Mangalyaan (спутник Марса) - PSLV-C25 - 05.11.2013 13:08 ЛМВ - Шрихарикота

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India will be the sixth country to launch a mission to Mars after the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and China. 

Ну у Японии в 2003 году Nozomi не смог выйти на орбиту Марса, а вот китайский марсианский зонд Yinghuo-1 был утоплен вместе с Фобос-Грунтом.  
Так что Индия сможет стать 4-й страной,  успешно осуществившей Марсианскую миссию.   :idea:

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Хинди NASA бхай, бхай

МУМБАИ: NASA поддержит индийскую миссию Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), которая должна стартовать в октябре-ноябре 2013 из Космического центр имени Сатиша Дхавана, расположенного острове Шрихарикота в Бенгальском заливе на юге штата Андхра-Прадеш.
По словам Госсекретаря США Джона Керри, NASA обеспечит навигацию и слежение во то время, когда аппарат будет недоступен индийским средствам космической связи.
Решение было принято на четвертой встрече рабочей группы США-Индии по гражданскому космическому сотрудничеству. Детали были обнародованы в понедельник, что совпало с переговорами Стратегического диалога Индия-США и переговорами между председателем Индийской организации космических исследований К Радхакришнаном и администратором NASA Чарльзом Болденом в Нью-Дели.



http://ru-cosmos.livejournal.com/1054398.html

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-26/science/40205789_1_isro-mars-orbiter-mission-space-applications-centre

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http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/1858148/report-isro-gears-up-for-ambitious-mars-mission

ISRO gears up for ambitious Mars mission

Sunday, Jul 7, 2013, 14:39 IST | Place: Bangalore | Agency: PTI

The satellite, which would be launched on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL), will carry compact science experiments, totalling a mass of 15 kg, according to ISRO officials.

Preparations are afoot for the upcoming "big-bang" Mars Orbiter Mission in October-November, an ambitious venture that would shed light on the possible existence of life on the planet besides boosting space agency ISRO's brand equity.

The satellite, which would be launched on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL), will carry compact science experiments, totalling a mass of 15 kg, according to ISRO officials. There will be five instruments to study Martian surface, atmosphere and mineralogy.

Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) is aimed at studying the escape processes of Mars upper atmosphere through Deuterium/Hydrogen, Methane Sensor for MARS (MSM) would look to detect presence of Methane while Martian Exospheric Composition Explorer (MENCA) would study the neutral composition of the Martian upper atmosphere.

MARS Colour Camera (MCC) would undertake optical imaging and TIR imaging spectrometer (TIS) is targetted to map surface composition and mineralogy. "Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft integration is under progress", an ISRO official told PTI here today. "The spacecraft has to undergo qualification tests for proving space worthiness once the integration is completed".

The mission would help ISRO understand the technological challenges of such an exploration, the possible existence of life and future colonisation of Mars, which is the nearest planet which has most resemblance to earth. This would be India's first mission to a distant planet.

ISRO will launch the mission in October-November. "If launched within the launch window (October 21-November 19, 2013), the spacecraft will travel for least distance to reach Mars", the official said.

This is the immediate next available opportunity for such a mission as Earth and Mars would be coming closer then.

The PSLV-XL (PSLV-C25) will inject the spacecraft from the spaceport of Sriharikota in the 250 X 23000 km orbit.

After leaving earth orbit in November, MOM spacecraft will cruise in deep space for 10 months using its own propulsion system and will reach Mars (Martian transfer trajectory) in September 2014. The 1350 kg spacecraft subsequently is planned to enter into a 372 km by 80,000 km elliptical orbit around Mars. "The primary objective of this challenging mission is to establish the Indian technological capabilities to reach the orbit of Mars", says ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, also Secretary in the Department of Space. "A number of technological challenges need to be negotiated for a successful Mars mission".

Critical mission operations and stringent requirements on propulsion, communications and other bus systems of the spacecraft are sure to keep the Bangalore-headquarterd ISRO on tenterhooks. "One of the technological challenges is to realise related deep space mission planning and communication management at a distance of nearly 400 million km", an ISRO official said. The spacecraft has been provided with augmented radiation shielding for its prolonged exposure in the Van Allen belt. Due to the long range of the order of 55-400 million km from Earth to Mars, there is a communication delay of 20 minutes one way itself. For this reason, ISRO has built high level of onboard autonomy within Mars orbiter. For Chandrayaan-1, ISRO had to deal with only four lakh kms.

