Indian Martian exploration program

JAISWAL · Jan 16, 2012

India has Red Planet Fever.
by Amy Shira Teitel on January 15, 2012

Mars fever has gripped India. In a recent report from the Planetary Science and Exploration conference that was held in December 2011, scientists from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) are making preliminary plans for a robotic mission to the Red Planet sometime next year.

The possibility of an Indian mission to Mars first came up during a brainstorming session at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), an affiliate of the ISRO, last March. For two days, scientists and students developed their plans and proposals for a mission to the red planet.

A Mars Mission Study Team has been established to review proposed scenarios for the future mission, and an Indian chapter of the Mars Society formed last year at IIT-Mumbai.

Viking 2's view of Mars in 1976. Image credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org

The report from the meeting last month gives a concrete look at what Indian scientists have on their Martian wish list. In all, ten instruments and experiments comprise the ultimate mission.

En route to Mars, a Mars Radiation Spectrometer (Maris) will measure and characterize background levels of charged particles in interplanetary space. This data will play a vital role in determining radiation levels facing humans going to Mars.

Once at Mars, the proposed Indian mission will focus on the Martian atmosphere.

A Probe For Infrared Spectroscopy for Mars (Prism) is designed to study the spatial and seasonal variations of atmospheric gases on Mars' atmosphere throughout the mission's lifetime. The Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (Menca) is designed to analyze the planet's upper atmosphere-exosphere, the region roughly 400 km (248 miles) above the surface.

Specific instruments are designed to study the composition of the atmosphere. A Methane Sensor For Mars (MSM) has been proposed to detect traces of the gas in the atmosphere. Another instrument, Tis, will measure thermal emissions to help scientists generate a map reflecting the composition and mineralogy of the planet. It will also help the team monitor carbon dioxide levels.

A Plasma and Current Experiment (Pace) will assess the escape rate of the atmosphere and the structure of the "tail" this escaping atmosphere creates. Radio and microwave instruments will also be on board the spacecraft to measure the planet's surface activity. A suite of instruments will also be on hand to detect plasma waves in the atmosphere.

Visual measurements are also part of the proposed mission. The Mars Color Camera (MCC) is designed to photograph the Martian surface from a highly elliptical orbit, roughly 500 km by 80,000 km (310 miles by 49,700 miles). The camera will be able to take high resolution images of the topography of the surface and map the polar caps, both of which are expected to help scientists understand surface events like dust storms.

According to ISRO scientists, the proposed mission could launch as early as November 2013, which would have the spacecraft enter into orbit around Mars in September 2014. A launch so relatively soon is appealing to many Indian scientists, many of whom argue that a mission to Mars should take priority over a mission to the Moon.

After all, India has already reached the Moon with the successful Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft. Why not keep the momentum going and aim for a new and exciting target with the next mission?

India has Red Planet Fever

Amy Shira Teitel is an historian of spaceflight, blogger, and freelance writer. Her blog, Vintage Space , chronicles her love of space history and manned space exploration. She contributes to Universe Today and motherboard.tv

utubekhiladi · Apr 20, 2012

ISRO in active mode for Mars mission

Bangalore: India has completed a significant amount of work on next year's planned Mars mission for which scientific payloads have been short-listed, with formal government approval for the ambitious venture expected soon.

Bangalore-headquartered ISRO is planning to undertake the mission to the planet Mars during November 2013. The project report for Indian Mars orbiter mission has been submitted for approval of Government.

The mission envisages launching an orbiter around Mars using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL). The orbiter will be placed in an orbit of 500 x 80,000 km around Mars and will have a provision for carrying nearly 25 kg of scientific payloads on-board.

"The tentative scientific objective for the Mars mission will be to focus on life, climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life on the planet," according to an official ISRO report.

Scientific payloads have been short-listed by the ISRO?s Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS) review committee. Baseline, solar array and reflector configuration of the satellite have been finalised. Frequency filing for communication subsystem is under progress, the space agency said in its just uploaded 2011-12 annual report.

Meanwhile, ISRO has signed a MoU with Indian Institute of Astrophysics for development and delivery of solar coronagraph payload for its ADITYA-1 project, while mechanical configuration of the satellite is in progress.

This project will be the first Indian space based solar coronagraph, which will be available for solar coronal observation to all the Indian researchers in the field of Solar Astronomy.

ADITYA-1 is the first space based Solar Coronagraph intended to study the outermost region of the sun called Corona.

ADITYA-1 in the visible and near IR bands will study the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) such as the coronal magnetic field structures and evolution of coronal magnetic field and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather.

The major scientific objective of the ADITYA-1 is to achieve a fundamental understanding of the physical processes that heat the solar corona (base to the extended), accelerate the solar wind and produce CMEs.

