It's been more then 5 years, since India's Mars Orbiter Mission(MOM), also known as Mangalyaan has been launched into space to monitor the red planet, Mars.
It was launched on 5th of November, 2013 by the "Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)", making India stand at number 4 in the list of countries that were able to successfully land their unmanned vehicle on Mars surface, heading in list is Roscomos, NASA and European Space Agency.
MOM probe lifted off from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre(Sriharikota range SHAR), Andhra Pradesh, using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket C25 at 09:08 UTC on 5th November, 2013.
The whole mission cost only $73 million US Dollar(aaprox 450 crore rupees). Yes!! you heard it right that's even less than avg. cost production of many Hollywood movies. If we stop comparing a interplanetary mission budget with Hollywood movies budget, then also it is way too cheap then other such missions conducted by varios countries. For example, the total budget of NASA's mission named "Human mission to mars" is a mighty $2.5 billion dollars.
The low cost of the mission was ascribed by K. Radhakrishnan, the chairman of ISRO, to various factors, including a "modular approach", few ground tests and long (18–20 hour) working days for scientists.
It was launched on 5th of November, 2013 by the "Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)", making India stand at number 4 in the list of countries that were able to successfully land their unmanned vehicle on Mars surface, heading in list is Roscomos, NASA and European Space Agency.
MOM probe lifted off from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre(Sriharikota range SHAR), Andhra Pradesh, using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket C25 at 09:08 UTC on 5th November, 2013.
Cost
It is still considered as one of the cheapest interplanetary mission ever conducted by the human race.The whole mission cost only $73 million US Dollar(aaprox 450 crore rupees). Yes!! you heard it right that's even less than avg. cost production of many Hollywood movies. If we stop comparing a interplanetary mission budget with Hollywood movies budget, then also it is way too cheap then other such missions conducted by varios countries. For example, the total budget of NASA's mission named "Human mission to mars" is a mighty $2.5 billion dollars.
The low cost of the mission was ascribed by K. Radhakrishnan, the chairman of ISRO, to various factors, including a "modular approach", few ground tests and long (18–20 hour) working days for scientists.
Objective
The primary objective of the mission is to develop the technologies required for designing, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission.The secondary objective is to explore Mars' surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments.
Following are the other major objectives of the mission:
A. Technological Objectives:
A. Technological Objectives:
- Design and realisation of a Mars orbiter with a capability to survive and perform Earth bound manoeuvres, cruise phase of 300 days, Mars orbit insertion / capture, and on-orbit phase around Mars.
- Deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.
- Incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations.
B. Scientific Objectives:
- Exploration of Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.
Future
ISRO is now planning to develop and launch a follow-up mission called Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (MOM-2 or Mangalyaan-2) with a greater scientific payload to Mars in 2022-2023. The orbiter will use aerobraking to reduce apoapsis of its initial orbit and reach an altitude more suitable for scientific observation.
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