The robustness and reliability of propulsion system is "one order higher" as after leaving the orbit of Earth the system would require to work after almost 300 days. And during this voyage, the system needs to maintain complete integrity so as to capture the Martian orbit. Capture of the Mars orbit or the Martian insertion is the critical event that would determine the success of this mission, ISRO officials say.

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http://zeenews.india.com/news/space/mars-mission-not-for-pride-we-mean-business-isro_863654.html

Mars mission not for pride, we mean business: ISRO

Last Updated: Sunday, July 21, 2013, 17:05  //

  Bangalore: As India prepares to launch its Rs 450 crore mission to Mars this year, a top space official says the country's first martian odyssey--that has attracted some criticism--is not just for pride but for undertaking "meaningful research".

 K Radhakrishnan, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO), also debunked perception in some quarters that the Mars Orbiter mission around the red planet, that's just three months away, is primarily a "feel-good" package to just pat ourselves on the back.

 "It's not for pride because the exploration of Mars has its own scientific value and possibly a future habitat which people are talking about...May be 20 years...30 years from now...It's possible", he told a news agency here in an interview, referring to the colonisation angle.
 
India will be the sixth country to launch a mission to Mars after the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and China.

 ISRO says the primary objectives are to demonstrate India's technological capability to send a satellite to orbit around Mars and conduct meaningful experiments such as looking for signs of life, take pictures of the red planet and study Martian environment.

 "What's the most interesting question on Mars - life. So, we talk about Methane...Which is of biological origin or geological origin. So, we have a methane sensor plus a thermal infrared spectrometer. These two together should be able to give some information", said Radhakrishnan, who is also Secretary in the Department of Space, said.

 Critics of the Indian Mars mission wondered whether the country can afford huge costs for this space voyage.

 The Mars satellite, which would be launched on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL), will carry compact science experiments, totalling a mass of 15 kg. There will be five instruments to study Martian surface, atmosphere and mineralogy.

 After leaving earth orbit in November, the spacecraft will cruise in deep space for 10 months using its own propulsion system and will reach Mars (Martian transfer trajectory) in September 2014.

 The 1350 kg spacecraft subsequently is planned to enter into a 372 km by 80,000 km elliptical orbit around Mars.

 "We want to look at environment of Mars for various elements like Deuterium-Hydrogen ratio. We also want to look at other constituents - neutral constituents", Radhakrishnan said.

 "There are several things which Mars will tells us, this is what the scientific community thinks about the life on Mars", he said, adding, scientists started taking interest on Mars from the 18th century itself. "Mars is a subject of interest".

 "Our (Mars mission) experiments are planned in such a way that you can decide when you want to put on each of these systems", Radhakrishnan said.

 "If we succeed (in the mission), it positions India into group of countries who will have the ability to look at Mars. In future, certainly, there will be synergy between various countries in such exploration. That's taking place. That time India will be a country to be counted", he said.

 ISRO is going to start the assembly of PSLV-C25, the rocket on board of which the Mars orbiter would be launched any day between October 21 and November seven, in August first week.

 The mission would help ISRO understand the technological challenges of such an exploration, the possible existence of life and future colonisation of Mars, which is the nearest planet which has most resemblance to earth.

 The PSLV-XL (PSLV-C25) will inject the spacecraft from the spaceport of Sriharikota in the 250 X 23000 km orbit.

 Radhakrishnan said a number of technological challenges need to be negotiated for a successful Mars mission.

 "Most important thing is we must have the insertion of this spacecraft in the Martian orbit", he said, noting that once the spacecraft leaves the earth orbit, propulsion system has to work after 300 days.

 In the case of INSAT class of satellites and Chandrayaan-1, they reached orbital slots in one and two weeks, respectively. "This is the first time we have to operate the propulsion system after 300 days. There will be some performance deterioration", he said but added that ISRO has undertaken the test and knows how it would operate. So, the robustness and reliability of propulsion system has been raised "one order higher".

 In Chandrayaan-1, ISRO had to deal with a distance of about four lakh kms, while in the case of Mars it's 400 million kms (4000 lakh kms).

 "One of the technological challenges is to realise related deep space mission planning and communication management at a distance of nearly 400 million km", an ISRO official said.

 The spacecraft has been provided with augmented radiation shielding for its prolonged exposure in the Van Allen belt. Due to the long range from Earth to Mars, there is a communication delay of 20 minutes one way itself. For this reason, ISRO has built high level of onboard autonomy within Mars orbiter.

 Capture of the Mars orbit or the Martian insertion is the critical event that would determine the success of this mission, ISRO officials say.

