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Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), unofficially known as ''Mangalyaan'' (
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
: 'Mars', 'Craft, Vehicle'), is a
space probe Uncrewed spacecraft or robotic spacecraft are spacecraft without people on board. Uncrewed spacecraft may have varying levels of autonomy from human input, such as remote control, or remote guidance. They may also be autonomous, in which th ...
orbiting
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the
Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national List of government space agencies, space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), ...
(ISRO). It was India's first interplanetary mission and it made ISRO the fourth space agency to achieve Mars orbit, after
Soviet space program The Soviet space program () was the state space program of the Soviet Union, active from 1951 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Contrary to its competitors (NASA in the United States, the European Space Agency in Western Euro ...
,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
, and the
European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...
. It made
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit, first national space agency In the world to do so with an indigenously developed propulsion system and the second national space agency in the world to do so on its maiden attempt after the
European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...
did aboard a
Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...
Soyuz/Fregat rocket in 2003. The Mars Orbiter Mission probe lifted off from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre ( Sriharikota Range SHAR),
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
, using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket C25 at 09:08 ( UTC) 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 apogee-raising
orbital maneuver In spaceflight, an orbital maneuver (otherwise known as a burn) is the use of propulsion systems to change the orbit of a spacecraft. For spacecraft far from Earth, an orbital maneuver is called a ''deep-space maneuver (DSM)''. When a spacec ...
before trans-Mars injection on 30 November 2013 ( UTC). After a 298-day transit to Mars, it was put into Mars orbit on 24 September 2014. The mission was a
technology demonstrator A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of sho ...
project to develop the technologies for designing, planning, management, and operations of an interplanetary mission. It carried five scientific instruments. The spacecraft was monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in
Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
with support from the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at
Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
,
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
. On 2 October 2022, it was reported that the orbiter had irrecoverably lost communications with
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
after entering a seven-hour eclipse period in April 2022 that it was not designed to survive. The following day, ISRO released a statement that all attempts to revive MOM had failed and officially declared it dead. The loss of fuel preventing the attitude adjustment of the spacecraft required to sustain battery power to the probe's instruments had been discussed at an ISRO conference on September 27 commemorating the spacecraft's eight-year anniversary of insertion into Mars orbit.


History

In November 2008, the first public acknowledgement of an uncrewed mission to Mars was announced by then-ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair. The MOM mission concept began with a feasibility study in 2010 by the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology after the launch of lunar satellite Chandrayaan-1 in 2008. Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...
approved the project on 3 August 2012, after the
Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national List of government space agencies, space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), ...
completed of required studies for the orbiter. The total project cost may be up to . The satellite costs 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 planned the launch on 28 October 2013 but was postponed to 5 November 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 In astronautics, the Hohmann transfer orbit () is an orbital maneuver used to transfer a spacecraft between two orbits of different altitudes around a central body. For example, a Hohmann transfer could be used to raise a satellite's orbit fro ...
occur every 26 months, in this case the next two would be in 2016 and 2018. Assembly of the PSLV-XL launch vehicle, designated C25, started on 5 August 2013. The mounting of the five scientific instruments was completed at Indian Space Research Organisation Satellite Centre,
Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
, 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, partly due to using reconfigured Chandrayaan-2 orbiter bus. Despite the US federal government shutdown, NASA reaffirmed on 5 October 2013 it would provide communications and navigation support to the mission "with their
Deep Space Network The NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) is a worldwide Telecommunications network, network of spacecraft communication ground segment facilities, located in the United States (California), Spain (Madrid), and Australia (Canberra), that supports NASA' ...
facilities.". During a meeting on 30 September 2014, NASA and ISRO officials signed an agreement to establish a pathway for future joint missions to explore Mars. One of the working group's objectives will be to explore potential coordinated observations and science analysis between the MAVEN orbiter and MOM, as well as other current and future Mars missions. On 2 October 2022, it was reported that the orbiter had irrecoverably lost communications with Earth after entering long eclipse period in April 2022 that it was not designed to survive. At the time of communications loss it was unknown whether the probe had lost power or inadvertently realigned its Earth-facing antenna during automatic maneuvers.


