Mars probes from US and India arrive at red planet this month

Farah Qureshi

Councller (250+ posts)
Mars probes from US and India arrive at red planet this month


By Elizabeth Howell, SPACE.com Contributor
Published September 10, 2014



  • nasa-maven-probe.jpg
    An artist's interpretation of NASA's MAVEN mission, with Mars in the background. The probe is scheduled to start orbiting Mars on Sept. 21. (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)
  • india-mars-orbiter-artist-view.jpg
    An artist's view of India's first Mars probe, the heart of the Mars Orbiter Mission, in orbit around the Red Planet. India's first Mars orbiter will arrive at its target on Sept. 24, 2014. (India Space Research Organisation)The planet Mars is about to have some company. Two new spacecraft, one from the United States and the other from India, are closing in on the Red Planet and poised to begin orbiting Mars by the end of this month.[/IMG]The planet Mars is about to have some company. Two new spacecraft, one from the United States and the other from India, are closing in on the Red Planet and poised to begin orbiting Mars by the end of this month.



The U.S.-built probe, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, is expected to enter orbit around Mars on Sept. 21. Just days later, on Sept. 24, India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) orbiter is due to make its own Mars arrival when it enters orbit. Both MOM and MAVEN launched to space in 2013


MAVEN is the first mission devoted to probing the Martian atmosphere, particularly to understand how it has changed during the planet's history. [See images from the MAVEN mission]http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014...us-and-india-arrive-at-red-planet-this-month/


Before that happens, however, the spacecraft must burn its engines to go into orbit around the planet, and pass a commissioning phase while taking a few precautions for a "low-risk" situation where a comet will pass fairly close to Mars.


"We've been developing MAVEN for about 11 years, and it comes down to a 33-minute rocket burn on Sept. 21," MAVEN principal investigator Bruce Jakosky, of the University of Colorado, Boulder, told Space.com
 
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Young

Senator (1k+ posts)
India kahan se kahan ja raha hai aur hum Qadri ke chakroon mai paray hoi hai ta ke China se kahin DOLLAR na aa jayen aur hum taraqi na kar sakeen.
 

Farah Qureshi

Councller (250+ posts)
lets just hope..all goes well...it will be a great achievement for scientific community from the sub continent...we know we have problems of poverty,,,sanitation nd stuff..let forget all and savour the journey of orbiter to red planet...while maven took 720 million dollars...we spent 72 million dollars...this money was used from ISROs own funds which it generates by launching satellite of other countries.
 

Farah Qureshi

Councller (250+ posts)
Nothing to be disheartened...just sort out your problems fast...put an honest person as PM ....and get back to growth trajectory....
 

Khallas

Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
India kahan se kahan ja raha hai aur hum Qadri ke chakroon mai paray hoi hai ta ke China se kahin DOLLAR na aa jayen aur hum taraqi na kar sakeen.

App nay tasveer Quaid-e-azam ki lagaye hay lakin mazrat k saath appki soch bhi limited hay.

China say Paisay aa jatay to kia ho jata ??? Nawaz Sharif Govt nay abb tak kitna Loan lya hay ? Us Loan say kitni taraqi ho gaye ? Kitna badal gaya Pakistan.

Taraqi Insaaf say hoti hay jahan corruption na ho, China say jo bhi loan mile ga uska sara faida yeh elite class ka hi ho ga, awamm admi phir sarak per beht kar amb hi choppay ga.
 

mkiani

Senator (1k+ posts)
Mohabat mujeh unn jawano sey hai Sitaron pey jo dalteh hain kamand.
Allama Iqbal.
we we rejected all the values and selected Noora Patwari as PM and his family on key posts then what do we expect to have Eid every day?
 

Farah Qureshi

Councller (250+ posts)
Mohabat mujeh unn jawano sey hai Sitaron pey jo dalteh hain kamand.
Allama Iqbal.
we we rejected all the values and selected Noora Patwari as PM and his family on key posts then what do we expect to have Eid every day?
Forget Nawaz sharif....respect the post of PM of your country...the way u guys abuse your own leaders and institutions ...the name of Pakistan as a nation goes down...In the end only Pakistan suffers ...
 

Exiled-Pakistani

Minister (2k+ posts)
Thanks for the good share. Please keep the topic apolitical and secular, otherwise it will end up just a waste of bandwidth.

Forget Nawaz sharif....respect the post of PM of your country...the way u guys abuse your own leaders and institutions ...the name of Pakistan as a nation goes down...In the end only Pakistan suffers ...
 

Farah Qureshi

Councller (250+ posts)
Thanks for the good share. Please keep the topic apolitical and secular, otherwise it will end up just a waste of bandwidth.
oh..i am not biased to IK or NS..just wanted people to respect the post of PM or president OF ANY NATION...as they represent entire nation infront of international community...just a small example...my friend..a german girl..we were together in US during heart fellowship programme...called and wanted to know the meaning of..." PATWARI " AND "SOOTA KHAN"
 

Pak Falcon

Minister (2k+ posts)
Forget Nawaz sharif....respect the post of PM of your country...the way u guys abuse your own leaders and institutions ...the name of Pakistan as a nation goes down...In the end only Pakistan suffers ...