 On the experiments side, Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) is aimed at studying the escape processes of Mars upper atmosphere through Deuterium/Hydrogen, Methane Sensor for MARS (MSM) would look to detect presence of Methane while Martian Exospheric Composition Explorer (MENCA) would study the neutral composition of the Martian upper atmosphere.

 MARS Colour Camera (MCC) would undertake optical imaging and TIR imaging spectrometer (TIS) is targeted to map surface composition and mineralogy during India's first mission to a distant planet.

 With MCC, Radhakrishnan said, it would also be possible to take pictures of two satellites of Mars -- Phobos and Deimos.

 PTI

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http://www.deccanherald.com/content/343608/isro-launch-gsat-4-august.html

Wednesday 24 July 2013
News updated at 12:42 AM IST

Isro to launch GSAT-4 in August
Bangalore, July b8, 2013, DHNS:
...
Further, he said that the integration of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV XL), which will launch the Mars Orbiter Mission in November, will begin on July 29. "Two payloads for the Mars project have also been received for integration," Radhakrishnan said.
...

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http://www.frontline.in/science-and-technology/in-mission-mode/article4945199.ece?homepage=true

Chandrayaan-1 was very popular and it fascinated the youth of the country. But the forthcoming Mars mission has not attracted the attention it deserves. Why is the Mars mission being kept low-key?

Radhakrishnan:
 With the Mars mission, you are talking about opportunities that come once in 26 months when Mars comes the closest to the earth. The first opportunity to launch will be in October 2013 and the next will be in November 2013. On November 27, we have to take the spacecraft from the earth orbit towards Mars and if you look at ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission, we started the feasibility study in August 2010. In 2011, we decided to go ahead with the mission and the Prime Minister announced the programme on August 15, 2012.

 A mission to Mars is far more complex than Chandrayaan in terms of the distances involved. At its nearest distance to the earth, Mars is 55 million km away and it can be as far as 400 million km away [when it is farthest from the earth]. Secondly, in raising the orbit of Chandrayaan, we moved the spacecraft from the earth [orbit] to the zone of influence of the moon. We were able to capture the lunar orbit precisely by using the propulsion system of the Chandrayaan spacecraft. In the Mars Orbiter Mission, its propulsion system has to function for 300 days after its first phase of operations in the earth orbit. You need to characterise the propulsion systems to restart after a long delay of 300 days. These tests are being done at the LPSC at Mahendragiri.

The next issue is communicating with the Mars Orbiter. This delay could be as high as 20 minutes from the ground station to the orbiter. This means it will take at least 40 minutes for the signal to come from the spacecraft to the ground station and for the command to go from the ground station to the spacecraft. In addition, you need time to take the right decisions. That means, it will be 40 minutes plus. Sometimes, we will not be able to afford this kind of delay if there is an anomaly in the spacecraft. So we have to build a reasonable amount of autonomy in the spacecraft itself to take care of itself. Thirdly, time is of the essence because the launch has to take place in October-end or the beginning of November, and all systems—the launch vehicle, the spacecraft, the payloads, the ground stations and so on—have to be ready. Once the spacecraft is put into the orbit of Mars, which is the primary objective of our mission, we will do some experiments. The challenge here is that they have to be relevant, simple and meaningful experiments. We should be able to realise the instruments in a flight-worthy condition in a tight schedule.

We have five instruments. Their flight models are ready. It has a colour camera [for optical imaging of the surface of Mars]. Then a methane sensor to detect possible life on Mars. This methane can originate in geological activity or biological activity. To find out whether there is geological activity, there is a thermal infra-red camera. Then the Martian atmosphere will be studied using a Lyman Alpha Photometer. There is a Martian Exposheric Neutron Composition Analyser (MENCA) to study the neutral composition of the Martian upper atmosphere. These are the five instruments. All these are being built by ISRO centres and units. The weight of the spacecraft is 1,350 kg. All the sub-systems are now available at the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, and their integration has commenced.

When will the spacecraft reach Sriharikota?

Radhakrishnan:
We expect to go through the thermo-vacuum testing of the spacecraft by mid-July. The spacecraft will be moved to Sriharikota in the beginning of September. Once it reaches SHAR, we will have 45 days to work on it. In parallel, preparations will get under way for the lift-off of PSLV-C25. It is the XL version of the PSLV that will put the Mars spacecraft into orbit. The assembly of the launch vehicle will start in the first week of August.

