Mars mission has reached midway

[doremon]

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), India's first interplanetary exploration programme, is midway to the Red Planet. On Wednesday MOM will cross the mid-point of its path to Mars.

According to Isro sources, tomorrow at 9.50 a.m, MOM spacecraft will cross the mid-point of its path to Mars. By then, MOM would have travelled 337.5 million kms in its elliptical orbit around Sun.

Coincidently this happen just a day after the closest approach of Mars and Earth in their respective orbits which is called an opposition.

MOM is now 38 million kms away from Earth and it takes about four minutes and 10 seconds for two way communication.

Spacecraft is following the designated trajectory so close so that, the trajectory correction planned this month has been deemed unnecessary.

Isro is expected to conduct the next TCM in June 2014 and two more in August and September.

"As planned it will reach on September 24, 2014," said Isro officials.

India's first interplanetary spacecraft, Mars Orbiter was successfully launched on November 5, 2013 at 14:38 hrs (IST), by India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C25, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

Mars Mission (which was executed on only one third of Nasa's cost of Mars Mission and in first attempt itself it was lifted off while Nasa's first attempt failed) and the cryogenic engine development.

 

[Brahmos_2]

ISROoooo.......

 

[Robinhood Pandey]

 

[Parul]

Best of Luck ISRO!

 

[nomi007]

Best of Luck ISRO

 

[Android]

when will the first gslv mk3 test going to be conducted??? it was scheduled for this month right

 

[gubbi]

Excellent achievement by ISRO. This has to be the first Indian made satellite to travel furthest from Earth!!

Mars Mission (which was executed on only one third of Nasa's cost of Mars Mission and in first attempt itself it was lifted off while Nasa's first attempt failed) and the cryogenic engine development.

Btw, not to sound like a party pooper, what are they comparing here? The entire NASA's Mars mission which put a SUV sized 'Curiosity' rover on the surface of Mars with the help of a crazy idea called 'sky crane' or just their first mission to Mars putting a satellite in its orbit back in early 1960s?
Our media really needs to stop this stupid "chest thumping".

 

[Marshmallow]

Good luck!

 

[Abingdonboy]

Excellent achievement by ISRO. This has to be the first Indian made satellite to travel furthest from Earth!!

Btw, not to sound like a party pooper, what are they comparing here? The entire NASA's Mars mission which put a SUV sized 'Curiosity' rover on the surface of Mars with the help of a crazy idea called 'sky crane' or just their first mission to Mars putting a satellite in its orbit back in early 1960s?
Our media really needs to stop this stupid "chest thumping".

Absolutely, one needs to compare like to like I've seen the media (not just Indian, even the US ) contrast the two missions and it is entirely misleading an unfair to both parties.

 

[TimeToScoot]

when will the first gslv mk3 test going to be conducted??? it was scheduled for this month right

First week of July. The date was revised sometime back. GSLV Mark III ready for mission - The Hindu

 

[Sourya Kharb]

ISRO is improving itself rapidly

 

[Skull and Bones]

Lets not jump in joy yet, the critical phase of entering Mar's orbit is yet to come.

 

[noksss]

Mangalyaan, India's maiden mission to Mars, crossed the halfway mark of its incredible journey today morning at 9.50 am.
Mangalyaan (Mars craft), which was launched on November 5, 2013 from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh, has travelled nearly 337.5 million km till now.

It is expected to rendezvous with the Red Planet on September 24, 2014, when it will become the farthest any Indian object has ever travelled.

At Rs. 450 crore, India's Mars mission is the cheapest inter planetary mission ever undertaken.

Mangalyaan aims to look for signs of life on Mars. The mission seems to be on track thanks to the nature of planetary forces and the precise orbit injection by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

A team comprising nearly 500 ISRO scientists had worked tirelessly to ensure that Mangalyaan was ready for its launch within a record 15 months.

Of the 51 missions to Mars launched from across the world till date, 27 have failed so far.

If Mangalyaan manages to reach Mars, India will become the first country to achieve the enviable feat on a spacecraft 's maiden flight.

Till date, only the United States, Russia and the European Space Agency have successfully managed to send a spacecraft all the way to Mars.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced the Centre's decision to undertake a mission to Mars during his speech at the Red Fort on August 15, 2012.

From simply being an ambitious idea by the Indian government to an actual inter planetary mission that has crossed its halfway mark, it has been quite a remarkable journey for Mangalyaan.

'Red' letter day: India's Mars mission crosses halfway mark | NDTV.com

 

[SRP]

Mars orbiter spacecraft crosses half-way mark

(ISRO release | Unedited)

Today (April 09, 2014) at 9:50 am IST, India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft crossed the half-way mark of its journey to the Red Planet along the designated helio-centric trajectory.

Mars Orbiter Spacecraft was launched onboard PSLV-C25 on November 05, 2013. On December 01, 2013, Trans Mars Injection manoeuvre was conducted successfully and the Spacecraft was set in its course towards Planet Mars through a helio-centric trajectory. Soon after the Spacecraft crossed the sphere of influence of Earth, a Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM) was performed successfully on December 11, 2013.

ISRO has been continuously monitoring the Spacecraft using its Deep Space Network complemented by that of NASA-JPL. As the Spacecraft is on its designated trajectory, the TCM planned for April 2014 is not considered essential. If required, the next TCM is planned to be carried out in June 2014.

Mars Orbiter Spacecraft and its five scientific instruments are in good health. Periodic tests are being done on the different levels of autonomy built into the Spacecraft for managing contingencies.

At present, the radio distance between the Spacecraft and the Earth is 39 million km. A signal from the Earth to the Spacecraft and back to Earth takes 4 minutes and 15 seconds. Soon, the High Gain Antenna of the Spacecraft will be put in service for handling communications with the ground stations.

The Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) manoeuvre would be performed on September 24, 2014.

Source: Tarmak007

 

[kaykay]

Good. It itself is an achievement. All the best for ahead.