Team

Some of the scientists of ISRO and engineers involved in the mission include: * K. Radhakrishnan led as Chairman ISRO. * Mylswamy Annadurai was the Programme Director and was in charge of the overall project, budget management as well as direction for spacecraft configuration, schedule and resources. *V Kesava Raju was the Mars Orbiter Mission Director. * Subbiah Arunan was the Project Director at the Mars Orbiter Mission. *BS Kiran was the Associate Project Director of Flight Dynamics. *V Koteswara Rao was the ISRO scientific secretary. *Chandradathan was the Director of the Liquid Propulsion System. *R.Satish was the Deputy Project Director of Spacecraft Mechanical Systems. *K.Suresh was the Deputy Project Director of Spacecraft Electrical Systems * Moumita Dutta was the Project manager of the Mars Orbiter Mission. * Nandini Harinath was the Deputy Operations Director of Navigation. * Ritu Karidhal was the Deputy Operations Director of Navigation. *B Jayakumar was an Associate Project Director at the PSLV programme which was responsible for testing the rocket systems. *S Ramakrishnan was the Director who helped in the development of the liquid propulsion system of the PSLV launcher. * P. Kunhikrishnan was the Project Director in the PSLV programme. He was also a Mission director of the PSLV-C25/Mars Orbiter Mission. * A. S. Kiran Kumar was the Director of the Satellite Application Centre, who later went on to be the Chairman ISRO after this, when the team studied the Mard * M. Y. S. Prasad is the Director at Satish Dhawan Space Centre. He was also the chairman of the Launch Authorisation Board. *MS Pannirselvam was the Chief General Manager at the Sriharikota Rocket port and was tasked to maintain launch schedules. * S. K. Shivakumar was the Director at the ISRO Satellite Centre. He was also a Project Director for the Indian Deep Space Network. Mars Orbiter Mission is the product of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC). He spearheaded the task of conceptualization, design and realization of the unique spacecraft MOM. He ingeniously planned to realize the spacecraft in a record time of 15 months.


Cost

The total cost of the mission was approximately 450
Crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...
(), making it the least-expensive Mars mission to date. The low cost of the mission was ascribed by ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan to various factors, including a "modular approach", few ground tests and long working days (18 to 20 hours) for scientists.
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's Jonathan Amos specified lower worker costs, home-grown technologies, simpler design, and a significantly less complicated payload than NASA's MAVEN. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
said that the mission cost just ₹7/km, cheaper than a ₹10/km auto ride in
Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...
and less than the film
Gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
.


Mission objectives

The primary objective of the mission is to develop the technologies required for designing, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission. The secondary objective is to explore Mars' surface features,
morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...
,
mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...
and Martian atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments. The main objectives are to develop the technologies required for designing, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission comprising the following major tasks: * Orbit manoeuvres to transfer the spacecraft from Earth-centred orbit to heliocentric trajectory and finally, capture into Martian orbit * Development of force models and algorithms for orbit and
attitude Attitude or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...
(orientation) computations and analysis * Navigation in all phases * Maintain the spacecraft in all phases of the mission * Meeting power, communications, thermal and payload operation requirements * Incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations


Scientific objectives

The scientific objectives deal with the following major aspects: *
Exploration of Mars The planet Mars has been explored remotely by spacecraft. Uncrewed spacecraft, Probes sent from Earth, beginning in the late 20th century, have yielded a large increase in knowledge about the Martian system, focused primarily on understanding G ...
surface features by studying the morphology, topography and mineralogy * Study the constituents of Martian atmosphere including
methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...
and using remote sensing techniques * Study the dynamics of the upper atmosphere of Mars, effects of
solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the Sun's outermost atmospheric layer, the Stellar corona, corona. This Plasma (physics), plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy betwee ...
and radiation and the escape of volatiles to outer space The mission would also provide multiple opportunities to observe the Martian moon Phobos and also offer an opportunity to identify and re-estimate the orbits of asteroids seen during the Martian Transfer Trajectory. The spacecraft also provided the first views ever of the far side of Martian Moon Deimos.