 The next major components are the ground stations, and they will be centred around the Indian Deep Space Network [IDSN] at Byalalu with a 32-metre antenna system. We have augmented this system with a 20-kilwatt transmission power as compared to two kilowatt which we used for the Chandrayaan mission, because we have to send the commands from the ground station to the Mars Orbiter over such a great distance. We have also made arrangements with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration], United States, for using their Deep Space Network, required for the global support of our Mars mission. We are using one station in Australia also.

The next important thing is the navigation of the spacecraft from the earth orbit to the Mars orbit. This part is also being done with the necessary mission design analysis, simulation of autonomy and so on. In a nutshell, we are preparing ourselves and we are on schedule for the launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission any day between October 21 and the second week of November. We can choose a day and launch and then do the initial orbit-raising of the spacecraft from nearly 23,000 km to 2.2 lakh km around Mars. The shortest distance [around Mars] will be 370 km and the longest distance 80,000 km.

When you go around Mars, will the apogee be 80,000 km?

Radhakrishnan:
Do not put "gee" there. It is a complicated word. We can say the shortest distance and the largest.

How will you take pictures from a distance of 80,000 km?

Radhakrishnan:
There are two things. When it comes to a distance of 370 km, there will be a sequencing and measurements will be done. Secondly, there is the environment. There is a science team which is looking at the instruments. The primary objective of our mission is to see whether we can reach the Mars orbit. That is the acknowledged objective. There are also scientific objectives and a set of instruments for doing them. First we have to reach there.

You had thermal problems with regard to Chandrayaan.

Radhakrishnan:
When you talk of the thermal environment, it is much harsher compared to what you see in the earth orbit or the moon orbit. This has to be kept in mind.

Since the moon does not have an atmosphere, the albido that the moon gets is five times that of the earth. This compounds the problem. The other scientific mission we are working on is Astrosat. It will be launched in 2014. Its instruments are in the final stages of qualification.

It will be a useful satellite not only for the Indian scientific community but for the global astronomical community because it will be a multi-wavelength observatory. Probably, this is the first time in a multi-wavelength observatory that you will have instruments from one end of the spectrum to another.


Mars Orbiter Mission


Mars Orbiter


LAP Payload


MCC Payload


MENCA Payload


MSM Payload

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http://antariksh-space.blogspot.com/2013/06/isro-mars-orbiter-update.html

Friday, June 28, 2013
ISRO Mars Orbiter Update

We all are eagerly waiting for the launch of ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), in the meanwhile here are some more infos about the orbiter. 







Credits: Anil Bhardwaj, ISRO

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Книга о Mars Orbiter Mission:
http://rd.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-81-322-1521-9/page/1

И глава ей посвященная:
http://rd.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-81-322-1521-9_5.pdf

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И немного критики от предшественника на посту руководителя ISRO:
http://www.firstpost.com/india/mars-mission-is-a-publicity-stunt-former-isro-chief-madhavan-nair-982779.html

Mars mission is a publicity stunt: Former ISRO chief Madhavan Nair
Jul 24, 2013
                                                                   Bangalore: India's 'Moon Man' has contested the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) contention that the upcoming 'desi' Mars orbiter mission would undertake meaningful research, and dubbed the Rs 450 crore venture as a "publicity stunt".
"ISRO is embarking on an extravagant mission which at best can serve as a publicity stunt", G Madhavan Nair,the former chief of ISRO, told PTI here.
The country was facing an acute shortage of communication transporters, noted Nair during whose tenure of six years as ISRO Chairman and Secretary in the Department of Space, 25 successful space missions were accomplished, including India's maiden moon venture Chandrayaan-I. ISRO should have solved this issue by following the K Kasturirangan Committee recommendation, he argued.
"Even if the launch takes place, it will be yet another PSLV launch only. One has to wait nearly eight months before anything of MARS is heard. This is an issue which needs a serious review by the scientific community", Nair said.
 

