ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission captures spectacular portrait of the Red Planet and swirling dust storms with the on-board Mars Color Camera from an altitude of 74500 km on Sept. 28, 2014. Credit: ISRO
The MOM orbiter was designed and developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), India’s space agency, which released the image on Sept. 29.
Even more impressive is that MOM’s Martian portrait shows a dramatic view of a huge dust storm swirling over a large patch of the planet’s Northern Hemisphere against the blackness of space. Luckily, NASA’s Opportunity and Curiosity surface rovers are nowhere nearby.
“Something’s brewing here!” ISRO tweeted.
The southern polar ice cap is also clearly visible.
It was taken by the probe’s on-board Mars Color Camera from a very high altitude of 74,500 kilometers.
ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission captures the limb of Mars with the Mars Color Camera from an altitude of 8449 km soon after achieving orbit on Sept. 23/24, 2014. Credit: ISRO
When MOM met Mars, the thrusters placed the probe into a highly elliptical orbit whose nearest point to Mars (periapsis) is at 421.7 km and farthest point (apoapsis) at 76,993.6 km. The inclination of the orbit with respect to the equatorial plane of Mars is 150 degrees, as intended, ISRO reported.
So the Red Planet portrait was captured nearly at apoapsis.
This is the third MOM image released by ISRO thus far, and my personal favorite. And its very reminiscent of whole globe Mars shots taken by Hubble.
MOM’s goal is to study Mars’ atmosphere, surface environments, morphology, and mineralogy with a 15 kg (33 lb) suite of five indigenously built science instruments. It will also sniff for methane, a potential marker for biological activity.
The $73 million mission is expected to last at least six months.
MOM’s success follows closely on the heels of NASA’s MAVEN orbiter which also successfully achieved orbit barely two days earlier on Sept. 21 and could last 10 years or more.
With MOM’s arrival, India became the newest member of an elite club of only four entities who have launched probes that successfully investigated Mars – following the Soviet Union, the United States and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
Canadarm2 is backdropped by Earth and the HTV-3 vehicle in this shot from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
TORONTO, CANADA – Canada’s robotic Canadarm2 will install the next two Urthecast cameras on the International Space Station, removing the need for astronauts to go outside to do the work themselves, the company announced today (Sept. 30).
Urthecast plans to place two Earth-facing cameras on the United States side of the station (on Node 3) to add to the two they already have on the Russian Zvezda module. Technical problems with the cameras forced the Russians to do an extra spacewalk to complete the work earlier this year.
The company plans to make images and streaming video of its imagery available to the general public and interested paying customers. One of the Russian-side cameras is facing technical difficulties with pointing, but more equipment is scheduled to blast up to fix it on a Soyuz flight this fall. The camera should be ready by December, Urthecast said.
The International Space Station seen by a departing space shuttle in 2009. Credit: NASA
The U.S.-side cameras will be an improvement over the Russian-side ones, as they will be able to take imagery in radar and multiple other wavelengths simultaneously – a first in space, the company said.
The suite will include a medium-resolution camera perpetually pointing down, and a high-resolution video camera that can focus on a target ahead of the station and swivel for 60 to 90 seconds to keep it in the frame as the station moves.
Urthecast made the announcement at the International Astronautical Congress, which is being held in Toronto this week. The company is working in association with NanoRacks, which is shipping the payload to the station and handling the installation.
Once the cameras are working fully, the company expects revenues will flow from customers willing to pay for the imagery. So far they have been funded by private investment and also by a $57 million initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2013.
The International Space Station as seen by the departing STS-134 crew aboard space shuttle Endeavour in May 2011. Credit: NASA
TORONTO, CANADA – NASA isn’t “reading too much” into a report that the Russians will spend $8 billion on the International Space Station through 2025, the head of the agency says. That date is five years past the international agreements to operate the space station.
The Russian announcement comes at a pivotal time for NASA, which is looking to extend operations on the station to at least 2024. Other space agency heads have not yet signed on. Russia is the major partner for NASA on the station, given it operates several modules and sends astronauts to and from Earth on Soyuz spacecraft.
When deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin made the funding announcement, said NASA administrator Charles Bolden, Rogozin was speaking of a budget request that is before the State Duma. The Duma is Russia’s lower house of government.
“I am told that’s why he said that,” Bolden said at a press conference yesterday (Sept. 29) for the International Astronomical Congress, citing a conversation he had with Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s human exploration associate administrator. “You shouldn’t read too much into that.”
Canadarm2, the huge robotic arm on the International Space Station, holds astronaut Stephen Robinson during the STS-114 mission. Credit: NASA
Other member agencies of the space station gave noncommittal responses when asked if they would sign on to an extension.
“The [European] member states will be invited to give their views on what [to do] after 2020,” said Jean-Jacques Dordain, who heads the European Space Agency. He added that any extension would require a financial commitment, as an agreement without money is “only principles.”
Similarly, Canadian Space Agency chief Walter Natynczyk said the money allocated to his agency will bring them through to 2020, but “we will have a look at the entire value proposition when we put a case before the government of Canada.”
The Russian agreement with NASA came under scrutiny earlier this year as tensions erupted in Ukraine while Russian soldiers were in the country. This year, Ukrainian Crimea was annexed to Russia to the condemnation of several countries, including the United States.
While Bolden has said relations with the Russians for the space station are still healthy, NASA suspended most science ties with the country in April. In response, Rogozin wrote a frustrated tweet saying NASA should try to send its astronauts into space using a trampoline.
A United Launch Alliance technician monitors the core booster elements of a Delta IV Heavy rocket after being integrated in preparation for Exploration Flight Test-1 at Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – Assembly of the powerful Delta IV rocket boosting the pathfinder version of NASA’s Orion crew capsule on its maiden test flight in December has been completed.
Orion is NASA’s next generation human rated vehicle that will eventually carry America’s astronauts beyond Earth on voyages venturing farther into deep space than ever before – beyond the Moon to Asteroids, Mars and other destinations in our Solar System.
The state-of-the-art Orion spacecraft is scheduled to launch on its inaugural uncrewed mission, dubbed Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), in December 2014 atop the Delta IV Heavy rocket. It replaces NASA’s now retired space shuttle orbiters.
The triple barreled Delta IV Heavy is currently the most powerful rocket in America’s fleet following the retirement of the NASA’s Space Shuttle program.
Engineers from the rocket’s manufacturer – United Launch Alliance (ULA) – took a major step forward towards Orion’s first flight when they completed the integration of the three primary core elements of the rockets first stage with the single engine upper stage.
These three RS-68 engines will power each of the attached Delta IV Heavy Common Booster Cores (CBCs) that will launch NASA’s maiden Orion on the EFT-1 mission in December 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
All of the rocket integration work and preflight processing took place inside ULA’s Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Universe Today recently visited the Delta IV booster during an up close tour inside the HIF facility last week where the rocket was unveiled to the media in a horizontally stacked configuration. See my Delta IV photos herein.
The HIF building is located at Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37), on Cape Canaveral, a short distance away from the launch pad where the Orion EFT-1 mission will lift off on Dec. 4.
“The day-to-day processing is performed by ULA,” said Merri Anne Stowe of NASA’s Fleet Systems Integration Branch of the Launch Services Program (LSP), in a NASA statement.
“NASA’s role is to keep a watchful eye on everything and be there to help if any issues come up.”
The first stage is comprised of a trio of three Delta IV Common Booster Cores (CBCs).
Side view shows trio of Common Booster Cores (CBCs) with RS-68 engines powering the Delta IV Heavy rocket resting horizontally in ULA’s HIF processing facility at Cape Canaveral that will launch NASA’s maiden Orion on the EFT-1 mission in December 2014 from Launch Complex 37. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Each CBC measures 134 feet in length and 17 feet in diameter. They are equipped with an RS-68 engine powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants producing 656,000 pounds of thrust. Together they generate 1.96 million pounds of thrust.
This past spring I visited the HIF after the first two CBCs arrived by barge from their ULA assembly plant in Decatur, Alabama, located about 20 miles west of Huntsville.
The first CBC booster was attached to the center booster in June. The second one was attached in early August, according to ULA.
