ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission leaves for launch centre

[Srinivas]

Mars Orbiter Mission leaves for launch centre

At the crack of dawn on Wednesday, the Mars orbiter spacecraft ceremoniously rolled out of its nest here and took the first baby step of its 400-million-km journey. But before its grand voyage, it is first headed for the Sriharikota launch centre in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Amidst chants of prayer and loads of good wishes and in the presence of large gathering of scientists, ISRO Satellite Centre Director S.K. Shivakumar flagged off the mother of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s ventures — the Mars Orbiter Mission or MOM — at 6 a.m from the second advanced satellite integration and testing campus, ISITE, at Marathahalli.

The spacecraft, sent by road in a safe cocoon, will reach the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on Thursday afternoon and undergo further tests and checks until its launch, ISRO spokesman Deviprasad Karnik told The Hindu.

‘Satisfying day’

“It has been one satisfying day for our team,” said Mars project director S.Arunan, describing the mission’s kick-off from Bangalore. “We achieved it in a short time [after the project was approved in September 2012] within a tight deadline. Today, all those sleepless months did not matter.”

MOM, carrying five ISRO instruments, is a Rs. 450-crore Indian space dream that is devised to study the atmosphere, surface and chemicals of Mars, just 372 km from the red planet’s surface.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan earlier said the scientists aimed to launch the spacecraft from Sriharikota around 4.30 p.m. on October 28. After days of complex manoeuvring, the spacecraft is slated to be slung off Earth’s orbit on November 30 and it will begin its 300-day journey to Mars. It is expected to reach the Martian zone in mid-September 2014 and orbit it for at least six months.

Mars missions become possible once in 26 months based on the positions of Earth and Mars. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the U.S. is also sending its MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission on November 18.

In Bangalore, the spacecraft cleared the mechanical solar panel and antenna movements and vibration and acoustic tests, Mr. Karnik said. On reaching Sriharikota, it would go through electrical and other checks. A week ahead of the launch, it would be sent away for being fitted into the launch vehicle. The launcher, PSLV-C25, is an extended XL version, currently being readied for the mission.

As the mission unfolds, Mr. Arunan’s team is bracing itself for many more sleepless nights and nail-biting moments.



Mars Orbiter Mission leaves for launch centre - The Hindu


Now those false flaggers and Chi-bots come here to earn cents and and burn their as$es, please do not respond to them.

 

[Srinivas]

Some pics of mars arbiter

 

[indushek]

Will come back in an hour, hopefully the trolling will start by then.

 

[Srinivas]

Chairman of Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) Council of the Department of Space Prof Udipi Ramachandra Rao on Friday said hectic preparations are underway to launch Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s ambitious Mars Orbiter Mission in November. Addressing students at the KIIT University, he said the unmanned mission which will explore the existence of life and the possibility of life on the red planet. The spaceship will travel 299 days before reaching Mars in September 2014, he informed. The Mars Orbiter Mission will be launched using the powerful PSLV-XL vehicle.

Prof Rao, who led the country’s space programme between 1984 and 1994 as chairman of the ISRO, was delivering a talk to the students and faculty of KIIT University on “Existing Challenges in Space Programmes of Future”.

He said the country’s space programme has crossed notable milestones in the last few decades. It was Chandrayaan-1 that first discovered water on moon. The country spends about 3,148 crore on space programme per year and has a 16,500 strong human resource expertise, he said.

Astronomy and Space News - Astro Watch: Preparations Underway for India's Mars Orbiter Mission

 

[Srinivas]

 

[thesolar65]

Mars Orbiter Mission leaves for launch centre

At the crack of dawn on Wednesday, the Mars orbiter spacecraft ceremoniously rolled out of its nest here and took the first baby step of its 400-million-km journey. But before its grand voyage, it is first headed for the Sriharikota launch centre in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Amidst chants of prayer and loads of good wishes and in the presence of large gathering of scientists, ISRO Satellite Centre Director S.K. Shivakumar flagged off the mother of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s ventures — the Mars Orbiter Mission or MOM — at 6 a.m from the second advanced satellite integration and testing campus, ISITE, at Marathahalli.

The spacecraft, sent by road in a safe cocoon, will reach the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on Thursday afternoon and undergo further tests and checks until its launch, ISRO spokesman Deviprasad Karnik told The Hindu.

‘Satisfying day’

“It has been one satisfying day for our team,” said Mars project director S.Arunan, describing the mission’s kick-off from Bangalore. “We achieved it in a short time [after the project was approved in September 2012] within a tight deadline. Today, all those sleepless months did not matter.”