G Madhavan Nair in this file photo. AFP

 According to him, GSLV was the vehicle identified because it could take a respectable satellite of nearly 1,800 kg. This could have provided more than a dozen instruments on board and the spacecraft would have been placed in a near circular orbit for a meaningful remote sensing mission of Mars.
"But what is the fate of the much hyped Mars Orbiter Mission (ISRO's mars mission as conceived now) – there were delays in solving the problems of GSLV so a study was undertaken see what can be done with PSLV. Nearly 1500 kg satellite can be taken to Mars, but due to fuel limitation it could at best be placed in an elliptical orbit of 380 km perigee and 80000 km apogee. No one would attempt a resource survey or mapping mission with such widely varying altitudes", Nair said.
ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan told PTI recently the Mars mission would undertaken meaningful research.
The primary objectives of the mission, according to ISRO, are to demonstrate India's technological capability to send a satellite to orbit around Mars and conduct meaningful experiments such as looking for signs of life, take pictures of the red planet and study Martian environment.
ISRO is going to start in August first week the assembly of PSLV-C25, the rocket on board of which the Mars orbiter would be launched any day between October 21 and November 7.
Elaborating further, Nair said though there was an initial estimate of 25 kg for the scientific instruments, on detailed analysis provision it was reduced to a meagre 14 kg. This may further come down.
As it stands today, there could be just five instruments — a Mars Colour camera (MCC) to take pictures of Mars; Mass Methane Sensor (MMS) to study the amount and origin of Methane on Mars; Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), to study the ratio of Hydrogen and Deuterium on Mars; Mars Exosphere Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA), to study Martian atmosphere and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS).
"Constraints on mass are likely to reduce these payloads," he said. "With such skeletal instruments on board a spacecraft travelling at altitudes varying fr om 380 and 80,000 km what meaningful science can be done is a big question mark. This is exactly a case of cutting the head to suit the hat," he contended.
Nair said in Chandrayaan-I when the number of instruments had to be increased, the propulsive power of PSLV was enhanced wh ereas for Mars Orbiter Mission the desired rocket was not available and the spacecraft was curtailed to an insignificant size.
"Not only that, many of the sub-systems of (the proposed) Chandrayan-2 were cannibalised for the Mars Mission delaying the more meaningful Chandrayan-2. Chandrayan-2 may take place in 2016 or beyond. China is going with similar mission to moon later this year, not to Mars," he said.

PTI

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http://www.deccanherald.com/content/347560/mars-project-payload-integration-begin.html

Mars project: Payload integration to begin on Monday
Chethan Kumar, Bangalore, Jul 27, 2013, DHNS :

As India's date with the Red Planet nears, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is preparing for the integration of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that will launch the Mars Orbiter mission in November.

Isro Chairman K Radhakrishnan has said the process of integration will begin on Monday in the space agency's facility in Sriharikota, where the launch is scheduled.

Termed the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), the Rs 121-crore project, which was approved in 2012-13 Budget, envisages launching a space probe using the PSLV C-25 by November 2013. It will be placed in an elliptical orbit, the nearest point of which fr om Mars's surface will be 500 km and the farthest point will be 80,000 km.

While the integration of the launch vehicle will begin on Monday, well-placed sources in the agency said all the five payloads have reached Isro's facility in Bangalore wh ere the integration has already begun. "We had received two payloads early this month.

Now, all the payloads have arrived and the integration of the same with the spacecraft has begun. We are expecting to move the spacecraft to Sriharikota by mid-August," another source said. This will be followed by more tests before the spacecraft is integrated with the launch vehicle.

After leaving the earth's orbit in November, the spacecraft will cruise in deep space for about 10 months and will reach Mars around September 2014.

The 1,350-kg spacecraft will carry five instruments/payloads totaling a mass of 15 kg sel ected by the Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS), to study the Martian surface, atmosphere and mineralogy. Among the important things, Isro plans to check for methane, map the surface, besides sending data fr om the optical imaging payload.

"The primary driving technological objective of the mission is to design and realise 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," sources said.

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http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_08_08_2013_p03-02-604832.xml

India Assembling Launch Vehicle For Mars Orbiter
By Jay Menon
Source: Aerospace Daily & Defense Report


August 08, 2013
Credit: ISRO

NEW DELHI — India has begun assembling the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that will launch the country's first Mars orbiter later this year, according to a senior scientist responsible of the mission.

Assembly of the four-stage rocket is underway at the Sriharikota spaceport in south India, the scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) tells Aviation Week. "The launch window is between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7," the official says.

ISRO's PSLV-C25 mission with the Mars orbiter will mark the 25th PSLV flight. It will be the fifth flight of the XL variant, which is the most powerful in the PSLV stable and the same variant used to launch the Chandrayaan-1 mission to the Moon.

The orbiter, including the Liquid Apogee Motor that will propel it to Mars and the rocket motor that will slow it down for Mars orbit insertion, will together weigh 1.35 tons.

"Work has to commence right from the launch pedestal," the ISRO scientist says. "Next, the mission will undergo various environmental tests before it is launched to ensure it is qualified to face various levels of vibration and temperature it might encounter as it travels into space and is finally ins erted in to the Martian orbit."

The orbiter with the five payloads will undergo "various rigorous environmental tests this month" before being moved to Sriharikota by September for integration with the rocket, he says.

