India, US orbiters to reach Mars within 24 hours of each other
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Indian Space Research Organization|Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission|Astrosat|NASA|Manmohan Singh
Isro is buzzing with activity - not just for MOM but also for a slew of projects, scheduled for the next five years.
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AHMEDABAD:
Five years ago India launched its first successful Moon mission,
Chandrayaan I. Now, with Mangalyaan, India will become the fourth nation
in the world to take the first step to Mars, if it successfully
positions a spacecraft in the red planet's orbit.
As the countdown to India's maiden Mangalyaan, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) begins, Dr A S Kiran Kumar, director of Space Applications Center (SAC) of Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) provided a glimpse into the mission, the challenges his team faced and how India's "affordable" mission, has several dimensions -conducting scientific experiments, demonstrating technological capabilities and creating the necessary credentials to be part of future international space missions.
Importance of the project
The earliest attempts for exploration of the red planet began in 1960s at the height of 'space race' between US and the USSR when a number of missions were planned. The first mission was USSR's Marsnik 1 in October 1960 which failed to reach even the Earth's orbit. The US's Mariner 4 in November 1965 provided the first glimpse of the Martian surface during its fly-by mission. Since then, there have been a number of missions to probe the red planet, primarily by US' Nasa, including two rovers - Pathfinder and Curiosity - that have provided a full map of the planet and information of its atmosphere, soil composition and other aspects.
What does Mangalyaan intend to achieve?
"This is primarily a technological mission, considering its stringent precision requirements. The challenge before Isro is to put the spacecraft into a precise 50 km imaginary cube when it enters Mars gravitational field, around 250 million km away, while scientists control its 11-month journey and orientation. It requires a proper design, planning, management and operations," says Kumar.
Technological challenges
"On August 15, last year Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced India's intention to send an orbiter to Mars. In 14 months, Isro was ready with an orbiter craft. The only experience Isro has with a mission to another celestial body is Chandrayaan I to the Moon," says Kumar. Other space powers - US, Russia and European Space Agency (ESA) - have, independently or in collaboration, conducted a number of experiments providing them chances to improvise. India is going with it's trusted PSLV-XL launcher which was used for Chandrayaan, albeit with modifications.
The task
"We sent Chandrayaan-1 to the Moon which was at a distance of 384,000 km, a challenge before us five years ago. It has been multiplied 1,000 times with the Mangalyaan mission, as we are now going 360,000,000 km away from Earth. Till Chandrayaan, we were concerned with Earth's gravity. For the first time, our probe will leave the Earth's influence, enter the Heliosphere - the region dominated by the Sun's gravity - before it enters Mar's gravitational field. The maximum Earth to Mars roundtrip light time (RLT) will be 42 minutes during the mission, meaning the signal (command) we send from Earth will reach the craft 21 minutes later and will take the same time for us to receive it back. Thus, we need to give a bit of autonomy to the craft to address emergencies," says Kumar. In order to take advantage of the window when the craft can reach Mars using minimum fuel, India has chosen October 28 this year. Such an opportunity comes at intervals of about 780 days.
Challenges ahead
It will be a 300-day journey for the craft in three phases - Geo-centric phase, Helio-centric phase and finally the nail-biting Martian phase-which will be around 573,000 km from Earth's surface.
"If we don't propel the craft enough, it will fall into a circular orbit and eventually crash on the Martian surface. If we propel it too much, it will go away from the planet and be lost in space. We have designed an elliptical orbit for the craft where the nearest distance will be 364 km and the farthest 80,000 km. Such an orbit will provide a unique opportunity to observe Mars from a distance where the planet will rotate on its axis and we will be able to capture most of its surface barring some polar areas," Kumar says.
He adds that they have subjected the payload and instruments to intense testing. "A craft encounters a number of issues while in space. While communication is always a concern, another issue is energy from the solar panels. As the craft encounters blackouts -periods in the shadow of the planet and can't receive energy - there are also periods of white-outs when the craft is bombarded with solar plasma and can't function for a while. We have taken such instances in consideration," he says.
At Mars
The craft is scheduled to reach the Mars orbit on September 21, 2014. There are five payloads on board including a Lyman Alpha Photometer, Methane Sensor for Mars, Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser, Mars Colour Camera and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer.
The road ahead
Isro is buzzing with activity - not just for MOM but also for a slew of projects, scheduled for the next five years. Kumar says that a successful Mars mission will not only boost India's confidence but also open doors for next-generation technology which will help future space endeavours. After Mangalyaan, ISRO is planning Chandrayaan II which will have a rover to collect and analyze samples from the lunar surface. India is also planning to launch its first dedicated astronomy satellite - ASTROSAT - after which the ambitious Aditya project will come into action. The project intends to study Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from L1, one of the Lagrangian points between Sun and Earth which will facilitate the craft's remaining at the same position with least effort, for the observation.
About manned space missions, Kumar says it would be the next logical step. "We are slowly building capacity for it and I hope it culminates at an opportune time. Our immediate goal is to put man in orbit (Lower Earth Orbit). The next one will be to prolong the mission and later to conduct space flights," he said.
