ISRO has successfully launched the Mars Orbiter Mission, correctly inserting it into its planned initial orbit around Earth. Over the next few weeks, its orbit will be progressively raised by firing the Liquid Apogee Motor, until the spacecraft can be flung out of its Earth orbit towards Mars. After traveling on a 300-day journey, the orbiter will perform a thrust-braking maneuver to allow it to be captured by the gravitational field of Mars.
The next launch before yearend will be the test of the upper stage cryogenic engine, which will be used for the next-generation GSLV-MkIII rocket. Also in the months ahead will be a series of tests for ISRO's Reusable Launch Vehicle demonstrator.
2 comments:
I watched it live on YouTube. It is indeed great news. I have known some of the people who work very closely on these ISRO projects - payload designs, optics, quality checks, telemetry, etc. etc. It is very heartening to know the passion with which they associate themselves to these endeavors. They deserve such successes. BTW, they are using NASA's Deep Space Network for the telemetry control in this one.
For those socialist jhollawallas who protest about the Rs.450 Crore mission, here are some interesting numbers:
Domestic fire cracker sale during Diwali: Rs.1700 Crore
Nita Ambani's Birthday Bash: Rs. 220 Crore
India's Mangalayaan Mission: Rs 450 Crore
The majority of attempts to get to Mars have failed. Let's hope the Mars Orbiter can prevail over the odds and establish its orbit around the planet. Then let's hope it will find something useful, particularly in regards to possible biological production of methane on Mars. Finally, if the orbiter survives to conclude its mission, it's possible that with its eccentric orbit that it could be flung off to proceed to another planetary target, or perhaps even the asteroid belt.
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