“After the three core stages went through their initial inspections and processing, the struts were attached, connecting the booster stages with the center core,” Stowe said. “All of this takes place horizontally.”
The Delta IV cryogenic second stage testing and attachment was completed in August and September. It measures 45 feet in length and 17 feet in diameter. It is equipped with a single RL10-B-2 engine, that also burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant and generates 25,000 pounds of thrust.
“The hardware for Exploration Flight Test-1 is coming together well,” Stowe noted in a NASA statement.
“We haven’t had to deal with any serious problems. All of the advance planning appears to be paying off.”
This same Delta IV upper stage will be used in the Block 1 version of NASA’s new heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).
Be sure to read my recent article detailing the ribbon cutting ceremony opening the manufacture of the SLS core stage at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, LA. The SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built by humans, exceeding that of the iconic Saturn V rocket that sent humans to walk on the surface of the Moon.
Wide view of the new welding tool at the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 12, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
The Delta IV rocket will be rolled out to the SLC-37 Cape Canaveral launch pad this week.
Assembly of the Orion EFT-1 capsule and stacking atop the service module was also completed in September at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
NASA’s completed Orion EFT 1 crew module loaded on wheeled transporter during move to Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) on Sept. 11, 2014, at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
It was moved about 1 mile to its next stop on the way to SLC-37 – the KSC fueling facility named the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHFS). Read my Orion move story here.
The two-orbit, four and a half hour EFT-1 flight will lift the Orion spacecraft and its attached second stage to an orbital altitude of 3,600 miles, about 15 times higher than the International Space Station (ISS) – and farther than any human spacecraft has journeyed in 40 years.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Orion, SLS, Boeing, Sierra Nevada, Orbital Sciences, SpaceX, commercial space, Curiosity, Mars rover, MAVEN, MOM and more Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
NASA’s Orion EFT 1 crew module departs Neil Armstrong Operation and Checkout Building on Sept. 11, 2014 at the Kennedy Space Center, FL, beginning the long journey to the launch pad and planned liftoff on Dec. 4, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.comSpace journalists including Ken Kremer/Universe Today pose with the Delta IV Heavy rocket resting horizontally in ULA’s HIF processing facility at Cape Canaveral that will launch NASA’s maiden Orion on the EFT-1 mission in December 2014 from Launch Complex 37. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission captures the limb of Mars with the Mars Color Camera from an altitude of 8449 km soon after achieving orbit on Sept. 23/24, 2014. . Credit: ISRO
India’s maiden interplanetary voyager, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has transmitted a breathtaking new image eyeing the limb of Mars and its atmosphere against the blackness of space.
The beautiful Martian image is only MOM’s second since successfully braking into orbit during the ‘history creating’ insertion maneuver days ago on Sept. 23/24.
The limb image was taken using MOM’s Mars Color Camera (MCC) from an altitude of 8449 kilometers and shows more of an ‘Orange Planet’ rather than a ‘Red Planet.’
“A shot of Martian atmosphere. I’m getting better at it. No pressure,” tweeted ISRO at MOM’s newly established twitter account after entering orbit.
The image has a spatial resolution of 439 meters and is centered around Lat: 20.01N and Lon:31.54E.
MOM’s goal is to study Mars atmosphere , surface environments, morphology, and mineralogy with a 15 kg (33 lb) suite of five indigenously built science instruments. It will also sniff for methane, a potential marker for biological activity.
“The view is nice up here,” ISRO tweeted.
MOM’s first image taken shortly after orbital arrival showed a heavily cratered region of the Red Planet taken by the MCC tri-color camera from a slightly lower altitude of 7300 kilometers with a spatial resolution of 376 meters.
ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission captures its first image of Mars from a height of 7300 km. Credit: ISRO
Following MOM’s successful Mars Orbital Insertion (MOI) maneuver, India became the newest member of an elite club of only four entities who have launched probes that successfully investigated Mars – following the Soviet Union, the United States and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Read my complete MOM meets Mars arrival story – here.
