Artist's impression AS 205 N, which is a T Tauri star, and a smaller partner. Credit: P. Marenfeld (NOAO/AURA/NSF)
Watch out! Carbon monoxide gas is likely fleeing the disk of a young star like our Sun, producing an unusual signature in infrared. This could be the first time winds have been confirmed in association with a T Tauri star, or something else might be going on.
Because the observed signature of the star (called AS 205 N) didn’t meet what models of similar stars predicted, astronomers say it’s possible it’s not winds after all, but a companion tugging away at the gas.
“The material in the disk of a T Tauri star usually, but not always, emits infrared radiation with a predictable energy distribution,” stated Colette Salyk, an astronomer with the National Optical Astronomical Observatory who led the research. “Some T Tauri stars, however, like to act up by emitting infrared radiation in unexpected ways.”
View of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) site, which is 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) on the Chajnantor Plateau in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Credit: A. Marinkovic/X-Cam/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
T Tauri stars are still young enough to be surrounded by dust and gas that could eventually form planets. Winds in the vicinity, however, could make it difficult for enough gas to stick around to form Jupiter-sized gas giants — or could change where planets are formed altogether.
While it’s still unclear what’s going on in AS 205 N, the astronomers plan to follow up their work with observing other T Tauri stars. Maybe with more observations, they reason, they can better understand what these signatures are telling us.
The weird environment was spotted by astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a set of 66 radio telescopes in Chile. A paper based on the research was published in the Astrophysical Journal and is also available in preprint version on Arxiv.
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
Story updated[/caption]
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
Expedition 42 to the International Space Station poses as characters from Douglas Adams' 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe.' Credit: NASA.
Don’t panic! NASA has been creating some great posters for their missions and Expedition crews to the International Space Stations, and this newest one will warm the heart of any Douglas Adams fan. As we all know, 42 is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. Right now, the first half of the Expedition 42 crew has a targeted launch date of Nov. 23, 2014.
Featuring (from left to right):
Terry Virts and Anton Shkaplerov as Zaphod Beeblebrox
Aleksandr Samokutyayev as Humma Kavula
Barry “Butch” Wilmore as Arthur Dent
Elena Serova as Ford Prefect
Samantha Cristoforetti as Trillian
Guest star: Robonaut, as Marvin the Paranoid Android
Samantha Cristoforetti posted this image on her Flickr page and said the family of Douglas Adams gave the crew permission to do the photo-shoot for this poster, and added that the Point-of-View gun is not Photoshopped, but a real creation.
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is India’s first mission to the Red Planet. The historic arrival on Sept. 23/24 will be webcast live by ISRO. Details below. Credit: ISRO
Its D-Day for MOM! The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is India’s history making first mission to the Red Planet and she arrives today, Sept. 23/24 !
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.
Depending on your time zone, today’s historic arrival falls on either Sept. 23 (EST) or Sept. 24 (IST).
MOM’s entire future depends on conducting a successful and precise, do-or-die Mars Orbital Insertion (MOI) braking burn just hours from now.
The MOI engine firing is targeted for Sept. 23 at 9:47:32 p.m. EDT and Sept. 24 at 07:17:32 hrs IST.
And you can watch all the action live as it happens via a live webcast from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) website, India’s space agency which designed and developed MOM for about $69 Million.
ISRO’s live streaming webcast starts on the US East Coast today, Sept. 23, at 9:15 p.m. EDT and in India on Sept. 24 at 6:45 IST: http://www.isro.org/
Here’s another webcast link for MOM’s Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) from ISTRAC, Bangalore: http://webcast.isro.gov.in/
The MOI burn involves firing the probes 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) and eight smaller 22 Newton liquid fueled engines for a duration of about 24 minutes to enter Mars’ orbit.
Confirmation of a successful start to the engine burn could be received back on Earth at about 10 p.m. EDT or 7:30 IST. Confirmation of a successful MOI conclusion could be received by about 10:30 p.m. EDT or 8:00 IST
On Monday, Sept 22, engineers at the Bangalore mission control center verified the performance and readiness of the LAM by conducting the final Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM-4) with a engine burst duration of 3.968 seconds.
“We had a perfect burn for four seconds as programmed. MOM will now go-ahead with the nominal plan for Mars Orbital Insertion,” said ISRO.