Studies

In May–June 2015 Indian scientists got an opportunity to study the Solar Corona during the Mars conjunction when earth and Mars are on the opposite sides of the sun. During this period the S band waves emitted by MOM were transmitted through the Solar Corona that extends millions of kms into space. This event helped scientists study the Solar surface and regions where temperature changed abruptly.


Spacecraft design

*Mass: The lift-off mass was , including 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 each ( total), for a maximum of 840 watts of power generation in Mars orbit. Electricity is stored in a 36 Ah
Lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energ ...
. *Propulsion: A liquid fuel engine with a thrust of is used for orbit raising and insertion into Mars orbit. The orbiter also has eight thrusters for attitude control (orientation). Its propellant mass at launch was . *Attitude and Orbit Control System: Maneuvering system that includes electronics with a MAR31750 processor, two star sensors, a solar panel Sun sensor, a coarse analog Sun sensor, four reaction wheels, and the primary propulsion system. *Antennae: Low gain antenna, mid gain antenna, and high gain antenna.


Scientific instruments

The scientific payload consists of five instruments:


Telemetry and command

The ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network performed navigation and tracking operations for the launch with ground stations at Sriharikota and
Port Blair Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...
in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
and Biak in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, and after the spacecraft's apogee became more than 100,000 km, an and a diameter antenna of the Indian Deep Space Network were utilised. The dish antenna was used for communication with the craft until April 2014, after which the larger antenna was used. NASA's Deep Space Network is providing position data through its three stations located in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
,
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
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.


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 A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain direction ...
. The high-gain antenna system is based on a single reflector illuminated by a feed at
S-band The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it crosses the convention ...
. It is used to transmit and receive the telemetry, tracking, commanding and data to and from the Indian Deep Space Network.


Mission profile


Launch

ISRO originally intended to launch MOM with its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), but the GSLV failed twice in 2010 and still had issues with its cryogenic engine. Waiting for the new batch of rockets would have delayed the MOM for at least three years, so ISRO opted to switch to the less-powerful Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Since it was not powerful enough to place MOM on a direct-to-Mars trajectory, the spacecraft was launched into a highly elliptical Earth orbit and used its own thrusters over multiple perigee burns (to take advantage of the
Oberth effect In astronautics, a powered flyby, or Oberth maneuver, is a maneuver in which a spacecraft falls into a gravitational well and then uses its engines to further accelerate as it is falling, thereby achieving additional speed. The resulting maneuve ...
) to place itself on a trans-Mars trajectory. On 19 October 2013, ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan announced that the launch had to be postponed by a week for 5 November 2013 due to a delay of a crucial telemetry ship reaching
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
. The launch was rescheduled. ISRO's PSLV-XL placed the satellite into Earth orbit at 09:50 UTC on 5 November 2013, with a perigee of , an apogee of , 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 and it carried of fuel at launch. Its main engine, a derivative of the system used on India's communications satellites, uses the bipropellant combination monomethylhydrazine and
dinitrogen tetroxide Dinitrogen tetroxide, commonly referred to as nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and occasionally (usually among ex-USSR/Russian rocket engineers) as amyl, is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium ...
to achieve the thrust necessary for
escape velocity In celestial mechanics, escape velocity or escape speed is the minimum speed needed for an object to escape from contact with or orbit of a primary body, assuming: * Ballistic trajectory – no other forces are acting on the object, such as ...
from Earth. It was also used to slow down the probe for Mars orbit insertion and, subsequently, for orbit corrections. Models used for MOM:


