India's Mars Orbiter Mission Makes It's First Major Breakthrough

[Chanakya's_Chant]

India's Mars Orbiter Mission makes big breakthrough​

Sen—India’s $71 million Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) to the Red Planet, which entered Martian orbit on Sept. 24, 2014, has made an important breakthrough.

For the first time an instrument on board the spacecraft, the Methane Sensor For Mars, has recorded radiation on the surface of Mars which in turn reflected the Sun’s radiation back into space.

The process is known as albedo, and it is the measure of the reflectivity of Mars’ surface. The announcement was made by the India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Facebook. MOM was launched on November 5, 2013, and “hit a century”, to use a cricketing term, by observing the radiation from orbit on Jan. 1, 2015.

According to ISRO officials, this detection is significant because it marks an important step towards the sensor, designed and fabricated at ISRO’s Space Application Centre in Ahmedabad, possibly sniffing methane in the months ahead. The hunt for methane is one of the major roles of MOM as it would suggest whether there is life on Mars or not.

A close-up view of a portion of the gigantic Valles Marineris Canyon of Mars. Image credit: ISRO​

The Facebook post states that observing the surface of the planet depends upon how the radiation is reflected back. “Reflected solar radiation from Mars will provide a lot of information about the planet’s surface as well as its atmosphere,’’ it states.

The data was measured in 1.65 micron in an infrared wavelength and reflects the assessment up until Dec. 16, 2014.

The information provided by the sensor, along with the data provided by the Mars Colour Camera, will be useful to study the surface properties of Mars, according to ISRO’s Facebook post.

Though ISRO scientists declined to be identified, a former space agency scientist, Syed Maqbool Ahmed, who was a part of India’s maiden voyage to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, compared the development to scaling Mount Everest.

“It means that the payload, Methane Sensor For Mars, has worked wonderfully,’’ he wrote in his blog on Wednesday.

Eos Chaos area, part of the gigantic Valles Marineris Canyon of Mars Image credit: ISRO​

In all MOM is equipped with five payloads. Of these, the camera started transmitting pictures a fortnight after its launch, the first one being on Nov. 19, 2014, about a cyclone developing off the coast of Andhra Pradesh. The Methane Sensor For Mars is the second instrument whose data has been announced by ISRO.

Officials said that the space agency will declare the scientific results of the payloads only after a thorough peer review. With regards to any announcement relating to methane, they said they will exercise considerable caution as the subject is somewhat sensitive and can become controversial.

They cite the example of NASA’s Curiosity mission which touched down on the Red Planet on Aug. 6, 2012. Months after it landed there was an annoucement by NASA that the nearly one-tonne rover did not find methane. However, in December 2014 the space agency said that Curiosity had detected methane.

They said that any discovery by Curiosity was localised—meaning that it focused on a particular area of Mars. “MOM on the other hand is executing a global mapping,’’ an official explained.

Along with the initial data from the Methane Sensor For Mars, ISRO also released fresh images on Tuesday sent by the camera.

The pictures include a 3D view of Arsia Mons, a huge volcano on Mars, a close-up view of a portion of the gigantic valley in Mars and the Eos Chaos area, a part of the gigantic Valles Marineris Canyon of Mars.

With regards to Arsia Mons the topography was taken from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the picture is by MOM’s camera. They were then superimposed.

Scientists connected with the camera said that these pictures along with rest will help in determining the features of the Red Planet like for example the dust storms. “More images will be made available in the coming days,’’ a scientist added.

Source:- India's Mars Orbiter Mission makes big breakthrough - Sen.com

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

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ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission payload views the albedo of Mars

Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) payload onboard MOM intends to detect the presence of Methane and measure the column density of the same. One of the secondary objectives of this payload is to measure the reflectance of Martian surface in 1.65 micron. MSM has two channels, Methane and reference to measure the radiance from the surface of Mars.

All planets in the Solar system receive Sun’s radiation to varying degrees depending on their distance from the Sun. Observing the surface of the planet depends on how this radiation is reflected back. Reflected solar radiation from Mars is a diagnostic signal of the planet which provides lot of information about the planet’s surface as well as its atmosphere. When we measure the radiance in a specific wavelength of light (in this case, 1.65 micron), then we can generate a reflectance map.

The map presented here shows the surface reflectance of Mars as viewed at 1.65 micron from the reference channel of MSM till December 16, 2014. In the map, the blue colour indicates low albedo features and the red shows high albedo features on the Martian surface.

The map resolution is 0.5°x0.5° in Latitude-Longitude. By correcting the data for CO2 absorption, a major part of atmospheric effects is taken care of. This data along with the reflectance measured by Mars Colour Camera will be useful to study the surface properties of Mars.
(Image credit: SAC, ISRO)​

Source:- Timeline Photos - ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation | Facebook​

 

[Arya Desa]

Didn't NASA find methane on Mars a few days ago too?

