Termed as a third-world country, famous as a nation of snake charmers, India leaves no chance to amaze the world. This time Indians have surprised the world again by showing their expertise in Science and Technology department. Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan (in Hindi) is India's first Interplanetary Mission to planet Mars with an orbiter craft designed to orbit Mars. India has become the first nation to reach Mars orbit in its first attempt and the first Asian nation to do so.
India not only became the country to reach Mars in its first attempt but also spent the least money. The mission cost $74 million (450 crores), less than the cost of making the movie Gravity ($100 million). It had traveled 10 months, covering a distance of 420 million miles (661 million km). Its success was remarkable because it was made entirely with home-grown technologies. One of the mission's main objectives is to develop the technologies required for an interplanetary mission's design, planning, management, and operations. The following statement is from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden about India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM): "It was an impressive engineering feat, and we welcome India to the family of nations studying another facet of the Red Planet. We look forward to MOM adding to the knowledge the international community is gathering with the other spacecraft at Mars."
MOM was launched on 5 November 2013 to explore Mars's surface, features, its atmosphere and to study various other aspects of space. After traveling a considerable distance, the orbiter was inserted into Mars's orbit on 24 September 2014. Following this, the orbiter published its first global view of Mars. The image was captured by the specially installed camera.
After its successful reach and orbiting plan, it also included covering the movement of a passing comet, which was not part of the mission initially. The task is expected to last between six to ten months. After the attainment of the mission, NASA announced its collaboration with ISRO for future explorations and other activities.
The Mars mission, as planned by ISRO, was a sophisticated exercise. Compared to other Mars missions, ISRO had a smaller rocket and payload. MOM weighed1350 kg when it left the Earth's surface on 5 November 2013, of which 850 kg was fuel. MOM did not use an upper-stage launcher. Instead, it used ISRO's PSLV and performed a series of gradual exercises to raise itself to the Earth's higher orbit by going around the Earth six times and propelling itself higher with each revolution.
One of the ways used by ISRO to hold down costs was to save on fuel by using a smaller rocket to put the spacecraft into the Earth's orbit first to gain enough momentum to shoot it towards Mars. As it goes around Mars in an elliptical orbit, MOM employs five sets of equipment weighing 15 kg for scientific studies.
These five pieces of equipment include: Lyman Alpha Photometer measures the relative abundance of deuterium and hydrogen in the upper Martian atmosphere to understand the previous presence of water on the planet. A methane sensor is looking for sources of the gas. While the Mars color camera clicks away, a thermal infrared spectrometer studies heat emission, minerals, and soil on Mars. In addition, NASA's recently launched MAVEN can last up to 2.5 years, extendable to six more years. MOM's expected lifespan is six months and 300 days at the maximum. MAVEN is expected to function for 8.5 years, while MOM is expected to work for only ten months.
The mission was a test of the expertise of Indian scientists. They were thrilled with its success, and many scientists worldwide appreciated the effort. Millions of ordinary Indians, too, felt proud to be the nation's citizens when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came out to congratulate everyone. The mission will boost foreign interests and funds for our science projects. The mission will give the world a new parameter to judge the country. Also, the task will spark students' minds to be part of follow-up missions. Though the Mangalyaan is primarily a demonstration vehicle, it is a significant leap in space science, innovation, and management.
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