Orbit raising manoeuvres

Several orbit raising operations were conducted from the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Peenya, Bengaluru 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 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 Heliocentrism (also known as the heliocentric model) is a Superseded theories in science#Astronomy and cosmology, superseded astronomical model in which the Earth and Solar System, planets orbit around the Sun at the center of the universe. His ...
orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...
for its transit to Mars. The first orbit-raising manoeuvre was performed on 6 November 2013 at 19:47 UTC when the spacecraft's
liquid Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...
engine was fired for 416 seconds. With this engine firing, the spacecraft's apogee was raised to , with a
perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...
of . 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 . 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 . The fourth orbit raising manoeuvre, starting at 20:36 UTC on 10 November 2013, imparted a
delta-v Delta-''v'' (also known as "change in velocity"), symbolized as and pronounced , as used in spacecraft flight dynamics, is a measure of the impulse per unit of spacecraft mass that is needed to perform a maneuver such as launching from or l ...
of to the spacecraft instead of the planned as a result of underburn by the motor. Because of this, the apogee was boosted to instead of the planned . 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 , a slightly higher altitude than originally intended in the fourth manoeuvre. The apogee was raised to on 15 November 2013, 19:57 UTC in the final orbit raising manoeuvre.


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 orbit A heliocentric orbit (also called circumsolar orbit) is an orbit around the barycenter of the Solar System, which is usually located within or very near the surface of the Sun. All planets, comets, and asteroids in the Solar System, and the Sun ...
toward Mars. The probe travelled a distance of to reach Mars.


Trajectory correction maneuvers

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 at 01:00 UTC by firing the thrusters for a duration of 40.5 seconds. After this event, MOM was 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 11:00 UTC by firing the spacecraft's 22 newton thrusters for 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 an insertion into Mars orbit on 24 September 2014, approximately 2 days after the arrival of NASA's MAVEN orbiter. The 440-newton liquid apogee motor was test fired on 22 September at 09:00 UTC for 3.968 seconds, about 41 hours before actual orbit insertion. After these events, the spacecraft performed a reverse manoeuvre to reorient from its deceleration burn and entered Martian orbit.


Gallery


Mars global and local views

File:Mars - Adjusted Coloring (15378443806).jpg File:Mars - January 22 2016 (49196476083).jpg File:Kasei Valles - Mars - January 12 2018 (49200525722).jpg, Kasei Valles File:Mars - Valles Marineris - December 5 2014 (23606822658).jpg,
Valles Marineris Valles Marineris (; Latin for ''Mariner program, Mariner Valleys'', named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971–72 which discovered it) is a system of canyons that runs along the Mars, Martian surface east of the Tharsis region. At more than ...
File:Mars - October 5 2017 (49194954658).jpg File:Mars - October 08 2017 (49195527107).jpg File:Valles Marineris - Mars - July 19 2015 (49204861137).jpg,
Valles Marineris Valles Marineris (; Latin for ''Mariner program, Mariner Valleys'', named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971–72 which discovered it) is a system of canyons that runs along the Mars, Martian surface east of the Tharsis region. At more than ...
File:Olympus Mons - Mars - April 11 2016 (49204976516).jpg,
Olympus Mons Olympus Mons (; ) is a large shield volcano on Mars. It is over high as measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), about 2.5 times the elevation of Mount Everest above sea level. It is Mars's tallest volcano, its tallest planetary mou ...
File:Syrtis Major - Mars Orbiter Mission (29512601624).png, Syrtis Major Planum


Results


Observation of suprathermal argon in exosphere

The Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) reported altitude profiles of argon-40 in the Martian
exosphere The exosphere is a thin, atmosphere-like volume surrounding a planet or natural satellite where molecules are gravitationally bound to that body, but where the density is so low that the molecules are essentially collision-less. In the case of ...
from four orbits during December 2014 when the
periapsis An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...
of the spacecraft was lowest. The upperlimit of the argon number density corresponding to this period is almost 5 x 105/cm3 at an altitude of 250 km and the typical scale height is around 16 km corresponding to an exospheric temperature of around 275 K. However, on two orbits, the scale height over this altitude region is found to increase significantly making the effective temperature greater than 400 K. The observations of Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) onboard the MAVEN also indicate that the change in slope in argon density occurs near the upper exosphere of around 230–260 km. These observations indicate significant suprathermal populations of
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...
and argon in the Martian exosphere.


