SRIHARIKOTA, Nov 5: ISRO launched its ambitious ‘Mission Of Mars’ here today when its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C25 (PSLV-c25) blasted off majestically carrying the 1.3 tonne satellite to space from Satish Dhawan Space Centre here.
The launch was carried out on dot at exactly 1438 hrs as planned earlier even as all preparations and a series of tests were completed by th scientists of the space agency last night.
At the stroke of 1438 hrs, the 260 tonne extra-large launch vehicle, with four strap-on rockets, shot into the sky from this crescent shaped spaceport overlooking Bay of Bengal in a splendours fashion.
Initial reports said the first stage that include four strap on booster rockets were separated after the launch vehicle reached a height of 82 km at a velocity of 2.3 kms per second.
All parameters were normal, so far.
The third and fourth stages of the PSLV-C25 were also ignited successfully within minutes of the launch.
The ship-borne monitoring stations near Brunei soon started tracking the launch vehicle.
It would take between 40 to 43 minutes for the launcher to inject the satellite into Earth’s orbit.
Just about 15 minutes before the launch, the Authorisation Board of ISRO authorised the launch and the launch vehicle went into ‘automatic launch configuration’.
The white coloured PSLV-C25 that stood 44.4 m tall before the launch had attractive hues in blue with a large tricolour on its top and the monograms of ISRO below it.
The 295 tonne rocket carried the 1.3 tonne satellite, with its extra fuel, for carrying out five experiments.
The satellite will weigh just 515 kg when it ultimately reaches the Martian orbit.
With the launch of the Mars Oribter probe, the satellite began its 300-day mission.
India is on the verge of making history by joining a select band of nations to have launched a Martian mission like the US, Russia, Europe, China and Japan. But only the first three have successfully reached the red planet.
ISRO had earlier in the day sent four balloons into the sky over Sriharikota to a height of about 25 km to gauge the wind condition.
According to officials of the Bangalore-based ISRO, the mission will demonstrate deep space navigation and communications, interplanetary travel and spacecraft autonomy of the country.
The countdown had begun at 0608 hrs on Sunday while
propellant-filling operations went on till last evening in a precise fashion.
The orbiter is expected to reach the Martian orbit on September 24 next year. Till it begins the quest of the red planet on December one, it would revolve around the Earth in an elliptical orbit of 250 km at its nearest point and 23,500 km at the farthest.
Thereafter, it will begin its nine-month journey to Mars.
The satellite will be initially tracked by ship-borne terminals stationed in the Pacific Ocean close to Fiji islands and the ISRO Deep Space Network at Baylalu, which is now upgraded to track the interplanetary spacecraft.
Later, when the satellite leaves the Earth’s orbit, ISRO would be using the facilities owned by NASA to capture the crucial moment of the vehicle injecting into Martian orbit.
The Martian probe has five instruments like Lyman Alpha Photometer, which measures the loss of water from Mars in the exosphere and upper atmosphere; Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Amalyzer (MENCA), a quadruple mass spectrometer that measure the neutral composition and density distribution of the exosphere; Mars Colour Camera, a power tricolour camera that will capture images of the surface and its composition. This will be useful to monitor atmoshere, weather and to provide a big picture of the mission.
Methane Sensor for Mars is designed to measure the presence of methane with accuracy up to parts per billion and map its sources. The presence of the methane can be an indicator of life.
The fifth instrument is Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS) that measures thermal emissions to map the surface composition and mineralogy. It will work with methane sensor to determine presence of life and its nature.
NASA is expected to provide ISRO some deep space communications help.
The US plans to provide data from its satellites and antennas that show the craft’s position in space, for instance.
Of 40 missions to Mars by various countries, the officials said, only 16 have been successful.
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission is more of a Technology Demonstration Mission than a scientific mission.
Scientific Objectives of Mars Orbiter Mission: Exploration of surface features, topography, morphology, minerology and atmosphere of Mars through an orbiting spacecraft.
The main technological objectives of Indian Mars Orbiter Mission are:
Design and realisation of a Mars orbiter spacecraft capable of travelling towards Mars, getting into an orbit around that planet and conduct in-orbit observation of Mars.
Demonstration of the capability to perform deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.
Incorporation of autonomous features in the spacecraft to handle contingency situations.
The Ground Segment of the Mars mission mainly consists of facilities to monitor the spacecraft and its flight status during various phases of mission, and to control them. Indian Space Science Data Centre, which processes and archives data from the spacecraft, also forms an important part of the ground segment.
Besides the ground stations of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in India and abroad, two shipborne S-band terminals will be used to monitor the performance and flight of PSLV-25 vehicle and Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft over the Pacific.
During the earth orbiting phase of the spacecraft, ISTRAC network of ground stations will be used. Once the spacecraft enters deep space (beyond 100,000 from the Earth), 18 and 32 metre antennas of Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu near Bangalore and antennas of NASA’s Deep Space Network will be utilised to communicate with the spacecraft as well as to track and control it.
These two networks continue their support till the mission’s completion.
The Spacecraft Control Centre at Bangalore acts as the nerve centre of mission operations during various phases of the mission.
(UNI)
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