Kis baat ki respect? maine to nahi isay apna leader banaya aur na he kabhi banaunga aur na he isne logun k haquq puray kiye hain. Ye to ghus bethiyay hain inki sirf jutun se respect ho sakti hai
 

gZionist

Banned
Indian Space program is doing well but I doubt they have good technology in cryogenics. They don't have capability to send more than 5000 Kg of payload to GTO.

Japan, China are 5 years ahead of India. India should collaborate with Israel to bring down the cost. Israel is bit behind India in space tech but we have access to most of american technology.
 

gZionist

Banned
Nothing to be disheartened...just sort out your problems fast...put an honest person as PM ....and get back to growth trajectory....

Pakkistan is theocratic state. We in Israel don't treat arabs as second class citizen but I hear that Pakistanis are naive, immatured and highly religious.
They are loose cannons & will never be able to come up as nation.
It's good for Israel and West to have feeble and corrupt Pakistan. Hence I support both sides of leaders to keep them involved. A strong Pakistan would threaten Israel and other non muslim civilized world!
 

chandbibi

Minister (2k+ posts)
You can't launch satellites without "good" cryogenic tech. Watch this.




India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle put a 2.1-ton communications satellite in orbit this month, boosting prospects for the medium-class launcher after a spate of mishaps in recent years.
Although it carried a costly communications satellite, India's space agency officially considered the launch a test flight for the GSLV and its indigenous hydrogen-fueled third stage.
The 161-foot-tall rocket blasted offat 1048 GMT (5:48 a.m. EST) on Jan. 5, darting through a clear afternoon sky over the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India's east coast, where it was 4:18 p.m. local time.
Depositing a plume of exhaust in its wake, the launcher soared into the upper atmosphere riding 1.5 million pounds of thrust in the first few minutes of the flight, before its solid-fueled core motor and liquid-fueled strap-on boosters consumed their propellant. [See launch photos from Spaceflight Now]
indian-geosynchronous-satellite-launch-vehicle-liftoff.jpg

A remote camera near the launch pad captured this view of the Indian Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle's liftoff on Jan. 5, 2014.
Credit: ISROView full size image



The GSLV's second stage assumed control of the flight for more than two minutes, then yielded to therocket's Indian-built cryogenic engine, which failed at the moment of ignition during a previous demonstration launch in April 2010.
Only three of seven GSLV missions before Jan. 5 were considered successful by the Indian Space Research Organization, drawing unfavorable comparisons to India's smaller Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which has amassed 24 straight successful flights.
No such anomalies occurred on the Jan. 5 launch, and the third stage engine fired for 12 minutes before deploying India's GSAT 14 communications satellite.
"Some used to call the GSLV the naughty boy of ISRO," said K. Sivan, GSLV project director at ISRO. "The naughty boy has become obedient."
A raucous wave of applause erupted inside the GSLV control center at the launch base on Sriharikota Island about 50 miles north Chennai on the Bay of Bengal.
All of the rocket's systems seemed to function as designed, and ISRO heralded the mission as a success.
"The Indian cryogenic engine and stage performed as predicted, as expected, for this mission and injected precisely the GSAT 14 communications satellite into the intended orbit," said K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of ISRO. "This is a major achievement for the GSLV program, and I would say this is an important day for science and technology in the country, and for space technologyin the country."
The flight's primary purpose was to demonstrate the viability of the Indian-built upper stage with the country's first cryogenic engine. Cryogenic propulsion technology is a stepping stone for India's ambitions to develop larger launchers to haul heftier payloads to Earth orbit and toward interplanetary destinations.
India started development of the GSLV in the early 1990s planning to use Russian-built cryogenic engines and technical know-how, but the agreement was quashed in 1992 after U.S. authorities imposed sanctions on Glavkosmos, the Russian company providing technology to India. The United States feared the transfer of missile technology from the fractured Soviet Union to developing states.
India responded by purchasing seven readymade cryogenic engines from Russia and starting the design of an indigenous upper stage from scratch.
Radhakrishnan described the cryogenic development as a "toiling of 20 years" after India decided to pursue its own hydrogen-fueled engine in response to U.S. sanctions. [The World's Tallest Rockets: How They Stack Up]
The Indian-built upper stage's first test flight in April 2010 failed as the engine ignited, dooming the launch.
Another GSLV mission in December 2010, this time using a Russian cryogenic engine, veered out of control less than a minute after liftoff and disintegrated when cables between the launcher's computer and strap-on boosters inadvertently disconnected in flight.
Since 2010, Indian engineers made a number of improvements to the GSLV, including a redesign of the third stage engine's fuel turbopump to account for the expansion and contraction of bearings and casings as super-cold liquid propellant flows through the engine.
Officials also modified the third stage's ignition sequence to ensure the "smooth, successful and sustained ignition" for the main engine, steering engine and gas generator system.
India also made improvements to the third stage engine's protective shroud and a wire tunnel in the third stage. Engineers revised their understanding of the aerodynamic characteristics of the GSLV and added an on-board camera system to better monitor the rocket's performance in flight.
Before approving the improved GSLV for flight, India completed two acceptance tests of the GSLV's third stage fuel turbopump to ensure it will not succumb to the same problem that plagued the April 2010 launch. Engineers also put the third stage engine into a vacuum chamber to simulate ignition at high altitude.
"It was a big challenge to understand what really went wrong, and we had the benefit of the knowledge and the counsel of all of the whole of the ISRO team as well as our seniors, elders and veterans. Everybody put their heads together," said S. Ramakrishnan, director of India's Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, which oversees rocket developments. "This definitely gives us confidence that any technology we will be able to master with the kind of effort, the kind of dedication and with the kind of teamwork and commitment that we have."
The reliability upgrades worked for the Jan. 5 launch.
indian-geosynchronous-satellite-exhaust.jpg

