INTRODUCTION
MANGALYAAN ALSO KNOWN AS MARS ORBITER MISSION (MOM), IS INDIA'S FIRST MISSION TO MARS. IT
WAS LAUNCHED BY THE INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH ORGANIZATION (ISRO) ON NOVEMBER 5, 2013 AND
ENTERED ORBIT ON SEPTEMBER 24, 2014. THE MISSIONS OBJECTIVES INCLUDE STUDYING THE MARTIAN
SURFACE, ATMOSPHERE, MINERALS AND MORPHOLOGY AND DEMONSTRATING INDIA'S ABILITY IN
REACHING THE MARTIAN ORBIT. THE MISSION ALSO TESTS KEY TECHNOLOGIES FOR INTERPLANETARY
MISSIONS. IT CONSISTED OF AN ORBITER ONLY.
NO GSLV! NO PROBLEM!
THE PSLV (POLAR SYNCHRONOUS LAUNCH VEHICLE) WAS USED FOR THE
MANGALYAAN MISSION IN PLACE OF THE GSLV (GEOSYNCHRONOUS LAUNCH
VEHICLE) BECAUSE OF THE FAILURE OF GSLV F-10 POPULARLY KNOWN AS
FAT BOY IN 2010. PSLV HAD BEEN TESTED BEFORE ON NUMEROUS MISSIONS
AND WAS A LARGELY SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH VEHICLE BUT THOSE MISSIONS
WERE TO GO TO MOON OR JUST RAISE A SATELLITE TO THE EARTH'S ORBIT.
BUT THIS WAS MARS WHOSE DISTANCE WAS AROUND 150 TIMES THAT OF
THE MOONS. ITS FUEL AND SATELLITE WEIGHT CAPACITY WAS MUCH
LESSER THAN THE GSLV'S. BUT OUR SCIENTISTS FOUND OUT AN INGENIOUS
SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM.
SLINGSHOT METHOD
LAUNCH OF MOM
• THE MANGALYAAN MISSION, ALSO KNOWN AS THE MARS
ORBITER MISSION (MOM), WAS LAUNCHED BY THE INDIAN
SPACE RESEARCH ORGANIZATION (ISRO) ON NOVEMBER 5,
2013 AT 09:08 UTC (14:38 IST, 4:08 AM EST) FROM THE
SATISH DHAWAN SPACE CENTER IN SHRIHARI KOTA, INDIA.
THE SPACECRAFT LAUNCHED ON A POLAR SATELLITE LAUNCH
VEHICLE (PSLV-C25) AND MADE SIX BURNS TO RAISE THE This Photo by Unknown author is lice
ORBIT'S APOGEE.
PARTS OF THE
MANGALYAAN CRAFT
THE MANGALYAAN MISSION CARRIED JUST AN ORBITER WHICH CONTAINED FIVE PAYLOADS.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.
PAYLOADS ON THE ORBITER
• Full Form – Methane Sensor for Mars
• MSM is designed to measure Methane (CH4) in the Martian atmosphere with PPB accuracy and map its sources.
MSM
• Full Form – Mars Color Camera
• This tri-colour Mars Colour camera gives images & information about the surface features and composition of Martian surface.
MCC
• Full Form – Lyman Alpha Photometer
• Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) is an absorption cell photometer. It measures the relative abundance of deuterium and hydrogen from Lyman-
LAP alpha emission in the Martian upper atmosphere
• Full Form – Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser
• MENCA is a quadruple mass spectrometer capable of analysing the neutral composition in the range of 1 to 300 amu with unit mass resolution
MENCA
• Full Form – Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer
• TIS measure the thermal emission and can be operated during both day and night. Temperature and emissivity are the two basic physical
TIS parameters estimated from thermal emission measurement
JOURNEY TO MARS
✓ DUE TO A STORM BLOWING OVER THE BAY OF BENGAL, THE LAUNCH OF THE MISSION WAS DELAYED BY
EIGHT DAYS.
✓ THE MOM FAILED TO FIRE AT THE APIGEE ON ITS FIRST ATTEMPT TO ENTER INTO THE MARTIAN ORBIT. IT
JUST HAD ENOUGH FUEL TO MAKE A SECOND ATTEMPT AND FORTUNATELY SUCCEEDED.
✓ ON ITS INSERTION TO MARTIAN ORBIT IT CAME ACROSS A SOLAR STORM.
✓ THE SOLAR STORM HAD INCREASED THE SPEED OF THE SPACECRAFT AND IF THE SPEED WAS NOT
DECREASED IT WOULD GO PAST MARS AND LOST TO SPACE. HOWEVER THE SCIENTISTS TURNED THE
SPACECRAFT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AND FIRED ITS ENGINES TO DECREASE THE SPEED.
OVERSPEEDED? YES OR NO?
AS THE MANGALYAAN MISSION WENT BEHIND MARS, THE SUN AS WELL WE LOST CONNECTION. IN THE
ABSENCE OF THE SUN, ITS SOLAR PANELS DID NOT RECEIVE ENERGY. HOWEVER TWO LITHIUM BATTERIES
KEPT IT MOVING. IT WAS A TENSE 30 MINUTES. IN 30 MINUTES, WE WOULD KNOW WHETHER THE MISSION
SURVIVED OR NOT. AS THE CONTROL ANTENNAE AT AUSTRALIA RECEIVED THE FIRST SIGNALS OF THE
MISSION, WE KNEW MARS HAD THE SATELLITE ORBITING AROUND IT SAFELY. INDIA BECAME THE FOURTH
CONTRY TO REACH THE MARTIAN ORBIT.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.
IN SPITE OF THE PLANNED 6 MONTHS OF THE MOM
LIFESPAN, IT SPENT A WHOOPING 8 YEARS IN SPACE
AS IT SILENTLY BADE GOODBYE ON APRIL 2022
WHEN ISRO LOST CONNECTION.
DID YOU KNOW?
