Mars Orbiter Mission

This article is about the Indian Mars probe. For other Mars orbiters, see List of missions to Mars.

Mars Orbiter Mission

Artist's rendering of the MOM orbiting Mars
Mission type	Mars orbiter
Operator	ISRO
COSPAR ID	2013-060A
SATCAT no.	39370
Website	www.isro.org/mars/home.aspx
Mission duration	6 months (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Bus	I-1K
Manufacturer	ISAC
Launch mass	1,337 kg (2,948 lb)
Dry mass	500 kg (1,100 lb)
Payload mass	15 kg (33 lb)
Dimensions	1.5-metre (4 ft 11 in) cube
Power	840 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	5 November 2013, 09:08 (2013-11-05UTC09:08Z) UTC
Rocket	PSLV-XL C25
Launch site	Satish Dhawan FLP
Contractor	ISRO
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Areocentric
Periareon altitude	365.3 km (227.0 mi)
Apoareon altitude	80,000 km (50,000 mi)
Inclination	150.0°
Period	76.72 hours
Epoch	Planned
Mars orbiter
Orbital insertion	24 September 2014, 02:00 UTC MSD 50027 06:27 AMT

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan "Mars-craft" (Sanskrit मंगल maṅgala "Mars" + यान yāna "craft"), is a Mars orbiter launched into Earth orbit on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was successfully inserted into Mars orbit on 24 September 2014, making India the first nation to send a satellite into Mars orbit on its first attempt, and the first Asian nation to do so.

The mission is a "technology demonstrator" project aiming to develop the technologies required for design, planning, management, and operations of an interplanetary mission. It carries five instruments, which are not expected to markedly advance knowledge about Mars.

The Mars Orbiter Mission probe lifted-off from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket C25 at 09:08 UTC (14:38 IST) on 5 November 2013. The launch window was approximately 20 days long and started on 28 October 2013. The MOM probe spent about a month in Earth orbit, where it made a series of seven altitude-raising orbital manoeuvres before trans-Mars injection on 30 November 2013 (UTC).

It is India's first interplanetary mission and ISRO has become the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after the Soviet space program, NASA, and the European Space Agency. The spacecraft is currently being monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore by the staff member John Baldree with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu.

History

The MOM mission concept began with a feasibility study in 2010, after the launch of lunar satellite Chandrayaan-1 in 2008. The government of India approved the project on 3 August 2012, after the Indian Space Research Organisation completed ₹125 crore (US$15 million) of required studies for the orbiter. The total project cost may be up to ₹454 crore (US$54 million). The satellite costs ₹153 crore (US$18 million) and the rest of the budget has been attributed to ground stations and relay upgrades that will be used for other ISRO projects.

The space agency had initially planned the launch on 28 October 2013 but was postponed to 5 November 2013 following the delay in ISRO's spacecraft tracking ships to take up pre-determined positions due to poor weather in the Pacific Ocean. Launch opportunities for a fuel-saving Hohmann transfer orbit occur about every 26 months, in this case, 2016 and 2018. The Mars Orbiter's on-orbit mission life will be between six and ten months.

Assembly of the PSLV-XL launch vehicle, designated C25, started on 5 August 2013. The mounting of the five scientific instruments was completed at ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, and the finished spacecraft was shipped to Sriharikota on 2 October 2013 for integration to the PSLV-XL launch vehicle. The satellite's development was fast-tracked and completed in a record 15 months. Despite the US federal government shutdown, NASA reaffirmed on 5 October 2013 it would provide communications and navigation support to the mission. ISRO chairman stated in November 2013 that if the MOM and NASA's orbiter MAVEN were successful, they would complement each other in findings and help understand Mars better.

The ISRO plans to send a follow-up mission with a greater scientific payload to Mars in the 2017–2020 timeframe; it would include an orbiter and a stationary lander.

