MARS ORBITER MISSION

Yesterday, will be scripted in the India’s development towards space. A day after Diwali rockets was fired in this part of the country, "the big one" blasted off from the first launch pad in Sriharikota on yesterday afternoon at 2:38 PM, firing the ambition of a nation, and the imagination of many others.

PSLV-C25 ROCKET AT SRIHARIKO

I just want to update my readers about the MARS MISSION. Before going to the mars mission, we have to know that India have taken a giant leap in the area of space. Why this mission is a giant leap because of all the planets in the solar system, Mars has sparked the greatest human interest. The conditions in Mars are believed to be hospitable since the planet is similar to Earth in many ways.

The Mars Orbiter Mission is the INDIA'S FIRST INTERPLANETARY MISSION to planet. Mars with an orbiter craft is designed to orbit the mars in an elliptical path. 

LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL

Firstly we have to know the objective of this mission.

There are vastly two types of objectives

TECHNOLOGICAL OBJECTIVES:

• Design and realization of a Mars orbiter with a capability to survive and perform Earth bound manoeuvres, cruise phase of 300 days; Mars orbit insertion / capture, and on-orbit phase around Mars.

• Deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.

• Incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations.

SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES:

• Exploration of Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.

PAYLOADS:

Generally, the payloads consists of three categories namely

• Atmospheric studies

In this it involves the use of LYMAN ALPHA PHOTOMETER (LAP) and METHANE SENSOR FOR MARS (MSM).

• Particle Environment Studies

This involves the usage of MARS EXOSPHERIC NEUTRAL COMPOSITION ANALYZER (MENCA).

• Surface Imaging Studies

In this area it involves the usage of MARS COLOR CAMERA (MCC) and THERMAL INFRARED IMAGING SPECTROMETER (TIS).

To know the elaborate details of each components visit this link http://www.dnaindia.com/india/commentary-rs450-crore-indian-mars-orbiter-mission-expedition-seeks-to-find-if-there-is-methane-on-mars-1913946

MISSION PROFILE:

TRAJECTORY DESIGN

The Launch Vehicle - PSLV-C25 will inject the Spacecraft into an Elliptical Parking Orbit with a perigee of 250 km and an apogee of 23,500 km. With six Liquid Engine firing, the spacecraft is gradually maneuvered into a hyperbolic trajectory with which it escapes from the Earth’s Sphere of Influence (SOI) and arrives at the Mars Sphere of Influence. When spacecraft reaches nearest point of Mars , it is maneuvered in to an elliptical orbit around Mars by firing the Liquid Engine.

The mission consists of following three phases: 

MARTIAN ORBIT

1. Geo Centric Phase:

In this phase, the spacecraft is injected into an elliptic parking orbit by the launcher. There are six main engines in the spacecraft when these burns the spacecraft will gradually move carefully into a hyperbolic trajectory from where the spacecraft escapes from the Earth’s surface of influence (SOI). The SOI of earth ends at 918347 km from the surface of the earth beyond which the perturbing force on the orbiter is mainly due to the Sun. One primary concern is how to get the spacecraft to Mars, on the least amount of fuel. ISRO uses a method of travel called a Hohmann Transfer Orbit – or a Minimum Energy Transfer Orbit – to send a spacecraft from Earth to Mars with the least amount of fuel possible.

2. Helio Centric Phase
The spacecraft will leave Earth in a direction tangential to Earth’s orbit and encounters Mars tangentially to its orbit. The flight path is roughly one half of an ellipse around sun. Eventually it will intersect the orbit of Mars at the exact moment when Mars is there too. This trajectory becomes possible with certain allowances when the relative position of Earth, Mars and Sun form an angle of approximately 44^o. Such an arrangement recurs periodically at intervals of about 780 days. Minimum energy opportunities for Earth-Mars occur in November 2013, January 2016, May2018 etc.

3. Martian Phase
The spacecraft arrives at the Mars Sphere of Influence in a hyperbolic trajectory. At the time the spacecraft reaches the closest approach to Mars, it is captured into planned orbit around mars which is called the Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) manoeuvre. The ISRO plans to launch the Mars Orbiter Mission during the November 2013 window utilizing minimum energy transfer opportunity.

SPACECRAFT:

DISASSEMBLED SPACECRAFT

The spacecraft configuration is a balanced mix of design from flight proven IRS/INSAT/Chandrayaan-1 bus. Modifications required for Mars mission are in the areas of Communication, Power, and Propulsion systems.

SPACECRAFT

The specifications of the space craft are:

• 390 liters capacity propellant tanks accommodate a maximum of 852 kg of propellant which is adequate with sufficient margins.

• A Liquid Engine of 440 N thrust is used for orbit raising and insertion in Martian Orbit.

• The spacecraft requires three solar panels (size 1800 X 1400 mm) to compensate for the lower solar irradiance.

• Antenna System consists of Low Gain Antenna (LGA), Medium Gain Antenna (MGA), and High Gain Antenna (HGA). 

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