India’s Mars exploration mission by Oct

[Zabaniyah]

By October this year? That's not far away, and indeed very ambitious.

Space exploration is one area that is lacking these days. And this would indeed count.

All best

 

[BlueDot_in_Space]

Russia is building Moon rover in case of Moon mission Chandrayaan II to be launched in coming years.

Russia is building the lander. Orbiter and the rover will be Indian.

Russia is building Moon rover in case of Moon mission Chandrayaan II to be launched in coming years.

Russia is building the lander. Orbiter and the rover will be Indian.

 

[BLEND]

I think this mission would not have any landing instrument as this will significantly increase its weight. Remembet it would need specioul shields.

 

[KRAIT]

I think this mission would not have any landing instrument as this will significantly increase its weight. Remembet it would need specioul shields.

You think ? Its an orbiter.

 

[Koovie]

By October this year? That's not far away, and indeed very ambitious.

Space exploration is one area that is lacking these days. And this would indeed count.

All best

Thats a huge challange, this time ISRO cant just move the launch a few weeks later because of the Earth Mars constalation.

 

[Hyperion]

Congratulations! If India succeeds, it will be the second nation after US to accomplish it. Everyone else has failed till date to even do the maths necessary for such a mission.

 

[KRAIT]

Congratulations! If India succeeds, it will be the second nation after US to accomplish it. Everyone else has failed till date to even do the maths necessary for such a mission.

Failures are part of the game. Remember Indian moon orbiter didn't complete its 2 years, just 10 months but it did completed 95% of work.

I think every nation have different priorities. I like ISRO and CNSA work plan quite impressive as they are highly effective organizations.

I wish we succeed. Even if we fail, it will help us technologically.

 

[Hyperion]

Dude, I think India will succeed. Other nations may have good boosters, good infrastructure, however, I feel as if India has got better mathematicians and scientists.

Failures are part of the game. Remember Indian moon orbiter didn't complete its 2 years, just 10 months but it did completed 95% of work.

I think every nation have different priorities. I like ISRO and CNSA work plan quite impressive as they are highly effective organizations.

I wish we succeed. Even if we fail, it will help us technologically.

 

[Abhishek_]

^the compliment is appreciated but we haven't earned it yet.
i for one, am not too sure on the dates given. especially since one of the ISRO officers have mentioned possible stumbling block in the october mission

 

[OrionHunter]

@OrionHunter You have quite a knowledge of Physics, do you know about this mission ?

Ok, here goes....

The aim of the Mars mission, expected to be launched sometime in October 2013 is:

> Look for possible signs of microbial life including traces of water if any.

> Reasons for loss of atmosphere, water and carbon dioxide on the red planet.

Equipment of the five experiments planned during the mission is expected to be delivered to ISRO in March and integrating them in the satellite from April. ISRO's PSLV-XL is expected to launch the mission from Sriharikota.

As per existing plans, the satellite is expected to exit the earth's orbit on November 26 and embark on the journey to Mars which is expected to last for around 300 days. The satellite would be inserted into an orbit around Mars around 22 Sept 2013.

Once in the Martian orbit, the satellite will start photographing the red planet. The main instrumentation on board would be:

> Colour camera.
> Infra-red spectrometer/Thermal Infrared Imaging System.
> Lyman-alpha photometer to measure atomic hydrogen in the Martian atmosphere.
> Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer.
> Methane Sensor to identify whether the source of methane on the planet is thermogenic or biogenic. (Remember, Methane, an organic molecule that on Earth is usually produced by life, has been found emanating from three specific regions on the surface of Mars! If it's biogenic, it would be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind!!!)

The Deep Space Network at Baylalu on the outskirts of Bangalore would be used to navigate the spacecraft from the earth to Mars.

Do note that re-activating the temporary inactive sub-systems of the spacecraft once it reaches Mars after a 10-month journey through deep space would be indeed challenging due to extreme temperatures! A liquid rocket engine, capable of generating a 440 Newton thrust, would be used to steer the spacecraft into the Martian orbit.

The spacecraft will have bi-propellant system using monomethylhydrazine and di-nitrogen tetroxide as fuel with additional safety and redundancy features for Mars orbit insertion. The spacecraft, with a 1350 kg lift-off mass, will have a single solar array with three panels of 1400 x 1800 mm capable of generating 750 watts of power in the Martian orbit. It will also be equipped with a 36 AH Lithium-ion battery for power storage.

For attitude and orbit control, the spacecraft will be equipped with four reaction wheels, eight thrusters of 22 Newton each and a 440 Newton liquid rocket engine.

Hope that helped! There may be some changes in the config later, but as of now it’s what I’ve just mentioned!

Cheers!

 

[KRAIT]

Great info. Thanks a ton. I think you may have to change Mars orbit entry year to Sept 2014.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

Good Luck ISRO

 

[Not Sure]

Dude, I think India will succeed. Other nations may have good boosters, good infrastructure, however, I feel as if India has got better mathematicians and scientists.

Mathematicians and scientists - they are born equally in every country and race, and can be groomed for the specific work. India's infrastructure is not too bad either. But neither of these factors are decisive when it comes to such explorations.

It is all about the balancing of priorities in any nation. United States has great infrastructure and has no dearth of math/science people. However, with a retarding economy, they had to drastically cut down on expensive space projects.

India too has many other priorities, and is trying hard to maintain a fine balance among all of them.

However, as developing countries with the economy still heading north, it is incumbent upon countries like China, India, Brazil, etc to take the baton and move forward till some others come to replace them.

In this field, any achievement by any country is an achievement shared by all the individuals in the world. On mars exploration, we should be just as proud whether it is a Chinese, or American, or Pakistani, or Indian project.

 

[OrionHunter]

Great info. Thanks a ton. I think you may have to change Mars orbit entry year to Sept 2014.

Yeah! But hopefully there will be no delays!

Here's an image, that I posted on another scientific website, taken by the Mars Spirit Rover for which there was a lot of discussion. Note the blue-green 'fog' in the distance. This is probably methane but we don't know for sure whether it is thermogenic or biogenic. That's the million dollar question that our Mangalyaan would be answering! (hopefully!)

 

[OrionHunter]

Ooops! Double post! Now how the heck did that happen?