)
India's vision to join some of the major space agencies on Mass exploration now looks brighter as its major milestone – slingshot of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) to the solar orbit – was completed successfully.
The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars as scheduled after travelling for around 440-million kms, from the Earth after a 10-month journey around sun.
India has now become the first Asian country and fourth nation in the world to leap into the interplanetary space . Less than half the around 50 spacecrafts sent by other countries towards Mars have been able to completed it.
Most of the countries failed at this point (while moving from the Earth Orbit). The last one was China's Mars probe, which was failed since the spacecraft could not leave Earth's orbit in November 2011. The spacecraft disintegrated in the atmosphere and its fragments fell into the Pacific Ocean.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) successfully conduced a critical manoeuvre to place the Mars orbiter spacecraft in the Mars transfer trajectory on Sunday early morning, almost an hour past midnight of November 30. The slingshot requires precise calculations to eliminate the risk of missing the new orbit.
Minutes later after conducting the Trans-Mars injection (code name for today's slingshot), Isro Chairman K Radhakrishnan told Business Standard "the injection operation was performed successfully at 1.19 a.m and everything is fine”.
Soon after the successful event, Isro wished its face book followers that “while Mangalyaan takes 1.2 billion dreams to Mars, we wish you sweet dreams!." CHECK BOX FOR NAIL BITING MOMENTS AT Isro
The Orbiter was given an incremental velocity (speed) of 648 metres per second for the crucial manoeuvre for its 680-million km voyage to reach Mars September 24, 2014 at a speed of 32 km per second.
The slingshot of Mars Orbiter Mission (Mom) was conducted to impart the spacecraft in a specific velocity, so that in September 2014, it can be closer to the Mars and that position would be 500 kms, plus or minus 50 kms, said Radhakrishnan.
The success of the spacecraft, scheduled to orbit Mars in September 2014, would carry India into a small club of nations including the United States, Europe, and Russia, whose probes have orbited or landed on Mars.
“Of the three important events, two are completed successfully”, he said. First one was launch of the Orbiter (November 5), second was injecting it in the trans Mars orbit (December 1) and third important event will be placing MOM in Mars Orbit on September 24, 2014.
The crux and success of today's operation was Isro should be able to estimate precisely the velocity and the time it need to impart the velocity to the spacecraft so that it takes that position and in that the computation of the spacecraft navigation is important.
How it passes from the sphere influence of Earth and enters a heliocentric orbit, said Radhakrishnan. On September 24, 2014, Isro need to reduce the velocity and that is the next major operation.
"If we are able to reduce the velocity precisely at that particular point of time, then we get the orbit and finally, the instruments will be operated," he said.
Isro said, during this manoeuver, which began at 00:49 today, the spacecraft's 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about 22 minutes providing a velocity increment of 648 meters/second to the spacecraft. Following the completion of this manoeuver, the Earth orbiting phase of the spacecraft ended. The spacecraft is now on a course to encounter Mars after a journey of about 10 months around the Sun.
About six hours before the slingshot, Isro performed the assessment of all subsystems of the spacecraft and said the MOM was ready for Trans-Mars Injection and its command and control was done from the Mission Operations Complex of ISTRAC, Bangalore.
After walking around the Earth for one last time- in its last orbit for the last four days, MOM started its 300-day voyage to Mars on Sunday early morning. MOM is expected to reach the Red Planet on September 24, 2014, after traversing 400 million kms.
For Isro, the challenge is to precisely place it in the orbit. From the orbit of Mars, the five payloads deployed in the spacecraft would start working to collect information for the scientists.
“To get thrown out of Earth’s orbit, towards Mars, with the right velocity, in the right direction and at the right time- That’s MOM’s Escape Challenge!,” said Isro.
When MOM left the cradle of Earth, Isro relied on Sun’s gravity and laws of the universe to deliver it to Mars at the right epoch. ‘Attitude and Orbit Control thrusters’ and the Liquid Engine on board was used for keeping MOM on course. This is Isro’s first ever experience of hurling a spacecraft beyond Earth’s Sphere of Influence..
The first midcourse correction is planned on December 11. There may be one more mid-course correction during the helio-centric phase, and subsequently, a fortnight before the spacecraft’s arrival near Mars, there will be one more mid-course correction.
"So there would be three or more mid-course corrections were planned and based on the orbit determination in helioc-centric phase," said Radhakrishnan.
Nail biting moments on Nov 30 / Dec 1
On November 30, 2013
Around 11.50 pm on Saturday night, on-board computer took over the operations of MOM. Almost 30 minutes before the slingshot, Isro said forward rotation of the spacecraft, to put into the right oreientation to fire, has commenced.
On December 1, 2013
Around 00.30 hrs (IST): Forward rotation (to alter the thrusters in the right direction for the sling shot) of the spacecraft completed successfully
At 00.45 hrs (IST): Isro said MOM is now ready to fire its Liquid Engine !
At 00.49 hrs (IST): The 440 N Liquid Engine has commenced its 23 minute long firing for Tran-Mars Injection. This will impart an incremental velocity of 648 m/s consuming 198 kg of fuel.
At 1.00 am: 10 minutes of firing completed. Isro said performance normal so far. Liquid engine continues to fire as planned.
At 1.02 am: Crossed the last perigee. Isro said: Engine continues to fire as planned.
At 1.12 am: Tonight’s manoeuver has been completed, imparting the required incremental velocity of 648 m/s. The orbit determination team will get us the orbit details soon
At 1.19 am: Isro said Trans-Mars injection has been completed successfully. Liquid Engine propels MOM into Mars Transfer Trajectory and India into interplanetary space!
