Topic
Introduction
Topic: Indias Mission to Mars: MOM
Background:
More missions have been attempted to Mars than to any other place in the
Solar System except the Moon, and about half of the attempts have failed.
Some of these failures occurred because Mars was the first planet Earth
attempted to explore, and the early exploration attempts taught us many
lessons that have made subsequent missions more successful. But many
failures have occurred relatively recently, proving again and again that space
exploration is very, very difficult.
But since 1996, Mars exploration has undergone a Renaissance, with data
from four orbiters and four landed missions developing a revolutionary new
view of Mars as an Earth-like world with a complex geologic history.
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan Mars-craft is a
Mars orbiter launched into the Earths orbit on November 5, 2013 by the
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
It successfully entered Mars orbit on 24 September 2014, which has made
India the first Asian nation to send a satellite to Mars, and the first nation
in the world to do so on its first attempt.
Need of this Mission:
The mission is a "technology demonstrator" project to develop the
technologies for design, planning, management, and operations of an
interplanetary mission.
Moreover, the search for methane in the Martian atmosphere is probably
the most significant part of the MOM mission. Mangalyaan has gone
equipped with an instrument that will try to measure methane in the
atmosphere. MOM will measure methane in the Martian atmosphere. So,
even though Mangalyaan has a small payload, it will actually address some
of the biggest questions on the Red Planet.
Earths atmosphere contains billions of tonnes of methane, the vast majority
of it coming from microbes, such as the organisms found in the digestive
tracts of animals.
The speculation has been that some methane-producing bugs could perhaps
exist on Mars if they lived underground, away from the planets harsh
surface conditions.
Importance of this Mission:
The Mars Orbiter Mission cost Rs. 450 crore (46 million) in comparison
to NASAs Maven orbiter costing 413 million.
Topic of the week for discussion: 9
th
to 15
th
Oct. 2014
Read further:
http://www.spaceflight101.com/mars-orbiter-mission.html
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/nasa-to-put-astronauts-in-deep-sleep-for-mars-
mission/articleshow/44415644.cms
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/11119362/India-celebrates-Mars-mission-cheaper-
than-a-movie.html
It is the cheapest inter-planetary mission ever to be undertaken since Martian
exploration began. The low cost of the mission was ascribed by Kopillil
Radhakrishnan, the chairman of ISRO, to various factors, including a
"modular approach", a small number of ground tests and long (18-20 hour)
working days for scientists. Other factors mentioned are lower worker costs,
home-grown technologies, simpler design, and significantly less complicated
payload.
Criticism of this mission:
After Indias successful Mars mission, there was a supposition among many
Western as well as Indian media and people, that space activity should be left
to the wealthy, developed countries and that it can have no worth to the
developing nations.
The argument was that money could be rather spent on healthcare and
improved sanitation. But what was thus disregarded is that investment in
science and technology builds competence and aptitude and helps develop the
people who further profit the financial system and the society.
The developed nations already know that space activity is also a wealth
producer, and have radically increased their spending on space activities in
recent years.
India wants to be a part of this too, and through Mangalyaan and its other space
missions, the nation is putting itself into a strong position in international
markets for space products and services.
Whats next?
The Mars spacecraft will orbit the Red Planet, mapping its surface and studying
the atmosphere. Mangalyan has already starting sending photographs of the red
planet.
Further, a Nasa-backed study is exploring the feasibility of lowering the cost of
a human expedition to Mars by putting the astronauts in deep sleep.
The deep sleep, called therapeutic torpor, would reduce astronauts' metabolic
functions with existing medical procedures. This is a form of deep sleep, also
referred to as a type of hibernation. The crew would be put to sleep for the
180-day journey to Mars by lowering their body temperature through their
nose. They would then be woken by stopping the flow of coolant at the red
planet. Once mission was complete, they'd be put to sleep again for the return
trip.