ISRO said preliminary design of the optical systems of ADITYA-1 has been finalised and design document generated;

"Trade-off studies on the selection of detector system have been completed and the list of subsystem packages along with power and mass budget generated," it said.

ISRO has also planned SENSE, a twin satellite mission to probe the electromagnetic environment of the Earth's near space region. It is proposed to launch two small satellites in a low earth orbit of around 500 km, for space weather related studies.

SENSE is part of ISRO's Small Satellites Programme, recommended by ISRO's ADCOS. SENSE aims to unravel the roles played by major large-scale drivers in determining the state of the Ionosphere-Thermosphere system and the weather of the near space environment at low latitudes.

ISRO said engineering models of the electric and magnetic field probes chosen for the SENSE mission have already been tested and their frequency responses studied.

:hurray:

this will add salt to the injury to our neighbors.

utubekhiladi · Apr 20, 2012

India is now unstoppable :thumb: we all deserve this movement.

Illusive · Jul 3, 2012

Kutch village is India’s window to Mars - The Times of India

AHMEDABAD: Even as NASA's latest multi-billion dollar Mars exploration rover — a robot called 'Curiosity' — is set to land on the neighbouring planet's surface in the next 34 days, an important discovery has been made at Mata no Madh — a small village nestled near Bhuj in Kutch district.

Even as Curiosity gets down to search for signs of habitability and collect rock and soil samples, scientists from the Dehradun-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) have found a meter thick layer of hydrous sulphate rocks in this Kutch village quite similar to the ones found on Mars surface. These are called the calcium bearing mineral rocks that are rare on earth.

So far, there were just three places in the world where these rocks were found. The discovery of same type of rocks in the desert here can play an important role ahead of India's Mars Mission. The scientists here are still trying to ascertain properties of the rock and whether it can support life in any form.

Hydrous sulphate deposits at Mata no Madh are predominantly made of calcium bearing Minamiite and another mineral called natro alunite. They are white to cream-yellow and reddish in colour, and extend for more than a kilometre on both sides of Mata no Madh on Lakhpat road. N V Siddaiah, a senior scientist with WIHG, who found these rocks along with a colleague Kishor Kumar, says: "The hydrous sulphates is result of reactions between volcanic gases and acidic hydrothermal solutions with volcanic ash or rock."

Ever since Nasa's first Mars mission found hydrous sulphates on the Red planet, the hunt for these rocks begun on Earth. On the globe, these rocks form part of the famous 'Mars Analouge' at the three other place. These places include Mt Schimkura in northeastern Japan, the volcanoes of southwest Turkey, and from volcanoes of the Cascade Range in the western US.

"Till the time India gets the technological ability for collecting samples on Mars, these Mars analogues present in the Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP) or the Himalayan stretch will be of tremendous help. We have been researching the rocks for two years," says Siddaiah.

"If we were to know whether Mars support's life, we will have to study the rock and soil samples while being in Martian atmosphere instead of bringing them on Earth. The Mata no Madh rocks are a ready reference for us geologists on earth," The discovery was published in Nature magazine a while ago.

Nagraj · Jul 3, 2012

WTF!
i want to retire on Mars!
what does mean if mars can support life.
c'on just make it support life .
it costly for sure not impossible.

Illusive said:
Kutch village is India's window to Mars - The Times of India

A
"If we were to know whether Mars support's life,.

Payeng · Jul 3, 2012

25 kg payload!!!

Nagraj · Jul 3, 2012

lol! should e enough to carry a robot. initially.

Payeng said:
25 kg payload!!!

natarajan · Jul 3, 2012

first send manned mission to space lab and then create a space lab and also manned mission to moon.After these only mars should be appropriate

LETHALFORCE · Jul 14, 2012

India all set to give go ahead for Mars mission

India all set to give go ahead for Mars mission - The Times of India

MYSORE: India is all set to give the go-ahead for an ambitious mission to Mars, expected in November next year, a top Space Department official said here on Saturday.

"A lot of studies have been done on the possible mission to Mars", the secretary in the Department of Space and chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation K Radhakrishnan, told reporters here. "We have come to the last phase of approvals", he said.

"And I am sure that, maybe soon, we will be hearing an announcement on the Mars mission".

According to ISRO officials, a significant amount of work on the planned Mars mission has been completed and scientific payloads have been short-listed.

The project report for Indian Mars orbiter mission has been submitted for government approval. The mission envisages launching an orbiter around Mars using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL). The orbiter will be placed in an orbit of 500 x 80,000 km around MARS and will have a provision to carry nearly 25 kg of scientific payloads on-board.

The tentative scientific objective for the Mars mission will be to focus on life, climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life on the planet,? according to ISRO. Scientific payloads have been short-listed by ISRO's Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS) review committee. Baseline, solar array and reflector configuration of the satellite have been finalised, the Bangalore-headquartered space agency said.

The Messiah · Jul 14, 2012