Cidersomerset
5th November 2013, 12:01
That was quick only yesterday the BBC put up an article that they were preparing to
blast off,which I posted........
India's space-based 'revolution' Sending Mars Orbitor...
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?65119-India-s-space-based-revolution-Sending-Mars-Orbitor...
http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.54.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png
India launches spacecraft to Mars
5 November 2013 Last updated at 09:11
Vid on link.....http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24729073
India has successfully launched a spacecraft to the Red Planet - with the aim of
becoming the fourth space agency to reach Mars.The Mars Orbiter Mission took off at
09:08 GMT from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the country's east coast.
The head of India's space agency told the BBC the mission would demonstrate the
technological capability to reach Mars orbit and carry out experiments.
The spacecraft is set to travel for 300 days, reaching Mars orbit in 2014.
If the satellite orbits the Red Planet, India's space agency will become the fourth in the
world after those of the US, Russia and Europe to undertake a successful Mars mission.
A 56-hour countdown to the launch began on Sunday.
Vid on link.....http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24729073
What ordinary Indians think of the country's mission to Mars
Some observers are viewing the launch of the MOM, also known by the informal name
of Mangalyaan (Mars-craft), as the latest salvo in a burgeoning space race between the
Asian powers of India, China, Japan, South Korea and others.
Prof Andrew Coates, from the UK's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, told BBC News: "I
think this mission really brings India to the table of international space exploration.
Interplanetary exploration is certainly not trivial to do, and [India] has found some
interesting scientific niches to make some measurements in."
Those niche areas include searching for the signature of methane (CH4) in the Martian
atmosphere, which has previously been detected from Martian orbit and telescopes on
Earth. However, Nasa's Curiosity rover recently failed to find the gas in its
measurements of atmospheric gases.
CH4 has a short lifetime in the Martian atmosphere, meaning that some source on the
Red Planet must replenish it. Intriguingly, some 95% of atmospheric methane on Earth
is produced by microbes, which has led some to propose the possibility of a biosphere
deep beneath the Martian surface. But the gas can be produced by geological processes
too, most notably by volcanism.
Definitive conclusions are likely to be elusive, but the spacecraft's Methane Sensor for
Mars (MSM) instrument will aim to make measurements and map any potential sources
of methane "plumes".
The spacecraft will also examine the rate of loss of atmospheric gases to outer space.
This could provide insights into the planet's history; billions of years ago, the envelope
of gases around Mars is thought to have been more substantial.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70786000/jpg/_70786038_indian_mars_mission_624.jpg
graphic, BBC
At $72m (£45m), the mission is comparatively cheap, but some commentators have still
questioned whether a country with one of the highest rankings for childhood
malnutrition in the world should be spending millions on a mission to the Red Planet.
In one sense, India was left with reduced options because of the failure of its most
powerful launcher, the first choice to loft the MOM into orbit. That left the country's
space agency without a means to fire the satellite directly out of Earth's atmosphere.
As a fuel-saving alternative, the spacecraft will circle Earth in an elliptical orbit for
nearly a month, building up the necessary velocity to break free from our planet's
gravitational pull.
The formal name for the route MOM will take to Mars is a "Hohmann Transfer Orbit".
The spacecraft takes advantage of a favourable planetary alignment, carrying out six
small engine burns over November to lift it to a higher orbit before a final burn sends it
off on an interplanetary trajectory.
But in order for the MOM to embark on the right trajectory for its 300-day, 780-million
km journey, it must launch by 19 November and carry out its final orbital burn by 30
November.
The difficulty of visiting the Red Planet will not be lost on Indian officials; just under half
the total attempts to reach Mars have failed. But Prof Coates said the planned
mechanics for getting to Mars were on a sound footing, and that the probe stood a good
chance as long as its engines fired correctly.
Continue reading the main story
Mars mission history
Mars
The USSR, Russia, US, Britain, Europe, Japan and China have all launched missions to Mars
There have been around 40 missions (but the total depends on how they are added up)
More than half the world's attempts to reach the Red Planet have failed
Only the US, USSR and Europe have been successful to date
Those who defend India's current direction in space exploration say the technological
development required to mount this mission could indirectly benefit the country's other
activities, including poverty reduction.
Nisha Agrawal, chief executive of Oxfam in India, told the BBC: "India is home to poor
people but it's also an emerging economy, it's a middle-income country, it's a member
of the G20. What is hard for people to get their head around is that we are home to
poverty but also a global power.
"We are not really one country but two in one. And we need to do both things:
contribute to global knowledge as well as take care of poor people at home."
K Radhakrishnan, chair of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), told the BBC's
India Business Report: "Why India has to be in the space programme is a question that
has been asked over the last 50 years. The answer then, now and in the future will
be: 'It is for finding solutions to the problems of man and society.'
He added: "A great revolution has taken place over these last 50 years in the country
by a meagre expenditure that has been put into the space programme."
Mr Radhakrishnan played down talk of a race between China and India in space,
commenting: "We are not in a race with anybody, but I would say we are in a race with
ourselves. We need to excel, we need to improve, and we need to bring new services."
But a successful launch would allow India to surge ahead of regional rival China, at least
in the exploration of Mars. China's Yinghuo-1 spacecraft was to have reached Martian
orbit in late 2012. But it was piggybacked on the Russian Phobos Grunt spacecraft,
which became stranded in low-Earth orbit shortly after launch in November 2011.