The Indian engineering team has only one chance to get it right, and the entire world is pulling for India. NASA, JPL, and the DSN have sent along extra special good luck wishes in the form of group photos below.
Good luck wishes for MOM from NASA and JPL. Credit: NASA/ISRO
Everyone is wishing for complete success for the probe which reaches Mars just two days after NASA’s MAVEN orbiter successfully achieved orbit on Sunday night, Sept. 21.
“We wish a successful MOI for MOM,” said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU/LASP) at MAVEN’s post MOI briefing on Monday, Sept. 22.
ISRO reports today that all systems are currently “GO.”
Watch this cool animation showing the interplanetary path of MOM and MAVEN from Earth to Mars sent to me be an appreciative reader – Sankaranarayanan K V:
If all goes well, MOM will join Earth’s newly fortified armada of six spacecraft operating on Mars surface or in orbit – MAVEN, Mars Odyssey (MO), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Mars Express (MEX), Curiosity, and Opportunity.
Today, MOM concludes her 10 month interplanetary voyage of some 442 million miles (712 million km) from Earth to the Red Planet.
Good luck MOM!
ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission – The plan of action for Mars Orbit Insertion on September 24. Credit ISRO
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
The SpaceX Dragon CRS-4 private space freighter berths at the International Space Station on Sept.23, 2014. Credit: NASA TV
After a two day chase through space, a commercial SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule completed its orbital ballet and arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) today, Sept. 23, packed with some 2.5 tons of ground breaking science experiments and supplies for the human crew.
The Dragon CRS-4 resupply freighter rendezvoused with the station early this morning following a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings that brought the vessel to within a capture distance of some 10 meters (32 feet) beneath the massive orbiting outpost.
Expedition 41 crewmember and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst then maneuvered the station’s 58-foot Canadian built robotic arm. He deftly captured the Dragon at 6:52 a.m. EDT while working at the controls of the robotics workstation in the Cupola module and as the station soared some 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean.
NASA TV live coverage of the rendezvous and grappling process began at 5:00 a.m. EDT with berthing coverage concluding about 9:30 a.m. – http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman assisted Gerst in operating the Canadarm2 from inside the domed, seven windowed Cupola.
Approximately two hours later at 9 a.m. EST, the private SpaceX Dragon was berthed at the Earth-facing port on the stations Harmony module.
See the Dragon’s location on ISS graphic below.
Current ISS configuration on Sept. 23, 2014 following berthing of SpaceX Dragon CRS-4. Credit: NASA TV
The SpaceX Dragon CRS-4 cargo mission thundered to space on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 1:52 a.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 21, just hours after a deluge of widespread rain showers inundated central Florida. Story here.
CRS-4 marks the company’s fourth resupply mission to the ISS under a $1.6 Billion contract with NASA to deliver 20,000 kg (44,000 pounds) of cargo to the ISS during a dozen Dragon cargo spacecraft flights through 2016.
Eight more Dragon cargo missions to the ISS are slated through 2016.
The Dragon spacecraft is loaded with more than 5,000 pounds of science experiments, spare parts, crew provisions, food, clothing and supplies to the six person crews living and working aboard the ISS soaring in low Earth orbit under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.
Alexander Gerst and Reid Wiseman watch the approach of the SpaceX Dragon from the Cupola. Credit: NASA TV
This mission opens a new era in Earth science for the ISS. Tucked inside the Dragon’s unpressurized trunk section at the rear is the ISS-Rapid Scatterometer.
RapidScat is NASA’s first research payload aimed at conducting Earth science from the station’s exterior. The station’s robot arm will pluck RapidScat out of the trunk and attach it to an Earth-facing point on the exterior trusswork of ESA’s Columbus science module.
The remote sensing instrument will use radar pulses to observe the speed and direction of winds over the ocean for the improvement of weather forecasting.
Dragon also carries the first 3-D printer to space for the first such space based studies ever attempted by the astronaut crews. The printer will remain at the station for at least the next two years.
Also aboard are 20 mice housed in a special rodent habitat, as well as fruit flies.
