Mission MOM
India's Mars Orbiter Mission or Mangalyaan is the ISRO's first mission to the Red Planet. The mission aims to test key technologies for interplanetary exploration and to use its five science instruments to study the Martian surface and atmosphere from orbit.
First Nation
On November 5, 2013, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched MANGALYAAN. The Mangalyaan spacecraft successfully entered Mars orbit on September 23, 2014, making INDIA the Fourth nation in the world and First Asian nation. ISRO is the First space agency in the world to do so on its maiden attempt.
Least Expensive
The total cost of the mission was approximately ₹450 Crore ($73 m), making it the least-expensive Mars mission to date. Mangalyaan mission cost just 11% of NASA's MAVEN orbiter and less than the make-believe Hollywood film Gravity. MOM cost 7 rupees per kms to reach Mars.
Spacecraft Launch
MOM Spacecraft was launched from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota at 09:08 UTC on 5 November 2013. Mangalyaan traveled for 298 days, covering ~65 crore kilometers, and reached Martian orbit on 24 September 2014.
Mars Atmosphere Study
MOM's objective is to explore Mars' surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments and to develop the technologies required for designing, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission.
Launch Vehicle
MOM was launched aboard PSLV C-25, which was an XL variant of the PSLV, one of world's most reliable launch vehicles. The orbiter's dry mass is 475 kg (1,047 lb) and it carried 852 kg (1,878 lb) of fuel at launch.
Challenging PSLV-C25
The challenging PSLV-C25 mission was optimised for the launch of Mangalyaan into a highly elliptical Earth orbit with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 250 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 23,500 km with an inclination of 19.2 degree with respect to the equator.
PSLV over GSLV
ISRO originally intended to launch MOM with its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) but at that time, GSLV tests were not successful. Waiting for the new batch of rockets would have delayed the MOM for at least three years, so ISRO opted to switch to Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Mangalyaan weighs ~1300 kg. PSLV can easily carry this weight.
5 Scientific Payloads
MOM spacecraft is carring 15kgs of payloads consist of:
- Mars Colour Camera (MCC)
- Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS)
- Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM)
- Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA)
- Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP)
Spacecraft Design
Modified I-1 K Bus structure built with Aluminium and Composite Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) sandwich with lift-off mass of 1337 kg. 3 solar array panels generate electricity of 840W. Spacecraft contains Passive thermal control system, Attitude and Orbit Control Propultion along with Low Gain; Mid Gain; High Gain Antennae.
Breathtaking Pictures Of Mars
Pictures captured by Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft
Ground Segment
The Orbiter is being tracked by the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN), located outside Bangalore. IDSN's 32 m and 18 m diameter antennas are being complemented by NASA - JPL's Deep Space Network. ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) will be providing support with many facilities.
Geo Centric Phase
The spacecraft was injected into an Elliptic Parking Orbit by the launcher. The spacecraft is gradually maneuvered into a departure hyperbolic trajectory with which it escapes from the Earth's Sphere of Influence. ISRO uses a method of travel called a Hohmann Transfer Orbit to send a spacecraft from Earth to Mars with the least amount of fuel possible.
Helio Centric Phase
The spacecraft leaves Earth in a direction tangential to Earth's orbit and encounters Mars tangentially to its orbit.It intersected the orbit of Mars at the exact moment when Mars is there too. Such an arrangement recur periodically at intervals of about 780 days.
Martian Phase
The spacecraft arrives at the Mars Sphere of Influence in a hyperbolic trajectory. Spacecraft reaches the closest approach to Mars and was captured into planned orbit around mars. ISRO plans to launch the MOM during the November 2013 window utilizing minimum energy transfer opportunity.
Pride of Asia
In 2014, China referred to India's successful Mars Orbiter Mission as the "Pride of Asia". The Mars Orbiter Mission team won US-based National Space Society's 2015 "Space Pioneer Award" in the Science and Engineering category as the Indian agency successfully executed a Mars mission in its first attempt.
Recognition
An illustration of the MOM spacecraft is featured on the reverse of the ₹2,000 currency note of India.
An image taken by the spacecraft was the cover photo of the November 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine, "Mars: Race to the Red Planet".
Writer Minnie Vaid wrote a book called "Those Magnificent Women and their Flying Machines" which profiles the journeys of some of the key women who had leading roles in the mission.
Movies & TV Shows
The mission saw several film and TV show adaptations like:
- The 2019 Hindi film "Mission Mangal"
- A web series called "Mission Over Mars"
- "Space MOMs" released online in 2019
- A short film released in 2018, "Mission Mars"
The Timeline Of Mars Orbiter Mission
- November 5, 2013 -- ISRO's PSLV C25 took the Mars Orbiter Mission from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
- November 7, 2013 -- The first Earth-bound manoeuvre of the mission was performed.
- November 8, 2013 -- Second Earth-bound manoeuvre of the mission was completed.
- November 9, 2013 -- Third Earth-bound manoeuvre performed.
- November 11, 2013 -- The fourth Earth-bound manoeuvre completed.
- November 12, 2013 -- Fifth Earth-bound manoeuvre performed.
- November 16, 2013 -- The mission completed its sixth Earth-bound manoeuvre.
- December 1, 2013 -- Mangalyaan leaves Earth's orbit and performs Trans-Mars injection.
- December 4, 2013 -- ISRO informs that the mission leaves Earth's Sphere of Influence of 9.25 lakh km radius.
- December 11, 2013 -- ISRO completes first-course correction manoeuvre performed on the spacecraft.
- June 11, 2014 -- Another course correction manoeuvre is executed by ISRO.
- September 22, 2014 -- Mangalyaan enters Mars Gravitational Sphere of Influence.
- September 24, 2014 -- Mangalyaan reaches the intended orbit around Mars, making India the first country in the world to have successfully launched its mission to the Red Planet on the very first attempt.
Team Involved In The Mission
- K Radhakrishnan -- led as Chairman ISRO.
- Mylswamy Annadurai -- was the Programme Director and in charge of budget management as well as direction for spacecraft configuration, schedule and resources.
- S Ramakrishnan -- was a Director who helped in developing the liquid propulsion system of the PSLV launcher.
- P. Kunhikrishnan -- was a Project Director in the PSLV programme. He was also a Mission director of PSLV-C25/Mars Orbiter Mission.
- Moumita Dutta -- was the Project manager of the Mars Orbiter Mission.
- Nandini Harinath -- was the Deputy Operations Director of Navigation.
- Ritu Karidhal -- was the Deputy Operations Director of Navigation.
- BS Kiran -- was the Associate Project Director of Flight Dynamics.
- V Kesava Raju -- was the Mars Orbiter Mission Director.
- V Koteswara Rao -- was ISRO scientific secretary.
- Chandradathan -- was the Director of the Liquid Propulsion System.
- A. S. Kiran Kumar -- was the Director of the Satellite Application Centre.
- MYS Prasad -- is the Director at Satish Dhawan Space Centre. He was also the chairman at Launch Authorisation Board.
- SK Shivakumar -- was a Director at the ISRO Satellite Centre. He was also a Project Director for the Deep Space Network.
- Subbiah Arunan -- was a Project Director at Mars Orbiter Mission.
- B Jayakumar -- was an Associate Project Director at the PSLV programme who was responsible for testing the rocket systems.
- MS Pannirselvam -- was the Chief General Manager at the Sriharikota Rocket port and was tasked to maintain launch schedules.
