India's Mars Orbiter spacecraft has completed seven years in its orbit, well beyond its designed mission life of six months.

"Indeed, a satisfying feeling," K Radhakrishnan who as the then Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) led the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) team told PTI on the milestone.

MOM is the maiden interplanetary mission of ISRO. Launched on November 5, 2013, the probe was successfully inserted into Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 in its first attempt.

MOM is primarily a technology demonstration venture and all the mission objectives were successfully met, according to officials of Bengaluru-headquartered India's national space agency.

The main lessons learnt were in the field of design and realisation of systems and subsystems, launch for interplanetary mission, insertion into other planet's orbit, operation of the spacecraft and scientific instruments around Mars orbit, they said.

The lessons learnt have raised the confidence of ISRO scientists for taking up future interplanetary missions.

ISRO has been continuously monitoring the spacecraft and its five scientific instruments, and officials said scientific analysis of the data being received from MOM spacecraft is in progress.

On the health of the spacecraft, M Annadurai, who was the Programme Director of MOM, said the spacecraft's "moving elements are facing some issues and some of the redundancies we have to switch over."

"The spacecraft's health is reasonably good considering that we are in the seventh year," Annadurai told PTI.

He expects the spacecraft to have a mission life of probably another one year.

On the reasons for the long mission life, Annadurai said ISRO had done corrections after learning lessons from the Chandrayaan-1 venture, in terms of reconfiguring the spacecraft and optimisation of fuel management, among others.

Noting that Earth remote-sensing satellites typically have a mission life of seven to nine years, he said it was a very satisfying moment that India could establish that around Mars also, a spacecraft can be in operation for such a long period.

On some criticism in some quarters that scientific output of the MOM was "low", Annadurai said it was more of a technology-demonstration mission.

He pointed out that the spacecraft was launched by PSLV as GSLV was not in operational condition then. ISRO could apportion only about 15 kg for scientific instruments, and the time available for scientists to develop them was only 18-19 months.

"I don't think we could have done better than what we have done," Annadurai said.

ISRO officials said the spacecraft has already covered three Martian years (one Martian year is about two earth years).

"We have seen how changes happen on the Mars from one season to another, one Martian year to another Martian year," they said.

Annadurai said: "We have good inputs on seasonal affects on Mars atmosphere...Surface. The mission has provided meaningful data also".&nbsp;

India's Mars Orbiter spacecraft has completed seven years in its orbit, well beyond its designed mission life of six months. "Indeed, a satisfying feeling," K Radhakrishnan who as the then Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) led the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) team told PTI on the milestone.

India's Mars Orbiter spacecraft has completed seven years in its orbit, well beyond its designed mission life of six months. "Indeed, a satisfying feeling," K Radhakrishnan who as the then Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) led the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) team told PTI on the milestone. MOM is the maiden interplanetary mission of ISRO. Launched on November 5, 2013, the probe was successfully inserted into Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 in its first attempt. MOM is primarily a technology demonstration venture and all the mission objectives were successfully met, according to officials of Bengaluru-headquartered India's national space agency. The main lessons learnt were in the field of design and realisation of systems and subsystems, launch for interplanetary mission, insertion into other planet's orbit, operation of the spacecraft and scientific instruments around Mars orbit, they said. The lessons learnt have raised the confidence of ISRO scientists for taking up future interplanetary missions. ISRO has been continuously monitoring the spacecraft and its five scientific instruments, and officials said scientific analysis of the data being received from MOM spacecraft is in progress. On the health of the spacecraft, M Annadurai, who was the Programme Director of MOM, said the spacecraft's "moving elements are facing some issues and some of the redundancies we have to switch over." "The spacecraft's health is reasonably good considering that we are in the seventh year," Annadurai told PTI. He expects the spacecraft to have a mission life of probably another one year. On the reasons for the long mission life, Annadurai said ISRO had done corrections after learning lessons from the Chandrayaan-1 venture, in terms of reconfiguring the spacecraft and optimisation of fuel management, among others. Noting that Earth remote-sensing satellites typically have a mission life of seven to nine years, he said it was a very satisfying moment that India could establish that around Mars also, a spacecraft can be in operation for such a long period. On some criticism in some quarters that scientific output of the MOM was "low", Annadurai said it was more of a technology-demonstration mission. He pointed out that the spacecraft was launched by PSLV as GSLV was not in operational condition then. ISRO could apportion only about 15 kg for scientific instruments, and the time available for scientists to develop them was only 18-19 months. "I don't think we could have done better than what we have done," Annadurai said. ISRO officials said the spacecraft has already covered three Martian years (one Martian year is about two earth years). "We have seen how changes happen on the Mars from one season to another, one Martian year to another Martian year," they said. Annadurai said: "We have good inputs on seasonal affects on Mars atmosphere...Surface. The mission has provided meaningful data also".

Made for mission life of 6 months, India's Mars probe completes 7 years in orbit

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has short-listed 20 space-based experiment proposals, including from France, for its proposed Venus orbiter mission 'Shukrayaan' to study the planet for more than four years.

These include "collaborative contributions" from Russia, France, Sweden and Germany, sources in the Bengaluru- headquartered space agency said.

