India makes history, Mars orbiter enters red

planet's orbit
India has triumphed in its first interplanetary attempt by
successfully putting a satellite into orbit around Mars.
Yahoo India Wed 24 Sep, 2014
India's low-cost mission to Mars successfully entered
the red planet's orbit on Wednesday, crowning India
as the first country to complete the trip at its maiden
attempt.
The success of the Mars Orbiter Mission, lauded for its low
price tag of Rs 450 crore, will boost India's five-decade-old
space programme that newly-elected Prime Minister
Narendra Modi aims to expand with better infrastructure and
technology.
With a spacecraft around Mars, India joins a small group of
nations that have successfully sent probes to orbit or land on Mars. Others, however, failed
several times initially.

After rotating the Orbiter towards Mars, the main engine was fired 24 minutes from Mars to enter the
Martian orbit, which will be about 500 km from its surface and 215 million km away from the Earth in
radio distance.
The spacecraft will consume about 250 kg of liquid fuel with oxidiser.
The 1,350-kilogram orbiter will now circle the planet for at least six months, with five solar-powered
instruments gathering scientific data that may shed light on Martian weather systems as well as what
happened to the water that is believed to have existed once on Mars in large quantities.
Scientists broke into wild cheers Wednesday morning as the orbiter's engines completed 24 minutes of
burn time and maneuvered into its designated place around the red planet.
Scientists described the final stages of the Mars Orbiter Mission, affectionately nicknamed MOM, as
flawless. The success marks a milestone for the space program in demonstrating that it can conduct
complex missions and act as a global launch pad for commercial, navigational and research satellites.
On Sunday, NASA achieved its own success in placing its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution
mission, or Maven, in position. The U.S. has two more satellites circling the planet at the moment, as
well as two rovers rolling across the rocky Martian surface. The European Space Agency's Mars Express,
launched over a decade ago, is still operating as well.
The success of India's Mars Orbiter Mission, affectionately nicknamed MOM, brings India into an elite
club of Martian explorers that includes United States, the European Space Agency and the former Soviet
Union.
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Getting a spaceship successfully into orbit around Mars is no easy task. More than half the world's
previous attempts 23 out of 41 missions have failed, including one by Japan in 1999.
The Indian Space and Research Organisation described the mission as flawless.
Modi hails India's Mars mission as historic
The success of India's successful mission to Mars "will go down as landmark in history", said Prime
Minister Narendra Modi after Mars Orbiter Mission entered the orbit of the red planet.
"These are all accomplishments that will go down as landmarks in history," said a visibly happy Modi.
The prime minister said that the MOM was built "indigenously, in a pan-Indian effort, stretching from
Bangalore to Bhubhaneshwar, and Faridabad to Rajkot".
He said: "India is the only country, to have succeeded in its very first attempt."
"With today's spectacular success, ISRO joins an elite group, of only three other agencies worldwide to
have successfully reached red planet," he added amidst applause.
Modi, wearing a red coloured jacket, said that the "odds, were stacked against us".
"Of the 51 missions, attempted across the world so far, a mere 21 had succeeded. But we have prevailed,"
he said.
The prime minister said: "Travelling an incredible distance, of over 650 million or 65 crore kms,we have
gone beyond boundaries, of human enterprise and imagination."
All you needed to know about India's low-cost mission to Mars
1
At just Rs 450 crore, ISROS Mars mission is the cheapest so far. The Mars Orbiter Mission is India's
first interplanetary mission to planet Mars with an orbiter craft designed to orbit Mars in an elliptical
orbit. After a nine-month long journey, the Orbiter is scheduled to enter Mars orbit on September 24. To
reach Mars, the spacecraft had to enter three phases, the earth centered phase, the helio centric phase and
finally the Martian phase.
2
The orbit insertion will take place when the spacecraft will be 423 km from the Martian surface and 215
million km away (radio distance) from the earth.
3
Just 21 out of the 51 missions launched to Mars by different countries have been successful and that too
by only three space agencies NASA, European Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency.
The launch gives India an entry into an exclusive club of nations with interplanetary travel capabilities.
4
The Rs 450-crore Mars Orbiter Mission is India's first interplanetary mission to planet Mars with an
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orbiter craft designed to orbit Mars in an elliptical orbit. The project, built over a remarkably short period
of two years, is primarily a technological mission considering the critical operations and stringent
requirements on propulsion and other systems of the spacecraft.
5
Launched last November, the Mars Orbiter Mission, called Mangalyaan, aims to study the planet's
surface and mineral composition, and scan its atmosphere for methane, a chemical strongly tied to life on
Earth.
6
If the spacecraft does manage to enter orbit around Mars on September 24, India would become the first
country to succeed on its first try. European, U.S. and Russian probes have managed to orbit or land on
the planet, but only after several attempts.
7
The
Rs

Bangalore: #Mangalyaan ISRO Scientists celebrate after successful launch of

Mars Orbiter Mission
450crore
($70
million) ambitious Mars Orbiter Mission was launched Nov 5, 2013, on board a polar rocket from
spaceport Sriharikota off Bay of Bengal, about 80 km northeast of Chennai.
8
The pay loads include Lyman Lpha Photometer to measure the relative abundance of deuterium and
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hydrogen from Lyman- alpha emission; Methane Sensor for Mars to measure methane in the Martian
atmosphere, and thus determine past existence of life; Mars Colour Camera to capture images and
information about the surface of Mars and its composition; Mars Exopheric Neutral Composition
Analyser, which is a spectrometer; and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer to map surface
composition and mineralogy of Mars.
9
The Mangalyaan has been configured to carry out observations of the physical features of the Mars and
also to carry out a limited study of the Martian atmosphere.
10
The criticism of the Mars mission being a waste of money appears to be misplaced too. If one monetises
the worth of national services that ISRO satellites are providing communications, broadcasting,
broadband, weather forecasting, disaster warning, ocean monitoring, education, navigation it would be
several times the budget of the space agency. ISROs annual budget is about one billion dollars,
compared to $ 17.7 billion for NASA, $7.9 billion for Russian agency, $5.6 billion for the European
Space Agency and $ 2.5 billion for China. Unlike
Chronology of events
the Chinese programme which is completely
PTI has listed the chronology of events
focused on national pride and superpower dreams,
that traces the journey of Mangalyaan
Indias space programme is linked to broader
which lasted over 300 days:
national theme of national development.
Nov 5, 2013: ISRO's PSLV C25 launches
India's Mars Orbiter Mission from
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
Nov 7: First Earth-bound manoeuvre
performed.
Nov 8: Second Earth-bound manoeuvre
performed.
Nov 9: Third Earth-bound manoeuvre
performed.
Nov 11: Fourth Earth-bound manoeuvre
performed.
Nov 12: Fifth Earth-bound manoeuvre
performed.
Nov 16: Sixth Earth-bound manoeuvre
performed.
Dec 1: MOM leaves Earth's orbit, TransMars Injection performed.
Dec 4: MOM leaves Earth's Sphere of
Influence of 9.25 lakh km radius.
Dec 11: First course correction
manoeuvre performed on the spacecraft.
Jun 11, 2014: Second course correction
manoeuvre executed.
Sep 22: MOM enters Mars' Gravitational
Sphere of Influence; 440 Newton Liquid
Apogee Motor test fired after over 300
days of dormancy; last trajectory
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