Global apparent short wave infrared albedo mapping

Global apparent short wave infrared (SWIR)
albedo Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...
mapping of Mars was executed based on data acquired from the Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) payload. The instrument is a differential radiometer in SWIR region of spectrum that measures reflected solar radiance in two SWIR (1.64 to 1.66 μm) channels. The first one is a methane channel which measures the absorption by methane and second one is a no absorption channel (reference channel). The reference channel data acquired from October 2014 to February 2015 was used for apparent SWIR albedo mapping. Data less than one degree of the limb of the planet was discarded to avoid atmospheric limb brightening and to ensure that the field of view was entirely on the planet. Data with incidence and zolar zenith angle greater than 60° was also discarded to reduce atmospheric effects. The bright regions having an albedo greater than 0.4 are mainly localised over the Tharsis plateau, Arabia Terra, and Elysium Planitia and generally represent surface covered by dust while the low albedo of less than 0.15 are mainly localised over Syrtis Major Planum, Daedalia Planum,
Valles Marineris Valles Marineris (; Latin for ''Mariner program, Mariner Valleys'', named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971–72 which discovered it) is a system of canyons that runs along the Mars, Martian surface east of the Tharsis region. At more than ...
and Acidalia Planitia. The low albedo is associated with dark surfaces having volcanic rock basalt as surface expostures. Weekly mean apparent albedo data over Syrtis Major Planum was recorded in a period of solar longitudes 205 to 282 (October 2014) during which dust activities are significant. A surge in mean albedo from the usual 0.2 to an erratically higher near 0.4 was recorded on solar longitude 225 which was possibly due to the local injection of dust into atmosphere. This matches with a similar albedo spike in the region during solar longitude of 280–290 recorded by
Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
IRTM.


Neutral composition of evening time exosphere

The Mars Exosphere Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) during 18–29 December 2014 provided altitude profiles of three major constituents;
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...
(amu 44), nitrogen molecule &
carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...
(amu 28) and atomic oxygen (amu 16) in the Martian exosphere. This measurents were taken from four orbits which were closest to Mars with a
periapsis An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...
which varied from 262–265 km during the evening time or close to sunset terminator hours to attain moderate solar activity conditions. During evening hours the carbon dioxide density changes from 3.5 × 107 cm to 1.5 × 105/cm3 for an altitude change of 100 km in the exosphere. The number density of amu 28 is comparable to that of carbon dioxide (amu 44) at lower altitudes and exceeds above 275 km. The factor becomes almost 10 at 375 km. The atomic oxygen number density exceeds that of carbon dioxide above 270 km. At 335 km, this difference becomes a factor of 10, above which atomic oxygen far exceeds the abundance of carbon dioxide. The transition from carbon dioxide to atomic oxygen dominant exosphere is an important indicator of the solar EUV forcing. The mean exospheric temperature derived using the scale height values estimated from the observed
partial pressure In a mixture of gases, each constituent gas has a partial pressure which is the notional pressure of that constituent gas as if it alone occupied the entire volume of the original mixture at the same temperature. The total pressure of an ideal g ...
variation in the three mass channels is 271 ± 5 K. These first observations corresponding to the Martian evening hours is expected to provide constraints data to the thermal escape models.


Radio occultation experiment on solar corona

Radio occulation experiments were performed using
S-band The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it crosses the convention ...
downlink signals from the spacecraft during the May–June 2015 (post-maxima of solar cycle 24) period when the Sun was between Earth and Mars along a line in the same elliptical plane. The downlink signals from the spacecraft of frequency 2.29 GHz passed through the solar coronal region at solar offset distances between 4–20
solar radius Solar radius is a unit of distance used to express the size of objects in astronomy relative to the Sun. The solar radius is usually defined as the radius to the layer in the Sun's photosphere where the optical depth equals 2/3: 1\,R_ = 6.957 ...
. The experiment was conducted in a closed-loop one-way format at a sampling frequency of one hertz and the occultation geometry was such that the proximate ray path from the spacecraft to Earth covered a range of 5−39 degree heliolaltitudes. From observations with radio signals from the spacecraft, it is found that the turbulence power spectrum at larger heliocentric distances greater than 10 (18.17 on 28 May), the curve steepens with a spectral index of around 0.6−0.8. For smaller heliocentric distances of less than 10 (5.33 on 10 June), it displays flattening in lower-frequency regions with a spectral index of around 0.2−0.4, which corresponds to a
solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the Sun's outermost atmospheric layer, the Stellar corona, corona. This Plasma (physics), plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy betwee ...
acceleration region. A complimentary observation is that the higher-heliolatitude spectra appear to be flatter than lower-heliolatitude spectra.