 

[NKVD]

Interesting

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Didn't NASA find methane on Mars a few days ago too?

They will make any such announcement after extensive peer reviews concerning the sensitivity of the matter. Mangalyaan mission will face a crucial period in June when the sun will block out all communications with the ground for 15 days - will be more interesting to watch out whether we we could regain control over the craft after that period - it will be a significant achievement.

Communications with Mangalyaan to get blocked for 15 days in June - Firstpost

 

[NKVD]

They will make any such announcement after extensive peer reviews concerning the sensitivity of the matter. Mangalyaan mission will face a crucial period in June when the sun will block out all communications with the ground for 15 days - will be more interesting to watch out whether we we could regain control over the craft after that period - it will be a significant achievement.

Communications with Mangalyaan to get blocked for 15 days in June - Firstpost

So,After Seeing This I Think Taxpayer's Money Not WastedWell done ISRO

 

[Ind4Ever]

Didn't NASA find methane on Mars a few days ago too?

All cover up shit. In 2012 no methane ! Why ? so others will also starting to send explorer in to Mars

In 2014 they discovered methane. Cause India will claim to find methane gas on Mars before USA for the record . Same thing happened with water finding by chandrayan 1. Americans thought India is not capable . But now things are different

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

All cover up shit. In 2012 no methane ! Why ? so others will also starting to send explorer in to Mars

In 2014 they discovered methane. Cause India will claim to find methane gas on Mars before USA for the record . Same thing happened with water finding by chandrayan 1. Americans thought India is not capable . But now things are different

There is nothing such as "cover up" and as far as Chandrayaan 1 is concerned - the payload that discovered water on moon was itself supplied by the US.

Methane Found on Mars, Indicates Life May Once Have Existed There: Nasa | NDTV Gadgets

 

[Ind4Ever]

No one is going to do charity by explaining their crucial finding to all. Cover up are very possible

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Image of Mangala Fossa and Mangala Valles regions of Mars taken by Mars color camera on board Mars orbiter mission on 16th November 2014 at a spatial resolution of 300 m from an altitude of 5969 km. Mangala Fossa is regional graben oriented along SE-NW direction having the length of 695 km, cutting across Mangala Valles region and crater . Graben is formed by extensional stresses on planetary surface. Parallel Faults located to the south of Mangala Fossa region are also clearly seen in this image

Image of Aurorae Chaos, Pyrrhae Chaos (Chaos means broken terrain with in canyon) and adjoining regions of Mars taken by Mars color camera on board ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission on 5th December,2014 at a spatial resolution of 535 m from an altitude of 10274 km. Region shown in the image located at the eastern end of Valles Marineris region. This image shows eroded floor of canyon, which indicates fluvial activity in past geological history of Mars.

Image of Mangala Valles and part of Sabis Valles regions of Mars taken by Mars color camera on board ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission on 2nd December,2014 at a spatial resolution of 470 m from an altitude of 9032 km. Image clearly shows the flow pattern in the Mangala Valles region. Channel bar in the MCC image indicates release of vast quantities of water in this area by catastrophic floods.​

Source:- ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation - Bangalore, India - Government Organization | Facebook

Like the word "Mangala Valles" - "Mangala" comes from the word for Mars in Sanskrit. Mangala Valles is a complex system of criss-crossing channels on Mars.
Mangala Valles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Similarly Ravi Vallis is an ancient outflow channel on Mars, name is derived from the Ravi/Iravati River of India.
Ravi River - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Tyrrhenus Mons as seen by Mars Color Camera (MCC)

Image of Tyrrhenus Mons in Hesperia Planum region taken by Mars Color Camera (MCC) on 25-02-2015 at a spatial resolution of 166m from an altitude of 3192km.​

Impression of flow features and NE-SW trending fractures are clearly seen in this image. Impressions of wind streaks can also be seen image.

Tyrrhenus Mons is a volcanic mons. NE-SW oriented fractures indicate stresses due to volcanic process in this region. Approximate direction of wind which created the wind streaks is East-West.

Source:- Tyrrhenus Mons as seen by Mars Color Camera (MCC) - ISRO

Pital Crater - Picture from Mars Color Camera (MCC) on 23-04-2015

Pital crater is an impact crater located in Ophir Planum region of Mars, which is located in the eastern part of Valles Marineris region. This image is taken by Mars Color Camera (MCC) on 23-04-2015 at a spatial resolution of ~42 m from an altitude of 808 km.

Wall of the crater and chain of small impact craters are clearly seen in this image. This crater is having the diameter of ~40 km.

Most of craters observed on planetary surfaces are circular in shape. Some of the craters are in elliptical shape. However, this Pital crater is in different shape. This could be due to the eastern extension of regional fracture in the W-E trending fracture zone.

Source:- Pital Crater - Picture from Mars Color Camera (MCC) on 23-04-2015 - ISRO​