Dragon will remain docked to the ISS for about a month. Then it will return to Earth via a parachute assisted Pacific Ocean landing off the coast of Baja California. On the return trip, the capsule will be packed with nearly 3,300 pounds (1,486 kg) of cargo, science samples, and computer and vehicle hardware for engineering checks.
The next SpaceX unmanned resupply mission is set to launch in early December on the CRS-5 flight.
The SpaceX Dragon private space freighter approaches the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo capsule packed with science experiments and station supplies blasts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, at 1:52 a.m. EDT on Sept. 21, 2014 bound for the ISS. Credit: Jeff Seibert/Wired4SpaceA SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo capsule packed with science experiments and station supplies blasts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, at 1:52 a.m. EDT on Sept. 21, 2014 bound for the ISS. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Apollo 14 astronaut Ed Mitchell at work in the Ocean of Storms on the Moon. Credit: NASA / Lunar and Planetary Institute
While any image from the Apollo program is stunning, some of the more iconic ones are used over and over again while equally amazing pictures remain relatively unknown.
In the same spirit, we’ve posted some Apollo images below from the Lunar and Planetary Institute, which maintains a catalog of NASA shots (including some in high-resolution) on its website. We also recommend the 1999 Michael Light book Full Moon, which has dozens of lesser-known Apollo shots of high quality.
A half-Earth shines in this image taken by the Apollo 13 crew in April 1970. Credit: NASA / Lunar and Planetary InstituteFootprints, dusty spacesuit knees and tools — all a part of the Apollo 12 mission in November 1969. Credit: NASA / Lunar and Planetary InstituteApollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin inside the lunar module at the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility in July 1969. Credit: NASA / Lunar and Planetary InstituteShadowy lunar craters poke out in this image taken by the Apollo 8 crew in December 1968. Credit: NASA / Lunar and Planetary InstituteAn Apollo 16 astronaut works near the lunar rover in the Descartes Highlands in April 1972. Credit: NASA / Lunar and Planetary Institute
The 1st Quarter Moon occults Saturn during the last event in the series on August 5th, 2015. Sequence courtesy of Teale Britstra.
Got clear skies? This week’s equinox means the return of astronomical Fall for northern hemisphere observers and a slow but steady return of longer nights afterwards. And as the Moon returns to the evening skies, all eyes turn to the astronomical action transpiring low to the southwest at dusk.
Three planets and two “occasional” planets lie along the Moon’s apparent path this coming weekend: Mars, Saturn, Mercury and the tiny worldlets of 4 Vesta and 1 Ceres. Discovered in the early 19th century, Ceres and Vesta enjoyed planetary status initially before being relegated to the realm of the asteroids, only to make a brief comeback in 2006 before once again being purged along with Pluto to dwarf planet status.
The Moon approaches Saturn on the evening of September 28th as seen from latitude 30 degrees north. Credit: Stellarium.
On Sunday September 28th, the four day old Moon will actually occult (pass in front of) Saturn, Ceres, and Vesta in quick succession. The Saturn occultation is part of a series of 12 in an ongoing cycle. This particular occultation is best for Hawaiian-based observers on the evening of September 28th. Astute observers will recall that Ceres and Vesta fit in the same 15’ field of view earlier this summer. Both are now over six degrees apart and slowly widening. Unfortunately, there is no location worldwide where it’s possible to see all (or two) of these objects occulted simultaneously. The best spots for catching the occultations of +7.8 magnitude Vesta and +9.0 magnitude Ceres are from the Horn of Africa and just off of the Chilean coast of South America, respectively. The rest of us will see a close but photogenic conjunction of the trio and the Moon. To our knowledge, an occultation of Ceres or Vesta by the dark limb of the Moon has yet to be recorded. Vesta also reaches perihelion this week on September 23rd at 4:00 UT, about 2.2 astronomical units from the Sun and 2.6 A.U.s from Earth.
4 Vesta and 1 Ceres share the same field of view this past summer. Credit: Andrew Symes @FailedProtostar.
The reappearance of the Moon in the evening skies is also a great time to try your hand (or eyes) at the fine visual athletic sport of waxing crescent moon-spotting. The Moon passes New phase marking the start of lunation 1135 on Wednesday, September 24th at 6:12 UT/2:12 AM EDT. First sighting opportunities will occur over the South Pacific on the same evening, with worldwide opportunities to spy the razor-thin Moon low to the west the following night. Aim your binoculars at the Moon and sweep about three degrees to the south, and you’ll spy Mercury and the bright star Spica just over a degree apart.