Atmospheric optical depth in the Valles Marineris

Stereo images of
Valles Marineris Valles Marineris (; Latin for ''Mariner program, Mariner Valleys'', named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971–72 which discovered it) is a system of canyons that runs along the Mars, Martian surface east of the Tharsis region. At more than ...
acquired by Mars Colour Camera (MCC) payload along with the co-registered MOLA Digital Elevation Map (DEM) were used to calculate atmospheric
optical depth In physics, optical depth or optical thickness is the natural logarithm of the ratio of incident to ''transmitted'' radiant power through a material. Thus, the larger the optical depth, the smaller the amount of transmitted radiant power throu ...
(AOD) over northern and southern walls of Valles Marineris. On northern wall ranging from 62°W to 68°W, the red channel of MCC measured an AOD of 1.7 near the bottom of the valley and decreases monotonically to about 1.0 near the top, while the green channel measures an AOD of around 2.1 and similarly decreases monotonically with increasing altitude. Both measurements shows a clear relation that can be well fitted with an exponential curve. The calculated scale height of AOD equals to 14.08 km and 11.24 km for red and green channels respectively. The red channel AOD measurement on the southern wall of Valles Marineris ranging from 62°W to 68°W remains nearly steady from 1.75 in the bottom of the valley to 1.85 near to the top and does not show a monotonic decline of AOD with altitude. From the AOD map overlaid on MCC image draped on MOLA DEM, it is clear that there is a mountain-like structure along the southern walls of the valley, which is expected to cause the creation of banner clouds in the lee side of the mountain or lee wave clouds. The AOD variation with altitude along the southern wall between the longitudes 57°W to 62°W where mountain structures are not present shows a normal monotonic decrease. This further supports the existence of lee wave clouds on the southern wall of Valles Marineris around 65°W.


Status

The orbit insertion put MOM in a highly elliptical orbit around Mars, as planned, with a period of 72 hours 51 minutes 51 seconds, a
periapsis An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...
of and
apoapsis An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...
of . At the end of the orbit insertion, MOM was left with of fuel on board, more than the necessary for a six-month mission. On 28 September 2014, MOM controllers published the spacecraft's first global view of Mars. The image was captured by the Mars Colour Camera (MCC). On 7 October 2014, the ISRO altered MOM's orbit so as to move it behind Mars for comet Siding Spring's flyby of the planet on 19 October 2014. The spacecraft consumed of fuel for the manoeuvre. As a result, MOM's apoapsis was reduced to . After the comet passed by Mars, ISRO reported that MOM remained healthy. On 4 March 2015, the ISRO reported that the MSM instrument was functioning normally and are studying Mars'
albedo Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...
, the reflectivity of the planet's surface. The Mars Colour Camera was also returning new images of the Martian surface. On 24 March 2015, MOM completed its initial six-month mission in orbit around Mars. ISRO extended the mission by an additional six months; the spacecraft has of propellant remaining and all five of its scientific instruments are working properly. The orbiter can reportedly continue orbiting Mars for several years with its remaining propellant. A 17-day communications blackout occurred from 6 to 22 June 2015 while Mars' orbit took it behind the Sun from Earth's view. On 24 September 2015, ISRO released its ''Mars Atlas'', a 120-page scientific
atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...
containing images and data from the Mars Orbiter Mission's first year in orbit. In March 2016, the first science results of the mission were published in ''
Geophysical Research Letters ''Geophysical Research Letters'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal of geoscience published by the American Geophysical Union that was established in 1974. The editor-in-chief iKristopher Karnauskas Aims and scope The journal aims for ...
'', presenting measurements obtained by the spacecraft's MENCA instrument of the Martian exosphere. During 18 to 30 May 2016, a communication whiteout occurred with Earth coming directly between Sun and Mars. Due to high solar radiation, sending commands to spacecraft was avoided and payload operations were suspended. On 17 January 2017, MOM's orbit was altered to avoid the impending eclipse season. With a burn of eight 22 N thrusters for 431 seconds, resulting in a velocity difference of using of propellant (leaving 13 kg remaining), eclipses were avoided until September 2017. The battery is able to handle eclipses of up to 100 minutes. On 19 May 2017, MOM reached 1,000 days (973 sols) in orbit around Mars. In that time, the spacecraft completed 388 orbits of the planet and relayed more than 715 images back to Earth. ISRO officials stated that it remains in good health. On 24 September 2018, MOM completed 4 years in its orbit around Mars, although the designed mission life was only six months. Over these years, MOM's Mars Colour Camera has captured over 980 images that were released to the public. The probe is still in good health and continues to work nominally. On 24 September 2019, MOM completed 5 years in orbit around Mars, sending 2 terabytes of imaging data, and had enough propellant to complete another year in orbit. On 1 July 2020, MOM was able to capture a photo of the Mars satellite Phobos from 4200 km away. On 18 July 2021 Mars Colour Camera (MCC) captured full disc image of Mars from an altitude of about 75,000 km with spatial resolution about 3.7 km. In October 2022, ISRO announced that it had lost communications with MOM in April 2022, a time when the spacecraft faced increasingly longer duration eclipses, including a seven-hour long eclipse that it was not designed to withstand. ISRO said the spacecraft had likely run out of attitude control propellant and was therefore not recoverable.