Space and human development
SAC officials believe that the constantly-pushed boundaries of technological prowess can improve overall human resource development (HRD) for the country through research and development and operational capabilities. Kumar says that the successful missions not only encourage scientists to surge ahead but also inspire millions of young minds. "From my experience, I can say that nothing is difficult if we take a motivated group and provide a specific goal," Kumar says.
As the countdown to India's maiden Mangalyaan, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) begins, Dr A S Kiran Kumar, director of Space Applications Center (SAC) of Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) provided a glimpse into the mission, the challenges his team faced and how India's "affordable" mission, has several dimensions -conducting scientific experiments, demonstrating technological capabilities and creating the necessary credentials to be part of future international space missions.
Importance of the project
The earliest attempts for exploration of the red planet began in 1960s at the height of 'space race' between US and the USSR when a number of missions were planned. The first mission was USSR's Marsnik 1 in October 1960 which failed to reach even the Earth's orbit. The US's Mariner 4 in November 1965 provided the first glimpse of the Martian surface during its fly-by mission. Since then, there have been a number of missions to probe the red planet, primarily by US' Nasa, including two rovers - Pathfinder and Curiosity - that have provided a full map of the planet and information of its atmosphere, soil composition and other aspects.
What does Mangalyaan intend to achieve?
"This is primarily a technological mission, considering its stringent precision requirements. The challenge before Isro is to put the spacecraft into a precise 50 km imaginary cube when it enters Mars gravitational field, around 250 million km away, while scientists control its 11-month journey and orientation. It requires a proper design, planning, management and operations," says Kumar.
Technological challenges
"On August 15, last year Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced India's intention to send an orbiter to Mars. In 14 months, Isro was ready with an orbiter craft. The only experience Isro has with a mission to another celestial body is Chandrayaan I to the Moon," says Kumar. Other space powers - US, Russia and European Space Agency (ESA) - have, independently or in collaboration, conducted a number of experiments providing them chances to improvise. India is going with it's trusted PSLV-XL launcher which was used for Chandrayaan, albeit with modifications.
The task
"We sent Chandrayaan-1 to the Moon which was at a distance of 384,000 km, a challenge before us five years ago. It has been multiplied 1,000 times with the Mangalyaan mission, as we are now going 360,000,000 km away from Earth. Till Chandrayaan, we were concerned with Earth's gravity. For the first time, our probe will leave the Earth's influence, enter the Heliosphere - the region dominated by the Sun's gravity - before it enters Mar's gravitational field. The maximum Earth to Mars roundtrip light time (RLT) will be 42 minutes during the mission, meaning the signal (command) we send from Earth will reach the craft 21 minutes later and will take the same time for us to receive it back. Thus, we need to give a bit of autonomy to the craft to address emergencies," says Kumar. In order to take advantage of the window when the craft can reach Mars using minimum fuel, India has chosen October 28 this year. Such an opportunity comes at intervals of about 780 days.
Challenges ahead
It will be a 300-day journey for the craft in three phases - Geo-centric phase, Helio-centric phase and finally the nail-biting Martian phase-which will be around 573,000 km from Earth's surface.
"If we don't propel the craft enough, it will fall into a circular orbit and eventually crash on the Martian surface. If we propel it too much, it will go away from the planet and be lost in space. We have designed an elliptical orbit for the craft where the nearest distance will be 364 km and the farthest 80,000 km. Such an orbit will provide a unique opportunity to observe Mars from a distance where the planet will rotate on its axis and we will be able to capture most of its surface barring some polar areas," Kumar says.
He adds that they have subjected the payload and instruments to intense testing. "A craft encounters a number of issues while in space. While communication is always a concern, another issue is energy from the solar panels. As the craft encounters blackouts -periods in the shadow of the planet and can't receive energy - there are also periods of white-outs when the craft is bombarded with solar plasma and can't function for a while. We have taken such instances in consideration," he says.
At Mars
The craft is scheduled to reach the Mars orbit on September 21, 2014. There are five payloads on board including a Lyman Alpha Photometer, Methane Sensor for Mars, Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser, Mars Colour Camera and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer.
The road ahead
Isro is buzzing with activity - not just for MOM but also for a slew of projects, scheduled for the next five years. Kumar says that a successful Mars mission will not only boost India's confidence but also open doors for next-generation technology which will help future space endeavours. After Mangalyaan, ISRO is planning Chandrayaan II which will have a rover to collect and analyze samples from the lunar surface. India is also planning to launch its first dedicated astronomy satellite - ASTROSAT - after which the ambitious Aditya project will come into action. The project intends to study Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from L1, one of the Lagrangian points between Sun and Earth which will facilitate the craft's remaining at the same position with least effort, for the observation.
About manned space missions, Kumar says it would be the next logical step. "We are slowly building capacity for it and I hope it culminates at an opportune time. Our immediate goal is to put man in orbit (Lower Earth Orbit). The next one will be to prolong the mission and later to conduct space flights," he said.
Space and human development
SAC officials believe that the constantly-pushed boundaries of technological prowess can improve overall human resource development (HRD) for the country through research and development and operational capabilities. Kumar says that the successful missions not only encourage scientists to surge ahead but also inspire millions of young minds. "From my experience, I can say that nothing is difficult if we take a motivated group and provide a specific goal," Kumar says.
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