PSLV C19 on launch pad photo: ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission is Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) first interplanetary missi...
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| PSLV C19 on launch pad photo: ISRO |
Mars Orbiter Mission is Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) first
interplanetary mission to planet Mars with a spacecraft designed to
orbit Mars in an elliptical orbit of 372 km by 80,000 km.
Mars Orbiter
mission is India’s next challenging technological mission out of the
Earth’s gravitational field. Currently the mission is schedule for November 2013. The major demands will be critical mission
operations and stringent requirements on propulsion, communications and
other bus systems of the spacecraft. The primary driving technological
objective of the mission is to design and realize a spacecraft with a
capability to reach Mars (Martian transfer Trajectory), then to orbit
around Mars (Mars Orbit Insertion) which will take about nine months
time.
Yet another technological challenge is to realize related deep
space mission planning and communication management at a distance of
nearly 400 million km. ISRO's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV will be
used to inject the spacecraft from SDSC, SHAR in the 250 X 23000 km
orbit with an inclination of 17.864 degree. As the minimum energy
transfer opportunity from Earth to Mars occurs once in 26 months, the
opportunity in 2013 demands a cumulative incremental velocity of 2.592
km/sec.
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This satellite will also
carry compact science experiments, totaling a mass of 15 kg, as listed
in the table below which has been reviewed and selected by Advisory
Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS).
Payload
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Primary Objective
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Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP)
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Escape processes of Mars upper atmosphere through Deuterium/Hydrogen
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Methane Sensor for MARS (MSM)
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Detect presence of Methane
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Martian Exospheric Composition
Explorer (MENCA) |
Study the neutral composition of the Martian upper atmosphere
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MARS Colour Camera (MCC)
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Optical imaging
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TIR imaging spectrometer (TIS)
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Map surface composition and mineralogy
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| Deployed views of the Mars Orbiter |