MOM is now circling Mars in a highly elliptical orbit whose nearest point to Mars (periapsis) is at 421.7 km and farthest point (apoapsis) at 76,993.6 km. The inclination of orbit with respect to the equatorial plane of Mars is 150 degree, as intended, ISRO reports.
The $73 million mission is expected to last at least six months.
MOM’s success follows closely on the heels of NASA’s MAVEN orbiter which also successfully achieved orbit barely two days earlier on Sept. 21 and could last 10 years or more.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
A "ball" of material on Mars taken by the Curiosity rover on Sol 746. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
It seems too round to be true — the Curiosity rover has found a ball-shaped object among the craggy rocks in its picture. This image was taken on Sol 746 of the rover’s mission on Mars, which so far has extended over two Earth years.
No, it’s not the leftover of a Martian baseball game and nor is it aliens. In fact, according to Discovery News (who is quoting NASA) it’s a kind of rock that shows evidence of water in the ancient past.
Ian O’Neill writes:
According to MSL scientists based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., the ball isn’t as big as it looks — it’s approximately one centimeter wide. Their explanation is that it is most likely something known as a “concretion.” Other examples of concretions have been found on the Martian surface before — take, for example, the tiny haematite concretions, or “blueberries”, observed by Mars rover Opportunity in 2004 — and they were created during sedimentary rock formation when Mars was abundant in liquid water many millions of years ago.
Curiosity is now at the base of Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons) — its main science goal — and scientists are hoping to find more signs of habitable environments as the rover slowly prepares for the climb up the slope. Mission managers will need to be careful as the rover has battered wheels from rougher terrain than expected.
The first Mars observations from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft in three ultraviolet wavelength bands. From left to right, you can see wavelengths that focus on hydrogen, oxygen and reflected sunlight. A composite image is at far right. Credit: Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics /University of Colorado and NASA
Sure is fun to see the Red Planet in different colors! This is what the gases around the Red Planet’s atmosphere look like from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, which did its first observations on Monday (Sept. 22) — just eight hours after arriving in orbit.
The goal of the spacecraft is to better understand how quickly gases are fleeing the Martian atmosphere, and here you can definitely see a difference between hydrogen (at left) and oxygen (second-to-left). Figuring out how fast the atmosphere escapes could help scientists learn why water appeared to flow freely on the Red Planet’s surface in the distant past.
The hydrogen gas is much lighter and surrounds the planet in a bigger cloud that is so huge it extends beyond the boundaries of the picture at left. The oxygen, which is heavier, is less prone to drifting away and stays closer to the planet. (All images were obtained from an altitude of 22,680 miles or 36,500 kilometers.)
An artist concept of MAVEN in orbit around Mars. (Credit: NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center).
It is believed that the Sun’s radiation pushed hydrogen out of the Martian atmosphere in the planet’s past, thinning it over time. A thicker atmosphere would have allowed water to exist in gullies and perhaps even seas or oceans, but today the atmosphere is too thin for liquid water to survive in large quantities on the surface.
MAVEN is in a commissioning phase that will last until early November, although the spacecraft will take a time-out to do observations of Comet Siding Spring upon the object’s closest approach to the planet Oct. 19. So far, NASA does not believe the comet will pose a huge dust threat to the spacecraft, but MAVEN will be maneuvered to minimize exposure just in case.
A view of the International Space Station as seen by the last departing space shuttle crew, STS-135. Credit: NASA
Amid tensions surrounding international space collaboration, Russia is planning to spend $8 billion (321 billion rubles) on the International Space Station between 2016 and 2025, according to a Russian state agency report.
Deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin made the announcement at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. Part of the money will go to new “automatic spacecraft” and modules, said a translated version of the Russian-language ITAR-TASS report.
There was no mention in the report about Rogozin’s anger this spring concerning sanctions against Russia levied earlier this year after his nation placed soldiers inside Ukranian Crimea, which subsequently was annexed to Russia.
As part of policy with the Obama administration, this April NASA said it would cut most space ties with Russia except for those that are deemed essential to operation of the space station. In response, Rogozin wrote a tweet pointing out the Americans’ dependence on Russian Soyuz vehicles to bring astronauts to and from the station, an arrangement that has been in place since the space shuttle retired in 2011.