The schedule calls for insertion into Mars orbit in September 2014. The unmanned satellite, dubbed "Maangalyaan," will study the thin Martian atmosphere to determine the existence and sustainability of life and focus on the planet's climate, geology, origin and evolution.

So far, the process to integrate the five scientific payloads with the Mars orbiter has "almost been completed" at the satellite center in the south Indian city of Bengaluru, the ISRO scientist says.

Among the payloads for the mission is the Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer, which would study the Martian atmosphere, and a methane sensor to look for the gas, considered a signature for life. The mission will try to determine whether the source of methane is thermogenic or biogenic.

NASA will be providing the deep space navigation and tracking support for this mission when communications are not possible with the Indian Deep Space Network.

If the ISRO fails to launch the Mars mission this year, the next launch opportunities occur in January-April 2016 and April-May 2018. The mission is estimated to cost 4.5 billion rupees ($83 million).

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Static test for Mars mission successful

Nellore: The Shar scientists have successfully conducted some vital static tests for strap-on motor (PSOM-XL) related to PSLV-C25/Mars mission at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 4.35 pm on Monday. The mission is scheduled for launch in October this year. Tests were conducted in presence of the ISRO chairman, Dr K. Radhakrishnan.

According to Shar officials the PSOM-XL was a one-metre diametre, with length of 13.5 metres and it carries 11.45 tonnes of solid propellant. It was produced in three parts at ISRO's rocket propellant plant in Trivandrum and they were assembled at Shar for the test.

The objectives of the test include evaluation on the adequacy of PSOM-XL type motor (which was already used in the launch of PSLV-C11, C17 and C19 flights earlier). PSLV-C11 was the one used for India's first Moon Mission 'Chandrayaan-1'.

The ignition transient performance of PSOM-XL motor with RLV-SB igniter was also evaluated apart from ballistic performance of the motor. A test to revalidate the effectiveness of water based Post Fire Quenching/Cooling System at PSOM-XL level was also one of the objectives of the test held on Monday.

The Shar director, Dr M.Y.S. Prasad and senior officers, Dr S.V. Subba Rao and V. Seshagiri Rao were present with the chairman during the static test.

Meanwhile, the ISRO has been planning to launch GSLV-D5 with GSLV-14 on board in December this year. It may be recalled that the mission was put off two hours before the scheduled launch on August 19 because of leakage of fuel in the second stage of the rocket. A team scientists probing into snag tentatively proposed the launch in the first week of December during a meeting held at Shar on Monday.

The meet was presided over by former director of Shar K. Narayana and Dr Radhakrishnan was also present in the meeting. The team commended the staff of Shar for working round the clock during last seven days to shift the GSLV-D5 from the launch pad to vehicle assembly building. Project director of GSLV-D5, Dr K. Sivan and scientific secretary V. Koteswar Rao was also present apart from senior officials of Shar.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130827/news-current-affairs/article/static-test-mars-mission-successful

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Осталось примерно 50 суток.
Ближайший индийский пуск: Mars Orbiter Mission.

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Mars mission spacecraft clears key test

MUMBAI: In a major boost to India's much-awaited mars mission, the red planet-bound spacecraft cleared a crucial 15-day test at the Bangalore satellite centre.

The 1,350kg spacecraft, which Isro plans to launch after October 21, cleared the thermo-vacuum test with all five payloads on Tuesday night.

The test was conducted to verify the spacecraft's performance in a simulated space environment with temperatures beyond those expected in the orbit.

"The test went off flawlessly. There were no problems either with the payloads or the spacecraft," an Isro official told TOI on Wednesday.

In the next phase, the spacecraft will be subjected to an acoustic and vibration test to assess its response again in a simulated launch environment. "Once this is completed, the spacecraft will be moved to Sriharikota sometime in the middle of September," the official said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Mars-mission-spacecraft-clears-key-test/articleshow/22130538.cms

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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29440.msg1093468#msg1093468

India set to launch Mars mission in November: UR Rao

Last Upd ated: Friday, September 06, 2013, 23:53

Bhubaneswar: Hectic preparations are on to launch Indian Space Research Organisation's ambitious Mars Orbiter Mission in November, said Prof U R Rao, Chairman of Governing Council of Physical Research Laboratory.

"The unmanned mission, which will explore the existence of life and the possibility of sustaining life on Mars, will travel 299 days in space before reaching the Red Planet in September 2014," Rao said.

The Mars Orbiter Mission will be sent through powerful PSLV-XL launch vehicle, he said.

ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan has said last month that the Rs 450 crore programme that has attracted some criticism "is not for pride because the exploration has its own scientific value."

Prof Rao, who led the country's space programme between 1984 and 1994 as Chairman of ISRO, was delivering a talk to the students and faculty of KIIT University here on "Existing Challenges in Space Programmes of Future".

The country's space programme has crossed notable milestones, he said adding that it was Chandrayaan-1 of India that first discovered water on Moon.

The country spends Rs 3148 crore on space programme a year and has a 16,500 strong human resource expertise, he said.

Rao outlined nine challenges for the space programme: food security, energy security, environmental security, resource security, space security, space transportation, search for life, exploring universe and colonisation of Mars.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/india-set-to-launch-mars-mission-in-november-ur-rao_874760.html

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India readies Mars orbiter

Bangalore: India has built a Mars orbiter for launch between October and November from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, a senior space agency official said Wednesday.

"The spacecraft for our maiden Mars mission is ready for launch between Oct 21 and Nov 19 on board a rocket with five instruments to conduct various experiments while orbiting the red planet after a nine-month voyage," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) satellite centre director S.K. Shivkumar told reporters at a preview of the orbiter here.

The country's tryst with the red planet will cost the state-run ISRO Rs.450 crore, including Rs.150 crore for the spacecraft, Rs.110 crore for the rocket and Rs.190 crore to augment the ground stations for the mission's operations.

"The spacecraft has been built in a record 12 months to orbit around Mars for at least six months at a distance of 375km from its surface and 80,000 km when away elliptically," Mars orbiter mission project director S. Arunan said.

After final configuration and testing, the 1,340 kg spacecraft (at lift-off) will be shipped to the spaceport Sep 27 for integrating it with the 350-tonne rocket, which is an extended version of the space agency's workhorse-polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-XL).

"The launch date and timing of lift-off will be decided during the one-month window, based on weather conditions and other critical parameters," Arunan said.

http://www.newsyaps.com/india-readies-mars-orbiter/52829/

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ISRO впервые направляет 2 гражданских корабля для поддержки космической миссии. Корабли выдвигаются в южную часть Тихого океана, планируется, что они будут принимать сигналы от марсианского зонда в ноябре 2013 г.

In a first, two civilian ships to support Mars orbiter launch
12.09.2013
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-12/science/42007102_1_mars-orbiter-mission-methane-sensor-lyman-alpha-photometer

Scientists on ships to track launch of Mars Orbiter Mission
BANGALORE, September 14, 2013

The two ships will leave for the South Pacific Ocean on September 15 fr om Vizag and reach there in about 45 days

Some time in late October or mid-November when India sends its spacecraft off to Mars, its scientists will log the farewell event fr om the decks of two ships that will be positioned a hemisphere away in the South Pacific.

The ships are slated to leave for their mission from Visakhapatnam on September 15.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has leased the ships from the Shipping Corporation of India to study the crucial period when the PSLV rocket ejects the satellite into space.

B.S. Chandrashekar, Director of the Bangalore-based ISRO Telemetry, Tracking & Command Network, said the fourth and last stage, which puts the satellite in space, was all-important in a PSLV launch and had to be recorded.

"We have leased SCI Yamuna and SCI Nalanda for about 90 days. The two are due to leave for the South Pacific Ocean on September 15 from Vizag and reach there in about 45 days. They will halt at Suva in Fiji," he told The Hindu .

A team of a dozen ISRO's satellite communication-navigation experts will go on the ship-borne study over the next three months, as also a few naval personnel.

According to S. Arunan, Mars Mission Project Director at the ISRO Satellite Centre, one ship will track the ignition and the second one will capture the satellite's separation.

Mr. Chandrashekar explained that for the Mars Orbiter Mission, ISRO has tactically devised this rocket's fourth stage to ignite after an extraordinarily long gap of nearly 1,600 seconds (about 27 minutes).The ignition and separation of the satellite – lasting nearly 9 minutes – will happen over the South Pacific wh ere there are no ground stations.

The ships will take position close to the likely area three days ahead of the launch, a couple of thousand km apart. They will participate in simulation and pre-launch activities. One of the two terminals for transmission and communication has been borrowed from DRDO.

"A ship-borne tracking platform is being used for the first time in our planetary project," he said. The Space Recovery Experiment of 2007 was tracked from a naval ship.

During ISRO's regular launches, ground stations in Port Blair, Brunei, Biak in Indonesia and Canberra capture the PSLV fourth stage ignitions and satellite separations.