This week’s New Moon is also notable for marking the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, and the beginning of the Jewish year 5775 A.M. at sundown on Wednesday. The Jewish calendar is a hybrid luni-solar one, and inserted an embolismic or intercalculary month earlier this spring to stay in sync with the solar year.
The occultation footprint of Saturn. The dashed line denotes where the event occurs in the daytime, while the solid line marks where it can be seen after sunset. Created using Occult 4.1.0.
The Moon also visits Mars and Antares on September 29th. The ruddy pair sits just three degrees apart on the 28th, making an interesting study in contrast. Which one looks “redder” to you? Antares was actually named by the Greeks to refer to it as the “equal to,” “pseudo,” or “anti-Mars…” Mars can take on anything from a yellowish to pumpkin orange appearance, depending on the current amount of dust suspended in its atmosphere. The action around Mars is also heating up, as NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft just arrived in orbit around the Red Planet and India’s Mars Orbiter is set to join it this week… and all as Comet A1 Siding Spring makes a close pass on October 19th!
And speaking of spacecraft, another news maker is photo-bombing the dusk scene, although of course it’s much too faint to see. NASA’s Dawn mission is en route to enter orbit around Ceres in early 2015, and currently lies near R.A. 15h 02’ and declination -14 37’, just over a degree from Ceres as seen from Earth. The Moon will briefly “occult” the Dawn spacecraft as well on September 28th.
Crowded skies: the Moon approaching Saturn, 4 Vesta, 1 Ceres and the Dawn spacecraft on the 28th. The red arrow shows the direction of the Moon. Created using Starry Night Education Software.
Be sure to keep an eye out for Earthshine on the dark limb of the Moon as our natural neighbor in space waxes from crescent to First Quarter. What you’re seeing is the reflection of sunlight from the gibbous Earth illuminating the lunar plains on the nighttime side of the Moon. This effect gives the Moon a dramatic 3D appearance and can vary depending on the amount of cloud and snow cover currently facing the Moon.
Such a close trio of conjunctions raises the question: when was the last time the Moon covered two or more planets at once? Well, on April 23rd 1998, the Moon actually occulted Venus and Jupiter at the same time, although you had to journey to Ascension Island to witness it!
The waning crescent Moon approaches Jupiter and Venus on April 23rd, 1998. Credit: Stellarium.
Such bizarre conjunctions are extremely rare. You need a close pairing of less than half a degree for two bright objects to be covered by the Moon at the same time. And often, such conjunctions occur too close to the Sun for observation. A great consequence of such passages, however, is that it can result in a “smiley-face” conjunction, such as the one that occurs on October 15th, 2036:
Smile: A close pass of the Moon, Saturn, and Regulus in 2036. Credit: Stellarium.
Such an occurrence lends credence to a certain sense of cosmic irony in the universe.
And be sure to keep an eye on the Moon, as eclipse season 2 of 2 for 2014 kicks off next week, with the second total lunar eclipse of the year visible from North America.
A shot of the moon taken by a telescope created by 3-D printing. Credit: University of Sheffield
What would Galileo think of this? Here’s a shot of our closest large celestial neighbor, the Moon, taken through a 3-D printed telescope. Better yet — before long, the creators of this telescope promise, the plans will be made available on the Internet for all to use.
“This is all about democratizing technology, making it cheap and readily available to the general public,” stated Mark Wrigley, who-co led the design. He runs a one-person company (Alternative Photonics) and built the telescope with support from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.
“And the PiKon is just the start. It is our aim to not only use the public’s feedback and participation to improve it, but also to launch new products which will be of value to people.”
The mirror size of the telescope was not disclosed in a press release, but its magnification is 160. This makes it able to look at planets, moons, galaxies and star clusters. Stacking images is also possible to look for moving objects such as comets, the university stated.
The creators say it only costs £100 ($165) to make, so we can hardly wait to see what the plans contain. More information on the telescope is available on the PiKon website.