Screenshot from NASA TV of the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft arriving at the International Space Station.
“After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest to the USA to bring their astronauts to the International Space Station using a trampoline,” Rogozin wrote in Russian at the time.
The United States wants to extend operations of the station at least four years to 2024, but has not received commitments from its international partners yet. Rogozin’s reported announcement implies Russia would use the station through at least 2024, but it’s not clear if that is the case or what form any international collaboration would take.
A view of Martian hills from the Opportunity rover, taken in August 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.
No science data is missing after the Opportunity Mars rover had a brief “amnesia” event last week, NASA said in an update posted yesterday (Sept. 23). The hiccup occurred a few days after the rover had a reformat to correct ongoing memory problems that were stopping it from doing its mission.
The latest incident happened when the rover “woke up” for a day of work. It was unable to mount its Flash memory, which can store information even when the rover is shut off for the night.
An investigation is ongoing, NASA said, but the rover was performing normally as it scooted towards a small crater called Ulysses last week.
The Martian vista near NASA’s Opportunity rover on Sept. 17, 2014 (Sol 3786), while it was exploring the rim of Endeavour Crater, en route to Ulysses. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.
The journey to Ulysses is taking place over “difficult terrain”, NASA said, but as of Sept. 16 the rover was making progress. It made several drives in the five days before then, including a 98-foot (30-meter) sojourn the day after the memory problem.
Opportunity has spent more than 10 years roaming the Red Planet (it was originally designed to last 90 days). As of Sept. 16, it has driven 25.32 miles (40.75 kilometers) — almost as long as a marathon.
Its medium-range science goal right now is to arrive at Marathon Valley, a location that could have clay minerals in it. Clays are often formed in water-soaked environments, meaning this location could add to the list of ancient water-related finds that spacecraft have found on Mars.
Tracks from the Opportunity rover crisscross Martian soil on Sept. 17, 2014 (Sol 3786). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.
Artists concept of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) successfully achieving Mars orbit on Sept. 23 EDT/Sept. 24 IST . Credit: ISRO
Artists concept of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) successfully achieving Mars orbit on Sept. 23 EDT/Sept. 24 IST. Credit: ISRO
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Space history was made today when India’s car sized Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) successfully fired its braking rockets and arrived in Mars orbit today (Sept. 23 EST/Sept. 24 IST) on the nation’s first attempt to explore the Red Planet. Indeed MOM is India’s maiden interplanetary voyager and “created history.”
India thereby joins an elite club of only three other entities who have launched probes that successfully investigated Mars – following the Soviet Union, the United States and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Wild applause erupted with beaming smiles from ear to ear at India’s Bangalore mission control center after signals confirming a successful full duration firing of the crafts engines for 24 minutes and 13 seconds for the crucial Mars Orbital Insertion (MOI) maneuver that placed MOM into orbit, were received precisely as planned at 10:30 p.m. EDT (Sept 23) or 8:00 IST (Sept. 24).
Traveling at the speed of light it took nearly 12.5 minutes for the good news signals to arrive on Earth from Mars across the vast expanse of some 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) of interplanetary space.
MOM’s Red Planet arrival was webcast live worldwide by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), India’s space agency which designed and developed the orbiter.
ISRO’s website also gave a play by play in real time, announcing the results of critical spacecraft actions along the arrival timeline just moments after they became known.
“India has successfully reached Mars!” declared Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, who watched the events unfold from mission control at ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore.
“History has been created today. We have dared to reach out into the unknown and have achieved the near-impossible. I congratulate all ISRO scientists as well as all my fellow Indians on this historic occasion.”
Modi gave a stirring and passionate speech to the team, the nation and a global audience outlining the benefits and importance of India’s space program. He implored the team to strive for even greater space exploration challenges, sounding very much like US President John F. Kennedy over 50 years ago!
“We have gone beyond the boundaries of human enterprise and imagination,” Modi stated. “We have accurately navigated our spacecraft through a route known to very few. And we have done it from a distance so large that it took even a command signal from Earth to reach it more than it takes sunlight to reach us.”