Team

Some of the leading scientists working on the Mars Orbiter Mission project are:

• K. Radhakrishnan – Chairman, ISRO
• M.Y.S. Prasad – Director, Satish Dhawan Space Center Sriharikota
• A. S. Kiran Kumar – Director, SAC
• V. Adimurthy – Mission Concept Designer, MOM
• Mylswamy Annadurai – Programme Director, MOM
• B. S. Chandrashekar – Director, ISTRAC
• P. Robert – Operations Director, MOM
• Subbiah Arunan – Project Director, MOM
• V. Kesavaraju – Post-Launch Mission Director, MOM
• P. Ekambaram – Operations Director, MOM
• P. Kunhikrishnan – Launch Mission Director, PSLV-XL
• Jitendra Nath Goswami – Director, Physical Research Laboratory ISRO
• S. K. Shivkumar – Orbiting payload Director, ISAC
• B. Jayakumar – Launch Vehicle Director, PSLV

Objectives

The primary objective of the Mars Orbiter Mission is to showcase India's rocket launch systems, spacecraft-building and operations capabilities. Specifically, the primary objective is to develop the technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission, comprising the following major tasks:

• design and realisation of a Mars orbiter with a capability to perform Earth-bound maneuvres, 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.

The secondary objective is to explore Mars' surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments.

Spacecraft specifications

Mass

The lift-off mass was 1,350 kg (2,980 lb), including 852 kg (1,878 lb) of propellant.

Bus

The spacecraft's bus is a modified I-1 K structure and propulsion hardware configuration, similar to Chandrayaan 1, India's lunar orbiter that operated from 2008 to 2009, with specific improvements and upgrades needed for a Mars mission. The satellite structure is constructed of an aluminium and composite fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) sandwich construction.

Power

Electric power is generated by three solar array panels of 1.8 m × 1.4 m (5 ft 11 in × 4 ft 7 in) each (7.56 m² (81.4 sq ft) total), for a maximum of 840 watts of power generation in Mars orbit. Electricity is stored in a 36 Ah Li-ion battery.

Propulsion

A liquid fuel engine with a thrust of 440 newtons is used for orbit raising and insertion into Mars orbit. The orbiter also has eight 22-newton thrusters for attitude control. Its propellant mass is 852 kg.

Communications

Communications are handled by two 230-watt TWTAs and two coherent transponders. The antenna array consists of a low-gain antenna, a medium-gain antenna and a high-gain antenna. The high-gain antenna system is based on a single 2.2-metre (7 ft 3 in) reflector illuminated by a feed at S-band. It is used to transmit and receive the telemetry, tracking, commanding and data to and from the Indian Deep Space Network.

Payload

Scientific instruments
LAP	Lyman-Alpha Photometer	1.97 kg
MSM	Methane Sensor For Mars	2.94 kg
MENCA	Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser	3.56 kg
TIS	Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer	3.2 kg
MCC	Mars Colour Camera	1.27 kg

The 15 kg (33 lb) scientific payload consists of five instruments:

Atmospheric studies

• Lyman-Alpha Photometer (LAP) – a photometer that measures the relative abundance of deuterium and hydrogen from Lyman-alpha emissions in the upper atmosphere. Measuring the deuterium/hydrogen ratio will allow an estimation of the amount of water loss to outer space.
• Methane Sensor For Mars (MSM) – will measure methane in the atmosphere of Mars, if any, and map its sources.

Particle environment studies

• Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) – is a quadrupole mass analyser capable of analysing the neutral composition of particles in the exosphere.

Surface imaging studies

• Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS) – will measure the temperature and emissivity of the Martian surface, allowing for the mapping of surface composition and mineralogy of Mars.
• Mars Colour Camera (MCC) – will provide images in the visual spectrum, providing context for the other instruments.

Telemetry and command

Further information: Telemetry and Telecommand

The Indian Space Research Organisation Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network performed navigation and tracking operations for the launch with ground stations at Sriharikota, Port Blair, Brunei and Biak in Indonesia, and after the spacecraft's apogee became more than 100,000 km, an 18-metre (59 ft) and an 32 m (105 ft) diameter antenna of the Indian Deep Space Network were utilised. The 18-metre (59 ft) dish-antenna was used for communication with the craft until April 2014, after which the larger 32 m (105 ft) antenna was used. NASA's Deep Space Network is providing position data through its three stations located in Canberra, Madrid and Goldstone on the US West Coast during the non-visible period of ISRO's network. The South African National Space Agency's (SANSA) Hartebeesthoek (HBK) ground station is also providing satellite tracking, telemetry and command services.