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle leaves a trail of exhaust in the afternoon sky over Sriharikota Island in India.
Credit: ISRO/Spaceflight NowView full size image



Radhakrishnan lauded the GSLV team for an "excruciating effort over the last three-and-a-half years after we had the first test flight of thiscryogenic engine and stage, and all the efforts by team ISRO over the last few years in understanding the GSLV, to make it a reliable vehicle, to understand the cryogenic engine and technology, to master and bring it to this level."
The Jan. 5 flight, known as GSLV-D5, was delayed more than four months after Indian officials aborted a countdown Aug. 19 when the second stage sprung a fuel leak, causing toxic hydrazine to rain down on the rocket.
Engineers rolled the GSLV back to the vehicle assembly building, cleaned the launcher and replaced the first and second stages. ISRO attributed the leak to cracks inside the second stage fuel tank and quickly developed a new second stage with tanks made of a different aluminum alloy less prone to corrosion.
The payload for the Jan. 5 mission was a 4,369-pound Indian communications satellite. GSAT 14 will extend India's Ku-band and C-band communications capacity with 12 transponders, along with a pair of Ka-band beacons for frequency attenuation studies.
After three orbit-raising maneuvers with its on-board engine and deployment of its solar panels and two antennas, the satellite will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 74 degrees east longitude for a 12-year mission.
GSAT 14 will be positioned near other Indian satellites, such as INSAT 3C, INSAT 4CR and Kalpana 1, according to ISRO. The spacecraft also carries several technological experiments, including a fiber optic gyroscope, an active pixel sun sensor and new types of thermal coatings.
Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1. Copyright 2013SpaceflightNow.com, all rights reserved.

http://www.space.com/24273-india-satellite-launch.html


Indian Space program is doing well but I doubt they have good technology in cryogenics. They don't have capability to send more than 5000 Kg of payload to GTO.

Japan, China are 5 years ahead of India. India should collaborate with Israel to bring down the cost. Israel is bit behind India in space tech but we have access to most of american technology.
 

gZionist

Banned
chandbibi

Thanks for the information on Indian cryogenics. It still needs to be upgraded to support 10000 Kg GTO Launch-ability
India is way behind Japan & China. Your county needs to spend more on R&D. you could outsource trivial launches to private sector and focus on sophisticated R&D in developing heavy/medium orbiter launch vehicle.


 

chandbibi

Minister (2k+ posts)
Right. Currently they are working on 5000kg GTO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosynchronous_Satellite_Launch_Vehicle_Mk_III



chandbibi

Thanks for the information on Indian cryogenics. It still needs to be upgraded to support 10000 Kg GTO Launch-ability
India is way behind Japan & China. Your county needs to spend more on R&D. you could outsource trivial launches to private sector and focus on sophisticated R&D in developing heavy/medium orbiter launch vehicle.


 

Farah Qureshi

Councller (250+ posts)
[h=1]Mars spacecraft test-fired successfully, to enter red planets orbit on Wednesday[/h]Arun Ram,TNN | Sep 22, 2014, 02.49 PM IST
HENNAI: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) scientists have successfully reignited the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft's main engine for four seconds as a trial before the final firing to get into the red planet's orbit early on Wednesday.

The liquid apogee motor (LAM) engine has been idle for about 300 days since the spacecraft left the Earth's orbit on a Martian trajectory on December 1, 2013. The short-duration test was to ensure that the engine is in good shape for the 24-minute manoeuvre on Wednesday.

MOM executed with precision a set of commands sent from mission control in Bangalore last week and fired the 440N engine for close to four seconds. This test took the spacecraft away from its trajectory by more than 100km, but a different set of commands have been fed into the system to bring it back to the ideal Martian orbital insertion.

"We are obviously relieved," said an Isro scientist. "Now we know that the engine is fit for Wednesday's exercise." There were apprehensions of the long duration of idling would have affected some valves because of the corrosive fuel used. If the main engine doesn't fire on Wednesday, an alternative plan is to fire the eight thrusters of the spacecraft to capture the Martian orbit. This Plan B, however, would not help MOM achieve a perfect orbit to take up scientific studies during its elliptical journey around Mars.
 

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