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Nov. 5, 2013
Image above: The PSLV- C25 with India's Mars Orbiter on board lifting off majestically at 2.38 p.m on Tuesday from the First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Photo: K. Pichumani.
India’s Mars orbiter spacecraft separates from Polar rocket, successfully put into Earth’s orbit.
India’s prestigious mission to send a spacecraft to Mars got off to a flying start on Tuesday when the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C-25) lifted off at 2.38 p.m. from the spaceport at Sriharikota and put the Mars Orbiter into a precise elliptical orbit around the earth.
Launch Mangalyaan To Mars (PSLV-XL) Mars Orbiter Mission
The precision achieved was such that the spacecraft went into an orbit with the perigee of 246.9 km and an apogee of 23,560 km against the predicted perigee of 250 km and an apogee of 23,500 km.
This signalled the long voyage of the Mars Orbiter for the next 300 days before the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) would attempt to put the spacecraft into mars orbit on September 24, 2014.
K. Radhakrishnan, ISRO chairman, said the PSLV in its 25th launch, has precisely put the Mars Orbiter into an elliptical orbit around the earth. He called it a new and complex mission, which has been so far successfully achieved.
Mars Orbiter Spacecraft mounted on top of PSLV-C25 Fourth stage
PTI adds
Dr. Radhakrishnan said: “I am extremely happy to announce PSLV-C25 placed Mars orbiter space craft very precisely in elliptical orbit around earth.
“This is 25th PSLV flight. Now it will be a complex mission to take the Mars orbiter from earth’s orbit to Mars orbit.
“I salute the ISRO team.”
India on Tuesday embarked on its maiden Mars odyssey with its polar rocket carrying Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) successfully lifting off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here in its first-ever inter-planetary expedition in a bid to join a select band of nations.
The textbook lift-off of ISRO’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV C25 was witnessed among others by Minister of State in PMO, V. Narayanasamy, U.S. Ambassador to India Nancy Powell, Mr. Radhakrishnan and a host of other officials.
The XL version of PSLV C 25 had carried Chandrayaan 1, the country’s maiden moon mission, in 2008.
Mission description
After going around Earth for 20-25 days in an elliptical orbit (perigee of 250 km and apogee of 23,500 km), the Rs. 450-crore orbiter would begin a nine-month long voyage to Mars around 12.42 am on December 1.
It is expected to reach the red planet’s orbit by September 24, 2014 and go around in an elliptical orbit (periapsis of 366 km and apo-apsis of 80,000 km).
The Mars mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is aimed at establishing the country’s capability to reach the red planet and focus on looking for the presence of methane, an indicator of life in Mars.
India Mars Orbiter spacecraft
The Mars Orbiter has five scientific instruments — Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA), Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS).
European Space Agency (ESA) of the European consortium, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US and Roscosmos of Russia are the three agencies which have successfully sent their missions to the Red Planet.
For more information about India Mars Mission, visit: http://www.isro.org/
Images, Video, Text, Credits: ISRO / The Hindu.
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