MOM, carrying five ISRO instruments, is a Rs. 450-crore Indian space dream that is devised to study the atmosphere, surface and chemicals of Mars, just 372 km from the red planet’s surface.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan earlier said the scientists aimed to launch the spacecraft from Sriharikota around 4.30 p.m. on October 28. After days of complex manoeuvring, the spacecraft is slated to be slung off Earth’s orbit on November 30 and it will begin its 300-day journey to Mars. It is expected to reach the Martian zone in mid-September 2014 and orbit it for at least six months.

Mars missions become possible once in 26 months based on the positions of Earth and Mars. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the U.S. is also sending its MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission on November 18.

In Bangalore, the spacecraft cleared the mechanical solar panel and antenna movements and vibration and acoustic tests, Mr. Karnik said. On reaching Sriharikota, it would go through electrical and other checks. A week ahead of the launch, it would be sent away for being fitted into the launch vehicle. The launcher, PSLV-C25, is an extended XL version, currently being readied for the mission.

As the mission unfolds, Mr. Arunan’s team is bracing itself for many more sleepless nights and nail-biting moments.



Mars Orbiter Mission leaves for launch centre - The Hindu


Now those false flaggers and Chi-bots come here to earn cents and and burn their as$es, please do not respond to them.

Just out of curiosity as I do not know, What is the gold colored cover is made of? Is it polythene or what?

 

[Bhai Zakir]

May the Allah swt bless ISRO and Mars mission becomes a huge success.

 

[[Bregs]]

ISRO has been far ahead and successful then lousy DRDO

 

[Shardul.....the lion]

Hoping for the best....

 

[[Bregs]]

ISRO has been far ahead and successful then lousy DRDO

 

[BlueDot_in_Space]

ISRO has been far ahead and successful then lousy DRDO

lousy DRDO is not the user of what it designs. ISRO designs, fails multiple times, but sticks to indigenous stuff. Boeing offered help with cryogenic tanks and manned mission technology, but ISRO chose to go for indigenous efforts. ISRO only concentrates on launch vehicle and satellite technologies, DRDO on the other hand handles gamut of technologies with meager resources.

 

[[Bregs]]

ISRO has been far ahead and successful then lousy DRDO

 

[[Bregs]]

ISRO has been far ahead and successful then lousy DRDO

 

[Srinivas]

Just out of curiosity as I do not know, What is the gold colored cover is made of? Is it polythene or what?

It is multi layer foil

Multi-layer insulation, or MLI, is thermal insulation composed of multiple layers of thin sheets and is often used on spacecraft. It is one of the main items of the spacecraft thermal design, primarily intended to reduce heat loss by thermal radiation. In its basic form, it does not appreciably insulate against other thermal losses such as heat conduction or convection. It is therefore commonly used on satellites and other applications in vacuum where conduction and convection are much less significant and radiation dominates. MLI gives many satellites and other space probes the appearance of being covered with gold foil.

 

[GR!FF!N]

Great achievement by ISRO..congrats to all Indians..any way,some more details on Orbiter...

the Mangalyan has a mass of 500 kg.

The major tasks to be executed by Mangalyan are-
Design and realization of a Mars orbiter with a capability to survive and perform Earth bound maneuvers, cruise phase of 300 days, Mars orbit insertion / capture, and on-orbit phase around Mars.
Exploration of the surface, atmosphere, morphology and mineralogy of The Red Planet by advanced scientific instruments.
Deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.
Navigation of the planet in all phases.
Detection of the presence of Methane on Mars to examine the possibility of life, using the Methane sensor.
Payload

The spacecraft massing 1350 kg will carry a payload of 15 kg by mass consisting of five scientific instruments decided by the Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ACSS). These five scientific instruments are as follows-

1. Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP)

To measure the relative abundance of deuterium and hydrogen from Lyman-alpha emission in the Martian upper atmosphere.
To understand especially the loss process of water from the planet.

2. Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM)
To detect the presence of Methane in Martian atmosphere.
3. Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA)
To analyze the neutral composition in the range of 1 to 300 amu with unit mass resolution.

4. Mars Color Camera (MCC)
To provide colored images and information about the surface features and composition of Martian surface.
To probe the two satellites of Mars – Phobos and Deimos
To provide the context information for other science payloads.

5. Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS)
To measure the thermal emission on the Red planet during day and night.
To map the surface composition and mineralogy of Mars.

Based on the studies, the payloads have been categorized into-
Atmospheric studies - Lyman Alpha Photometer and Methane sensor for Mars.
Particle environment studies- Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA).
Surface Imaging Studies- Mars Color Camera and Thermal Imaging Spectrometer.

ISRO will use its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) to take the satellite into space, after which the Mangalyan should enter the Mars orbit in September, 2014, as planned.


The navigation and tracking support services will be provided by NASA’s Deep Space Network during the non-visible period of the Indian Deep Space Network.