As the Mars spacecraft can take off anywhere between October 21 and November 19, the burnout point in space will also shift with the day, as will the ships' vantage spot.

Once the spacecraft is in space, the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu, near Bangalore, will track and command it for the 12 hours when it is visible. For the other 12 hours, three stations from NASA's Deep Space Network will coordinate from Madrid, Goldstone (U.S.) and Canberra, especially when the satellite enters the Martian sphere after September 2014.

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The ships will halt at Suva in Fiji

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'One ship will track the ignition and the second one will capture the satellite's separation'

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The ignition and separation of the satellite – lasting nearly 9 minutes – will happen over the South Pacific wh ere there are no ground stations

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The ships will take position close to the likely area three days ahead of the launch

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/scientists-on-ships-to-track-launch-of-mars-orbiter-mission/article5126874.ece

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India's orbiter for mars mission coming soon

Bangalore (IANS) India has built the orbiter for the country's maiden Mars mission in October-November, to take off from the spaceport at Sriharikota off the Bay of Bengal, an official said Wednesday.

"The Mars orbiter is in the final stages of testing for launch between Oct 21 and Nov 19 on board a rocket with five scientific instruments to conduct various experiments after a nine-month voyage to the red planet," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) satellite centre director S.K. Shivkumar told reporters here.

As the fourth planet from sun, Mars is the second-smallest celestial body in the solar system, at a whopping distance of 400 million km (250 million miles) from earth. Named after the Roman god of war, it is also known as red planet due to the presence of iron oxide in abundance, giving it a reddish appearance.

The Mars mission will cost the government Rs.450 crore (Rs.4.5 billion), including Rs.150 crore for the spacecraft, Rs.110 crore for the rocket and Rs.190 crore to augment ground stations for operations, including navigation and communications.

"The spacecraft has been built in a record 12 months to orbit elliptically around Mars for six months at a distance of 375 km from its surface when closer, and 80,000 km when away," Mars orbiter mission project director S. Arunan said.

The 1,340 kg spacecraft (at lift-off) will be shipped to the spaceport Sep 27 for integrating it with the 350-tonne rocket, which is an extended version of the space agency's workhorse, the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-XL).

"The launch date will depend on weather conditions and other parameters during the month-long window we have," Arunan said.

The orbiter will be in the earth's orbit for 25 days after launch and fired the next day, to set off on a nine-month voyage to reach Martian orbit by Sep 21, 2014.

"The spacecraft will be ins erted in the earth's orbit at 248 km and pushed up to 23,000 km over 25 days to se t off on a long voyage to enter the Marsian orbit after next nine months next year," Arunan pointed out.

The five instruments on board the orbiter are the layman alpha photometer, methane sensor, max exospheric neutral composition analyser, colour camera and thermal infrared imaging spectrometer.

"All the instruments are indigenous and have been built at our centres in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram. The colour camera will take pictures of earth and moon when passing over the lunar planet on the way, and finally of Mars from its orbit," the space agency's programme director M. Annadurai said.

India's tryst with the red planet comes five years after its maiden moon mission (Chandrayaan-1) in October 2008, which discovered water beneath lunar soil through one of its 11 instruments.

"Though a couple of nations like the US and Russia had launched missions to Mars, the primary objective of our mission is to demonstrate the country's technological capability to send an orbiter to the red planet and study its environment to find out minerals present there and how the atmosphere behaves," Shivkumar asserted.

http://www.ottawastar.com/indias-orbiter-for-mars-mission-coming-soon/

[Veganin]

РКА тоже надо послать зонд  - орбитер к Марсу чтобы доказать себе в первую очередь, что наша страна может это сделать. На бахе какого-нибудь ИСЗ ИСС, например. Кстати, что скажут знающие люди, какая спутниковая платформа позволит в короткий срок и за небольшие деньги спроектировать надежный марсианский орбитер под Союз-2+Фрегат с запуском с Байконура или Куру?

[Vasily]

Veganin пишет:
чтобы доказать себе в первую очередь

Не надо ничего "доказывать", а надо отрабатывать надёжные технологии, вести исследования и наблюдения (в тч в тех вопросах, кои иностранцы пока недостаточно поработали) и нарабатывать опыт. Ради этого можно разработать и запустить АМС к Марсу с целью выведения его на орбиту ИСМ, в тч и с перспективой использования его, как ретранслятора, например. Вообще не мешало бы на Марсе создать сейсмо-/метео-/и_тд-сеть из нескольких недорогих посадочных зондов - вот достойная задача на сегодняшний день.