The MOM was to have been launched as early as 28 October, but rough weather in the
Pacific forced officials to delay the launch.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24729073
blast off,which I posted........
India's space-based 'revolution' Sending Mars Orbitor...
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?65119-India-s-space-based-revolution-Sending-Mars-Orbitor...
http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.54.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png
India launches spacecraft to Mars
5 November 2013 Last updated at 09:11
Vid on link.....http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24729073
India has successfully launched a spacecraft to the Red Planet - with the aim of
becoming the fourth space agency to reach Mars.The Mars Orbiter Mission took off at
09:08 GMT from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the country's east coast.
The head of India's space agency told the BBC the mission would demonstrate the
technological capability to reach Mars orbit and carry out experiments.
The spacecraft is set to travel for 300 days, reaching Mars orbit in 2014.
If the satellite orbits the Red Planet, India's space agency will become the fourth in the
world after those of the US, Russia and Europe to undertake a successful Mars mission.
A 56-hour countdown to the launch began on Sunday.
Vid on link.....http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24729073
What ordinary Indians think of the country's mission to Mars
Some observers are viewing the launch of the MOM, also known by the informal name
of Mangalyaan (Mars-craft), as the latest salvo in a burgeoning space race between the
Asian powers of India, China, Japan, South Korea and others.
Prof Andrew Coates, from the UK's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, told BBC News: "I
think this mission really brings India to the table of international space exploration.
Interplanetary exploration is certainly not trivial to do, and [India] has found some
interesting scientific niches to make some measurements in."
Those niche areas include searching for the signature of methane (CH4) in the Martian
atmosphere, which has previously been detected from Martian orbit and telescopes on
Earth. However, Nasa's Curiosity rover recently failed to find the gas in its
measurements of atmospheric gases.
CH4 has a short lifetime in the Martian atmosphere, meaning that some source on the
Red Planet must replenish it. Intriguingly, some 95% of atmospheric methane on Earth
is produced by microbes, which has led some to propose the possibility of a biosphere
deep beneath the Martian surface. But the gas can be produced by geological processes
too, most notably by volcanism.
Definitive conclusions are likely to be elusive, but the spacecraft's Methane Sensor for
Mars (MSM) instrument will aim to make measurements and map any potential sources
of methane "plumes".
The spacecraft will also examine the rate of loss of atmospheric gases to outer space.
This could provide insights into the planet's history; billions of years ago, the envelope
of gases around Mars is thought to have been more substantial.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70786000/jpg/_70786038_indian_mars_mission_624.jpg
graphic, BBC
At $72m (£45m), the mission is comparatively cheap, but some commentators have still
questioned whether a country with one of the highest rankings for childhood
malnutrition in the world should be spending millions on a mission to the Red Planet.
In one sense, India was left with reduced options because of the failure of its most
powerful launcher, the first choice to loft the MOM into orbit. That left the country's
space agency without a means to fire the satellite directly out of Earth's atmosphere.
As a fuel-saving alternative, the spacecraft will circle Earth in an elliptical orbit for
nearly a month, building up the necessary velocity to break free from our planet's
gravitational pull.
The formal name for the route MOM will take to Mars is a "Hohmann Transfer Orbit".
The spacecraft takes advantage of a favourable planetary alignment, carrying out six
small engine burns over November to lift it to a higher orbit before a final burn sends it
off on an interplanetary trajectory.
But in order for the MOM to embark on the right trajectory for its 300-day, 780-million
km journey, it must launch by 19 November and carry out its final orbital burn by 30
November.
The difficulty of visiting the Red Planet will not be lost on Indian officials; just under half
the total attempts to reach Mars have failed. But Prof Coates said the planned
mechanics for getting to Mars were on a sound footing, and that the probe stood a good
chance as long as its engines fired correctly.
Continue reading the main story
Mars mission history
Mars
The USSR, Russia, US, Britain, Europe, Japan and China have all launched missions to Mars
There have been around 40 missions (but the total depends on how they are added up)
More than half the world's attempts to reach the Red Planet have failed
Only the US, USSR and Europe have been successful to date
Those who defend India's current direction in space exploration say the technological
development required to mount this mission could indirectly benefit the country's other
activities, including poverty reduction.
Nisha Agrawal, chief executive of Oxfam in India, told the BBC: "India is home to poor
people but it's also an emerging economy, it's a middle-income country, it's a member
of the G20. What is hard for people to get their head around is that we are home to
poverty but also a global power.
"We are not really one country but two in one. And we need to do both things:
contribute to global knowledge as well as take care of poor people at home."
K Radhakrishnan, chair of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), told the BBC's
India Business Report: "Why India has to be in the space programme is a question that
has been asked over the last 50 years. The answer then, now and in the future will
be: 'It is for finding solutions to the problems of man and society.'
He added: "A great revolution has taken place over these last 50 years in the country
by a meagre expenditure that has been put into the space programme."
Mr Radhakrishnan played down talk of a race between China and India in space,
commenting: "We are not in a race with anybody, but I would say we are in a race with
ourselves. We need to excel, we need to improve, and we need to bring new services."
But a successful launch would allow India to surge ahead of regional rival China, at least
in the exploration of Mars. China's Yinghuo-1 spacecraft was to have reached Martian
orbit in late 2012. But it was piggybacked on the Russian Phobos Grunt spacecraft,
which became stranded in low-Earth orbit shortly after launch in November 2011.
The MOM was to have been launched as early as 28 October, but rough weather in the
Pacific forced officials to delay the launch.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24729073