Recognition

In 2014, China referred to India's successful Mars Orbiter Mission as the "Pride of Asia". The Mars Orbiter Mission team won US-based National Space Society's 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the science and engineering category. NSS said the award was given as the Indian agency successfully executed a Mars mission in its first attempt; and the spacecraft is in an elliptical orbit with a high apoapsis where, with its high resolution camera, it is taking full-disk colour imagery of Mars. Very few full disk images have ever been taken in the past, mostly on approach to the planet, as most imaging is done looking straight down in mapping mode. These images will aid planetary scientists. An illustration of the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft is featured on the reverse of the currency note of India. An image taken by the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft was the cover photo of the November 2016 issue of ''
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
'' magazine, for their story "Mars: Race to the Red Planet".


Follow-up mission

ISRO plans to develop and launch a follow-up mission called Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (MOM-2 or ''Mangalyaan-2'') with a greater scientific payload to Mars in 2024. The orbiter will use aerobraking to reduce
apoapsis An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...
of its initial orbit and reach an altitude more suitable for scientific observation.


In popular culture

* The 2019 Hindi film '' Mission Mangal'' is loosely based on India's mission to Mars. *A web series called '' Mission Over Mars'' is loosely based on India's Mars mission. * ''Space MOMs,'' released online in 2019, is based on India's Mars mission. * ''Mission Mars: Keep Walking India'' is a short film released in 2018 based on India's Mars mission.


See also

* * * Venus Orbiter Mission *
List of ISRO missions This is a list of ISRO, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) missions. ISRO has carried out 125 spacecraft missions, 92 launch missions and planned several missions including the Gaganyaan (crewed/robotic) and Interplanetary mission such as ...
* List of Mars orbiters *
List of missions to Mars This is a list of spacecraft missions (including unsuccessful ones) to the planet Mars, such as orbiters, landers, and rovers. Missions ;Mission Type Legend: Landing locations In 1999, Mars Climate Orbiter accidentally entered Mars ...
*


References


External links


Mars Orbiter Mission website

Mars Orbiter Mission brochure

Current Science Vol. 109, Issue 6: Special Section on Mars Orbiter Mission with featured papers
(25 September 2015) {{Portal bar, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, India ISRO space probes Missions to Mars Space probes launched in 2013 November 2013 in India Satellites orbiting Mars Geography of Mars Spacecraft launched by PSLV rockets Spacecraft decommissioned in 2022