The do-or-die MOI breaking maneuver slowed MOM’s velocity by 1099 m/s (2457 mph) vs. an expected 1098.7 m/s – using the combined thrust of the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) main engine and eight smaller 22 newton liquid fueled engines.
The entire MOI maneuver took place fully autonomously under the spacecrafts preprogrammed sole control due to the long communications lag time and also during a partial communications blackout when the probe was traveling behind Mars and the signal was blocked.
MOM’s goal is to study Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and the Martian atmosphere with five indigenous scientific instruments. Among other goals it will sniff for methane as a potential marker for biological activity.
MOM’s success follows closely on the heels of NASA’s MAVEN orbiter which also successfully achieved orbit barely two days earlier on Sept. 21.
Modi noted that more than half of all missions to Mars have failed.
“We have prevailed. We have succeeded on our first attempt. We put together the spacecraft in record time, in a mere three years from first studying its feasibility,” Modi elaborated.
“These are accomplishments that will go down in history. Innovation by its very nature involves risk. It is a leap into the dark .. . and the unknown. Space is indeed the biggest unknown out there.”
“Through your brilliance and hard work [at ISRO] you have made a habit of accomplishing the impossible.”
“The success of our space program is a shining symbol of what we are capable of as a nation. Our space program is an example of achievement which inspires us all .. and future generations … to strive for excellence ourselves.”
“Space technology translates to space applications here on Earth … to improve the life of our citizens.”
“Let us set ourselves even more challenging goals and strive even harder to achieve them. Let us push our boundaries. And then push some more, and push some more!” said Modi jubilantly.
MOM now joins Earth’s newly fortified armada of seven spacecraft currently operating on Mars surface or in orbit – including MAVEN, Mars Odyssey (MO), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter MRO), Mars Express (MEX), Curiosity and Opportunity.
“MOM and MAVEN will keep each other company in orbit,” said Modi.
Today, MOM concluded her over 10 month interplanetary voyage of some 442 million miles (712 million km) from Earth to the Red Planet.
“Congratulations to the MOM team on behalf of the entire MAVEN team! Here’s to exciting science from the two latest missions to join the Mars fleet!”, wrote Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN Principal Investigator, in a post on the ISRO MOM facebook page.
ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission – The plan of action for Mars Orbit Insertion on September 24. Credit ISRO
MOM was launched on Nov. 5, 2013 from India’s spaceport at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, atop the nations indigenous four stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
The flight path of the approximately $73 Million probe was being continuously monitored by the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) and NASA JPL’s Deep Space Network (DSN) to maintain its course.
“The events related to Mars Orbit Insertion progressed satisfactorily and the spacecraft performance was normal. The Spacecraft is now circling Mars in an orbit whose nearest point to Mars (periapsis) is at 421.7 km and farthest point (apoapsis) at 76,993.6 km. The inclination of orbit with respect to the equatorial plane of Mars is 150 degree, as intended. In this orbit, the spacecraft takes 72 hours 51 minutes 51 seconds to go round the Mars once,” according to an ISRO statement.
MOM is expected to investigate the Red Planet for at least six months.
Although MOM’s main objective is a demonstration of technological capabilities, she will also study the planet’s atmosphere and surface.
The probe is equipped with five indigenous instruments to conduct meaningful science – including a tri color imager (MCC) and a methane gas sniffer (MSM) to study the Red Planet’s atmosphere, morphology, mineralogy and surface features. Methane on Earth originates from both geological and biological sources – and could be a potential marker for the existence of Martian microbes.
Both MAVEN and MOM’s goal is to study the Martian atmosphere , unlock the mysteries of its current atmosphere and determine how, why and when the atmosphere and liquid water was lost – and how this transformed Mars climate into its cold, desiccated state of today.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
Trans Mars Injection (TMI), carried out on Dec 01, 2013 at 00:49 hrs (IST) has moved the spacecraft in the Mars Transfer Trajectory (MTT). With TMI the Earth orbiting phase of the spacecraft ended and the spacecraft is now on a course to encounter Mars after a journey of about 10 months around the Sun. Credit: ISRO
