetary orbit on 1st Dec 13 of 244 days .. MOM will reach Mars around 14 sept 14.

The 244 days are required if we use Solar Gravity alone ( no other active driving force .. thus no fuel is used and mission becomes very efficient ) to traverse the distance between Earth and Mars wherein the spacecraft acts as if it is a solar planet with an orbit of high eccentricity ( 0.2 ) and inclined to Ecliptic @ 2.22 deg.

Of course there are other possibilities also ( NASA's MAVEN is also taking a similar but not same route .. Inclination = 2.02 deg. ). It was launched on 18th Nov ( directly in interplanetary orbit .. no Earth orbits like MOM ) and reach Mars on 22nd Sept 14.

Incidentaly .. the reason why both missions using the same time frame is that 4th April 14 is the shortest distance between Mars and Earth .. next oppertunity for such a situation is 26 months later.

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 11 Jun 2014 03:49

A Trajectory correction is announced:

To be carried out today @ 1630 Hrs.

Firing duration 16 seconds imparting a deltaV of 1.577 m/sec.

Based on Kakarat's post dated 30th Nov ( The 440 N Liquid Engine has commenced its 23 minute long firing for Tran-Mars Injection.

This will impart an incremental velocity of 648 m/s consuming 198 kg of fuel. ) this correction should consume about 2.2 Kgs of fuel.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 11 Jun 2014 13:31

fingers crossed and a prayer on my lips.

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 11 Jun 2014 15:23

30 minutes ago

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 11 Jun 2014 15:24

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 11 Jun 2014 15:58

ISRO @ISROOFFICIAL · 8s
Yes it’s 4:30 PM now. MOM TCM2 firing should have started-Confirmation awaited from MOM.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 11 Jun 2014 16:19

@ISROOFFICIAL 4m

A missive from MOM confirms the TCM2-Firing completion as planned. Team MOM is busy crunching numbers to determine the post-TCM2 trajectory.

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 11 Jun 2014 20:15

Mars Orbiter Mission’s second Trajectory Correction Manoeuver completed successfully. Keep Cruising MOM ! pic.twitter.com/tz9g1tXhZq

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 22 Jul 2014 21:43

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 24 Jul 2014 10:40

MOM India...

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 07 Aug 2014 02:38

Mangalyaan to encounter Siding Spring comet in October

The passage of a comet, Siding Spring, will be the first astronomical event that the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft or 'Mangalyaan'...
The comet that is scheduled to fly past the red planet on October 19 could pose a potential threat to the survival of the orbiter.
"After the spacecraft is captured in the Mars' orbit, we will encounter the Siding Spring comet that will engulf Mars in October," said AS Kiran Kumar, director Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) while talking about the spacecraft that is scheduled to enter the orbit of Mars on September 24.
In a spectacular event on October 19, the MOM will encounter comet Siding Spring, that will come closer to the Red planet than any recorded comet has ever passed Earth. The comet was discovered in 2013 by Robert H McNaught at Siding Spring Observatory.

Mangalyaan on track, no path correction in August

...Also ..
India already planning second mission to Mars

With just two months before India's first mission to Mars arrives at its destination, the country's space agency has announced a second mission to launch between 2017 and 2020.

The mission would be in addition to a one to the Sun planned for launch in 2017 and is a signal of India's ever-growing ambitions for space exploration....

Ranjani Brow · Post by **Ranjani Brow** » 18 Aug 2014 18:23

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 28 Aug 2014 18:49

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 099868.cms

26/27 days to enter Mars Orbit!!

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 31 Aug 2014 18:38

^^^^^^^^^^
Hold on, Sir.

nazar na lage

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 31 Aug 2014 23:50

Calling Negi to please place your reverse nazar here.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 01 Sep 2014 00:06

someone please take the keyboard away from Rien

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 01 Sep 2014 01:11

damn it, plz to nawt jinx.... plzzz

Let us hold our breath until orbital injection is successful. Until then lets not start celebrating.

member_23360 · Post by **member_23360** » 01 Sep 2014 06:52

+1 ^^^^^^^^^^

plzzz don't jinx it .....

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 01 Sep 2014 16:45

Fu(k this shite...post deleted. BRF won't be to blame