ISRO was earlier eyeing June 2023 for the country's first mission to Venus.

"But we are currently reviewing this mission timeline due to delays arising from the pandemic situation", an ISRO official said.

"Future launch opportunity is either in 2024 or 2026".

It was noted that the optimal launch window (when Venus is closest to the Earth) comes about every 19 months.

Of the Indian and international payload proposals it received in response to an announcement of opportunity for novel space-based experiments to study Venus, ISRO has shortlisted 20.

"These 20 payload (scientific instruments) proposals, including collaborative contributions from Russia, France, Sweden and Germany, are currently under review", the ISRO official said.

The one already selected, according to French space agency CNES, is France's VIRAL instrument (Venus Infrared Atmospheric Gas Linker) co-developed with the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and the LATMOS atmospheres, environments and space observations laboratory attached to the French national scientific research centre CNRS.

"Swedish Institute of Space Physics is engaged with India's mission to Venus", sources said.

According to ISRO, scientific objectives of ISRO's Venus mission are an investigation of the surface processes and shallow subsurface stratigraphy; and solar wind interaction with Venusian Ionosphere, and studying the structure, composition and dynamics of the atmosphere.

Venus is often described as the "twin sister" of the Earth because of the similarities in size, mass, density, bulk composition and gravity.

It is believed that both planets share a common origin, forming at the same time out of a condensing nebulosity around 4.5 billion years ago, ISRO had noted in its announcement of opportunity.

Venus is around 30 per cent closer to the Sun as compared to Earth resulting in much higher solar flux.

Exploration of Venus began in the early 1960s.

Venus has been explored by flyby, orbiter, a few lander missions and atmospheric probes.

"In spite of great progress made in exploring Venus, there still exist gaps in our basic understanding about surface/sub-surface features and processes, super-rotation of the Venusian atmosphere and its evolution and interaction with solar radiation/solar wind", ISRO had said.

The payload capability of the proposed 2500-kg satellite, planned to be launched onboard GSLV Mk II rocket, is likely to be 175 kg with 500W of power.

The proposed orbit is expected to be around 500 x 60,000 km around Venus.

This orbit is likely to be reduced gradually, over several months to a lower apoapsis (farthest point).

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has short-listed 20 space-based experiment proposals, including from France, for its proposed Venus orbiter mission 'Shukrayaan' to study the planet for more than four years.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has short-listed 20 space-based experiment proposals, including from France, for its proposed Venus orbiter mission 'Shukrayaan' to study the planet for more than four years. These include "collaborative contributions" from Russia, France, Sweden and Germany, sources in the Bengaluru- headquartered space agency said. ISRO was earlier eyeing June 2023 for the country's first mission to Venus. "But we are currently reviewing this mission timeline due to delays arising from the pandemic situation", an ISRO official said. "Future launch opportunity is either in 2024 or 2026". It was noted that the optimal launch window (when Venus is closest to the Earth) comes about every 19 months. Of the Indian and international payload proposals it received in response to an announcement of opportunity for novel space-based experiments to study Venus, ISRO has shortlisted 20. "These 20 payload (scientific instruments) proposals, including collaborative contributions from Russia, France, Sweden and Germany, are currently under review", the ISRO official said. The one already selected, according to French space agency CNES, is France's VIRAL instrument (Venus Infrared Atmospheric Gas Linker) co-developed with the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and the LATMOS atmospheres, environments and space observations laboratory attached to the French national scientific research centre CNRS. "Swedish Institute of Space Physics is engaged with India's mission to Venus", sources said. According to ISRO, scientific objectives of ISRO's Venus mission are an investigation of the surface processes and shallow subsurface stratigraphy; and solar wind interaction with Venusian Ionosphere, and studying the structure, composition and dynamics of the atmosphere. Venus is often described as the "twin sister" of the Earth because of the similarities in size, mass, density, bulk composition and gravity. It is believed that both planets share a common origin, forming at the same time out of a condensing nebulosity around 4.5 billion years ago, ISRO had noted in its announcement of opportunity. Venus is around 30 per cent closer to the Sun as compared to Earth resulting in much higher solar flux. Exploration of Venus began in the early 1960s. Venus has been explored by flyby, orbiter, a few lander missions and atmospheric probes. "In spite of great progress made in exploring Venus, there still exist gaps in our basic understanding about surface/sub-surface features and processes, super-rotation of the Venusian atmosphere and its evolution and interaction with solar radiation/solar wind", ISRO had said. The payload capability of the proposed 2500-kg satellite, planned to be launched onboard GSLV Mk II rocket, is likely to be 175 kg with 500W of power. The proposed orbit is expected to be around 500 x 60,000 km around Venus. This orbit is likely to be reduced gradually, over several months to a lower apoapsis (farthest point).

India's proposed Venus mission attracts international payload proposals

indias-mars-mission

India's Mars Mission, News on India's Mars Mission, stories on India's Mars Mission, articles on India's Mars Mission, India's Mars Mission stories at Wion, India's Mars Mission news, India's Mars Mission latest news

indias mars-mission

Made for mission life of 6 months, India's Mars probe completes 7 years in orbit

India's proposed Venus mission attracts international payload proposals