Bharat Rakshak

The Mars orbiter spacecraft has just five minutes for getting launched on Tuesday — or it slips into the next day.

It must be set off between 2.38 p.m. and 2.43 p.m.

And the mission has an overall deadline, until November 19, this year. The next best time is not for another 26 months.

“We are on the threshold of a complex mission. If there is a hold during automatic launch sequence there then we will not have it on that day. We can have a maximum of only five minutes. Each day, the launch time advances by 6-9 minutes. We hope that it will make it [on Tuesday],” K. Radhakrishnan, chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told The Hindu recently.

CHENNAI: The following are the Indian scientists who have made the Mars Orbiter Mission possible:

* K. Radhakrishnan, 64, Chairman ISRO, Secretary in Department of Space. With ISRO since 1972. Responsible for overall activities of ISRO.

* S. Ramakrishnan, 64, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and Member Launch Authorisation Board. With ISRO since 1972. Responsible for realising the rocket (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) that would ferry the Mars orbiter. Challenge: The launch window is only five minutes. The 28 minutes coasting time of the rocket before the ignition of the fourth engine is also long. The overall launch duration of around 45 minutes is nearly double that of the normal PSLV launches.

* M. Annadurai, 55, Programme Director, Mars Orbiter Mission. Responsible for budget management, direction for spacecraft configuration, schedule management, resource allocation for the mission. Challenge: India's first true inter-planetary mission. Lots of autonomy for the spacecraft to take decisions on its own. There is a nearly 50 percent difference in climatic conditions between Earth and Mars.

* A.S. Kiran Kumar, 61, Director, Satellite Application Centre. Responsible for designing and building three of the orbiter payloads - Mars Colour Camera, Methane Sensor and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer. Challenge: Miniaturising the components as the satellite does not provide much space.

* M.Y.S.Prasad, 60, Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Chairman, Launch Authorisation Board. Responsible for range safety and schedules, overall incharge at rocket port.

Challenge: Launch during northeast monsoon season, enhanced weather forecasting capability to 10 days, simultaneously carrying out preparatory work for Mars Mission while dismantling the GSLV rocket after the mission was aborted this year.

* S.K. Shivakumar, 60, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre. Responsible for developing satellite technology and implementing satellite systems for scientific, technological and application missions.

* P. Kunhikrishnan, 52, Project Director, PSLV programme; ninth time as mission director. Responsible for seeing the rocket completes is mission successfully and that the satellite is correctly injected in the designated orbit. Challenge: The orbital characteristic is different from regular PSLV missions. The total duration of the launch is 44 minutes. This requires lot of thermal management as the temperature in space will be low. The systems and equipment have to be protected from low temperatures.

* S. Arunan, 50, Project Director, Mars Orbiter Mission. Responsible for leading a team to build the spacecraft. Challenges: Building a new communication system; making the spacecraftL largely autonomous to take decisions, making the orbiter engine restart after 300 days, designing solar power cells, developing new navigation software.

* B. Jayakumar, 54, Associate Project Director, PSLV Project. Responsible for the rocket systems, testing till the final lift-off. Challenges: Long launch duration of 44 minutes, providing additional thermal protection for components and systems.

* M.S.Pannirselvam, 59, Chief General Manager, Range Operation Director at Sriharikota.

saip wrote:^^
The link is for webcast of another satellite that was launched in January. The webcast for MOM will start at 2 pm.

Austin wrote:Looks like ISRO Website got overloaded and crashed not working for me