Mission profile

Timeline of operations

Phase	Date	Event	Detail	Result	Reference(s)
Geocentric phase	5 November 2013 09:08 UTC	Launch	Burn time: 15:35 min in 5 stages	Apogee: 23,550 km
	6 November 2013 19:47 UTC	Orbit raising manoeuvre	Burn time: 416 sec	Apogee: 23,550 km to 28,825 km
	7 November 2013 20:48 UTC	Orbit raising manoeuvre	Burn time: 570.6 sec	Apogee: 28,825 km to 40,186 km
	8 November 2013 20:40 UTC	Orbit raising manoeuvre	Burn time: 707 sec	Apogee: 40,186 km to 71,636 km
	10 November 2013 20:36 UTC	Orbit raising manoeuvre	Incomplete burn	Apogee: 71,636 km to 78,276 km
	11 November 2013 23:33 UTC	Orbit raising manoeuvre (supplementary)	Burn time: 303.8 sec	Apogee: 78,276 km to 118,642 km
	15 November 2013 19:57 UTC	Orbit raising manoeuvre	Burn time: 243.5 sec	Apogee: 118,642 km to 192,874 km
	30 November 2013, 19:19 UTC	Trans-Mars injection	Burn time: 1328.89 sec	Successful heliocentric insertion
Heliocentric phase	December 2013 – September 2014	En route to Mars – The probe was travelling a distance of 780,000,000 kilometres (480,000,000 mi) in a parabolic trajectory around the Sun to reach Mars. As of 9 June 2014, the probe has travelled 460 million km in its path to Mars, and was about 100 million km away from Earth. This phase plan includes up to four trajectory corrections if needed.
	11 December 2013 01:00 UTC	1st Trajectory correction	Burn time: 40.5 sec	Success
	9 April 2014	2nd Trajectory correction (planned)	Not required	Rescheduled for 11 June 2014
	11 June 2014 11:00 UTC	2nd Trajectory correction	Burn time: 16 sec	Success
	August 2014	3rd Trajectory correction (planned)	Not required
	22 September 2014	3rd Trajectory correction	Burn time: 4 sec	Success
Areocentric phase	24 September 2014	Mars orbit insertion	Burn time: 24 min & 14 sec	Success

Launch

As originally conceived, ISRO would have launched MOM on its new Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), but the GSLV has failed twice in two space missions in 2010, ISRO is still sorting out issues with its cryogenic engine, and it was not advisable to wait for the new batch of rockets since that would have delayed the MOM project for at least three years. ISRO had to make a choice between delaying the Mars Orbiter Mission and switching to the less-powerful PSLV. They opted for the latter. There is no way to launch on a direct-to-Mars trajectory with the PSLV as it does not have the power. Instead, ISRO launched it into Earth orbit first and slowly boosted it into an interplanetary trajectory using multiple perigee burns to maximize the Oberth effect.

On 19 October 2013, ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan announced that the launch had to be postponed by a week as a result of a delay of a crucial telemetry ship reaching Fiji Islands. The launch was rescheduled for 5 November 2013. ISRO's PSLV-XL placed the satellite in Earth orbit at 09:50 UTC, on 5 November 2013, with a perigee of 264.1 km, an apogee of 23,903.6 km, and inclination of 19.20 degrees, with both the antenna and all three sections of the solar panel arrays deployed. During the first three orbit raising operations, ISRO progressively tested the spacecraft systems.

The orbiter's dry mass is 500 kg (1,100 lb), and it carries 852 kg (1,878 lb) of fuel and oxidiser. Its main engine, which is a derivative of the system used on India's communications satellites, uses the bipropellant combination monomethylhydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide to achieve the thrust necessary for escape velocity from Earth. It will also be used to slow down the probe for Mars orbit insertion and subsequently, for orbit corrections.

Orbit raising manoeuvres

Orbit trajectory diagram (not to scale).

Several orbit raising operations were conducted from the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Peenya, Bangalore on 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 16 November by using the spacecraft's on-board propulsion system and a series of perigee burns. The aim was to gradually build up the necessary escape velocity (11.2 km/s) to break free from Earth's gravitational pull while minimising propellant use. The first three of the five planned orbit raising manoeuvres were completed with nominal results, while the fourth was only partially successful. However, a subsequent supplementary manoeuvre raised the orbit to the intended altitude aimed for in the original fourth manoeuvre. A total of six burns were completed while the spacecraft remained in Earth orbit, with a seventh burn conducted on 30 November to insert MOM into a heliocentric orbit for its transit to Mars.