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is closing in on the Red Planet and the Mars Orbit Insertion engine firing when it arrives on September 24, 2014 after its 10 month interplanetary journey. Credit ISRO
Two days out from her history making date with destiny, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) successfully completed a crucial test firing of the spacecraft’s main liquid engine to confirm its operational readiness for the critical Mars Orbital Insertion (MOI) engine firing on Wednesday morning Sept. 24 IST (Tuesday evening Sept. 23 EDT).
Engineers at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) which designed and developed MOM successfully fired the probes 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) earlier today, Sept. 22, 2014, for a duration of 3.968 seconds at 1430 hrs IST (Indian Standard Time), according to today’s announcement from ISRO.
“We had a perfect burn for four seconds as programmed. MOM will now go-ahead with the nominal plan for Mars Orbital Insertion,” said ISRO.
ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission – The plan of action for Mars Orbit Insertion on September 24. Credit ISRO
MOM counts as India’s first interplanetary voyager and the nation’s first manmade object to orbit the 4th rock from our Sun – if all goes well.
The LAM was last fired over nine months ago on December 01, 2013 to inject MOM into a ten month long interplanetary Trans Mars Trajectory.
Today’s operation verified that LAM is fully operational to perform the do-or-die MOI braking burn on Sept. 24 targeted for 07:17:32 hrs IST (Sept. 23, 9:47:32 p.m. EDT) that will place the probe into a highly elliptical 377 km x 80,000 km orbit around the Red Planet.
You can watch all the action live on ISRO’s website during the streaming webcast starting at 6:45 IST (9:15 p.m. EDT): http://www.isro.org/
The burn was also marks the spacecraft’s final Trajectory Correction Maneuver known as TCM-4 and changed its velocity by 2.18 meters/second.
“The trajectory has been corrected,” said ISRO.
The $69 Million probe is being continuously monitored by the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) and NASA JPL’s Deep Space Network (DSN) to maintain its course.
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
ISRO space engineers are taking care to precisely navigate MOM to keep it on course during its long heliocentric trajectory from Earth to Mars through a series of in flight Trajectory Correction Maneuvers (TCMs).
The last TCM was successfully performed on June 11 by firing the spacecraft’s 22 Newton thrusters for a duration of 16 seconds. TCM-1 was conducted on December 11, 2013 by firing the 22 Newton Thrusters for 40.5 seconds.
Engineers determined that a TCM planned for August was not needed.
On “D-Day” as ISRO calls it, the LAM and the eight smaller 22 Newton liquid fueled engines are scheduled to fire for a duration of about 24 minutes.
The MOI braking burn will be carried out fully autonomously since MOM will be eclipsed by Mars due to the Sun-Earth-Mars geometry about five minutes prior to initiation of the engine firing.
Round trip radio signals communicating with MOM now take some 21 minutes.
The 1,350 kilogram (2,980 pound) probe has been streaking through space for over ten months.
MOM follows hot on the heels of NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft which successfully achieved Red Planet orbit less than a day ago on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2014.
“We wish a successful MOI for MOM,” said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU/LASP) at MAVEN’s post MOI briefing earlier today.
MOM was launched on Nov. 5, 2013 from India’s spaceport at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, atop the nation’s indigenous four stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which placed the probe into its initial Earth parking orbit.
Watch this cool animation showing the interplanetary path of MOM and MAVEN from Earth to Mars sent to me be an appreciative reader – Sankaranarayanan K V:
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’s 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.
If all goes well, India will join an elite club of only four who have launched probes that successfully investigated the Red Planet from orbit or the surface – following the Soviet Union, the United States and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing MOM, MAVEN, Rosetta, Opportunity, Curiosity, Mars rover and more Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
Blastoff of the Indian developed Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on Nov. 5, 2013 from the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. Credit: ISRO
Jupiter at Dawn from Savannah Skies Observatory - Sept 20, 2014. Credit and copyright: Joseph Brimacombe.
Prolific astrophotographer Joseph Brimacombe from Australia shot this beauty from his Savannah Skies Observatory near Cairns. He notes on Flickr that “Jupiter has been enhanced for effect,” but what a lovely effect! Plus what a great view of the landscape in Queensland.
Taken with a Canon 5D Mk II and 28-300 mm lens, six frames; three exposures each.
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