The first orbit-raising manoeuvre was performed on 6 November 2013 at 19:47 UTC when the 440 newtons (99 lb_f) liquid engine of the spacecraft was fired for 416 seconds. With this engine firing, the spacecraft's apogee was raised to 28,825 km, with a perigee of 252 km. The second orbit raising manoeuvre was performed on 7 November 2013 at 20:48 UTC, with a burn time of 570.6 seconds resulting in an apogee of 40,186 km. The third orbit raising manoeuvre was performed on 8 November 2013 at 20:40 UTC, with a burn time of 707 seconds resulting in an apogee of 71,636 km.

The fourth orbit raising manoeuvre, starting at 20:36 UTC on 10 November 2013, imparted an incremental velocity of 35 m/s to the spacecraft instead of the planned 135 m/s as a result of underburn by the motor. Because of this, the apogee was boosted to 78,276 km instead of the planned 100,000 km. When testing the redundancies built-in for the propulsion system, the flow to the liquid engine stopped, with consequent reduction in incremental velocity. During the fourth orbit burn, the primary and redundant coils of the solenoid flow control valve of 440 newton liquid engine and logic for thrust augmentation by the attitude control thrusters were being tested. When both primary and redundant coils were energised together during the planned modes, the flow to the liquid engine stopped. Operating both the coils simultaneously is not possible for future operations, however they could be operated independently of each other, in sequence. As a result of the fourth planned burn coming up short, an additional unscheduled burn was performed on 12 November 2013 that increased the apogee to 118,642 km, a slightly higher altitude than originally intended in the fourth manoeuvre. The apogee was raised to 192,874 km on 15 November 2013, 19:57 UTC in the final orbit raising manoeuvre.

Trans-Mars injection

File:Simulated view of Mars Orbiter Mission along with Mars, Sun, Mercury and Earth on 3rd October 2014 at 17ː00 UTC..jpg

Simulated view of Mars Orbiter Mission along with (left to right) Mars, Earth, Mercury and Sun on 3rd October 2014 at 17ː00 UTC. The Mars Orbiter Mission satellite is at an altitude of about 1300 miles from Mars at the time

Further information: Trans-Mars Injection

On 30 November 2013 at 19:19 UTC, a 23-minute engine firing initiated the transfer of MOM away from Earth orbit and on heliocentric trajectory toward Mars. The probe was travelling a distance of 780,000,000 kilometres (480,000,000 mi) to reach Mars.

Trajectory correction manoeuvres

Four trajectory corrections were originally planned, but only three were carried out. The first trajectory correction manoeuvre (TCM) was carried out on 11 December 2013, 01:00 UTC, by firing the 22 newtons (4.9 lb_f) thrusters for a duration of 40.5 seconds. As observed in April 2014, MOM is following the designed trajectory so closely that the trajectory correction manoeuvre planned in April 2014 was not required. The second trajectory correction manoeuvre was performed on 11 June 2014, at 16:30 hrs IST by firing the spacecraft's 22 newton thrusters for a duration of 16 seconds. The third planned trajectory correction manoeuvre was postponed, due to the orbiter's trajectory closely matching the planned trajectory. The third trajectory correction was also a deceleration test 3.9 seconds long on 22 September 2014.

Mars orbit insertion

The plan was for insertion into Mars orbit on 24 September 2014, approximately 2 days after the arrival of NASA's MAVEN orbiter. The 440N liquid apogee motor was successfully test fired at 09:00 UTC (14:30 IST) on 22 September for 3.968 seconds, about 41 hours before actual orbit insertion.

On 24 September 2014, at IST 04:17:32 satellite communication changed over to the medium gain antenna. At IST 06:56:32 forward rotation started and locked the position to fire, at IST 07:14:32 an attitude control manoeuvre took place with the help of thrusters after eclipse started at IST 07:12:19 and LAM (Liquid Apogee Motor) starts burning at IST 07:17:32 and ends at IST 07:41:46. After that reverse manoeuvre took place, the spacecraft successfully enters Martian orbit.

Status

MOM will be set on a highly elliptical orbit around Mars, with a period of 3.2 days and a planned periapsis of 423 km (263 mi) and apoapsis of 80,000 km (50,000 mi). Commissioning and checkout operations are planned over the coming weeks to prepare MOM's instruments for science operations.

External links

• Mars Orbiter Mission Home Page
• Website for the launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission
• Mission brochure of Mars Orbiter Mission
• NASA Canberra's DSN webpage list of current tracked space missions
• Mangalyaan and Indian space program debate (Sarcanomics; March 2014).