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Mangalyaan, India’s First Mars Mission
- ananth99 13y agoThank you for sharing. :)
- hislaziness 13y agoWhy ISROs Mars Mission is cheapest? http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-10-31/news/43561612_1_moon-mission-chandrayaan-i-isro http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-10-31/news...
- jayadevan 13y agoMuch of the designs & research is "adapted". Hence, cheaper?
- zengr 13y ago$679 million (by NASA) vs $69 million (ISRO) doesn't justify that. This has been proven over and over again by Spacex: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2011/09/28/nasa-figures-show-that-commercial-spaceflight-costs-half-as-much-as-government-run-effort-would/ http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2011/09/28/... US govt. throws money at it.
- ramgorur 13y agono I think we should think of that good old "the NASA space pen" vs. "the russian pencil" analogy.
- hittaruki 13y agoyou did mean that sarcastically right? If not you might want to read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Pen#Uses_in_the_U.S._and_Russian_space_programs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Pen#Uses_in_the_U.S._and_...
- mturmon 13y agoI think there have been a lot of lessons learned and tech transfer from earlier lunar and Mars missions. Chandrayaan-1 involved a lot of experts from NASA and ESA, for example, because both agencies had instruments on board. (I'm acquainted with one of these payload specialists.) Some of the willingness to do that tech transfer is basically boosting India as a counterweight to China's space ambitions. Also, remember that Chandrayaan-1 failed early. It's a steep learning curve.
- lettergram 13y agoSimilar to SpaceX and most other space programs, they take from the research and technology developed previously to implement their own version. For example, NASA developed different forms/methods of long distance communications which allow the spacecraft to communicate with the ground. That 63 million for development of the ISROs Mars Mission takes advantage of that. Saving cost. Further, because some to many of the parts have been produced for decades and NASA retired their rockets, there are parts "on the cheap."
- niyazpk 13y agoThe website seems to be a bit slow, probably because of some traffic spike? JD, I see that you are using wordpress. If you haven't already installed any caching plugin, please do: http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Optimization/Caching http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Optimization/Caching
- gopalv 13y agotambrahmrage (well, India's oatmeal) covers mangalyaan http://tambrahmrage.tumblr.com/post/66074106804/mangalyaan http://tambrahmrage.tumblr.com/post/66074106804/mangalyaan
- ing33k 13y agomade my day
- salilpa 13y agoIndia is making baby but firm steps in space exploration. wishing that ISRO has a success with this mission.
- jayadevan 13y agoOne would imagine that scientists believe less in rituals. ISRO scientists pray at the Thirupathi temple before every mission.
- salilpa 13y agonot just isro scientists. even when our aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was launched, we had an elaborate pooja
- swatkat 13y agoYes, that's the tradition :) Former Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair on Monday said, “This has been a tradition. I had also gone to Tirupati before the Chandrayaan mission.” But more than religious beliefs, he said these temple visits helped des-stress the mind and offer clarity. But beyond this, do superstitions and other beliefs have a hold on the scientists? “Not really,” said Mylswamy Annadurai, the project director of moon missions Chandrayaan 1 and Chandrayaan 2. “I read a page of Bhagawad Gita daily and will do so on Tuesday.” He added, “But yes I have just got a jar of peanuts and a good luck card from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Nasa. This is a very nice gesture. I will distribute these peanuts in my office on Tuesday morning.” Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) consider circulation of peanuts auspicious. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/science/ahead-of-mars-mission-temple-run-goes-hand-in-hand-with-rocket-science/article1-1147077.aspx http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/science/ahead-of-mar...
- swatkat 13y agoHere's a nice FAQ by Emily Lakdawalla of The Planetary Society: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/10311230-india-prepares-to-take-flight-faq.html http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/1031123...
- yogrish 13y agoThanks JD. Good coverage on Mangalyan. For many Indians who are criticizing this Mission saying that the money would be better spent on toilets or teachers, this is an eye opener: Why Explore space http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/why-explore-space-a-1970-letter-to-a-nun-in-africa/ http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/why-explore-space-a...
- terranstyler 13y agoI suppose the mass of 1337 kg increases the PR effect of the tax payer funded show?
- terranstyler 13y agoThe rupee is in semi-free fall, the economy is tanking; yet there is a bunch of downvotes if I point out that Mars missions are paid by the tax payer and add nothing to the quality of life of an Indian. Except maybe for the patriots that are unable to distinguish between government and people. Stupid money spending is nothing to be proud of.
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- pavs 13y agoEvery time India space programs discussion comes out a group of people will bring up India's poverty and other problem that should be fixed instead of investing on space program. I used to be one of those guys (I am from Bangladesh), then I looked at the actual cost of this space program and realized that its not a lot of money (~$70 Million) even by India's standard. For example, in india's domestic cricket tournament (IPL) one of their franchise was sold for $370 million. I also don't buy the wholesale "you shouldn't do x, unless y is achieved/fixed" argument. It might apply to some instances, for example india defense budget is about $46 billion, a big portion of it could have been certainly spent to alleviate the living condition of poor Indians in general. But most of the problem in India and other south-east asian countries are corruption and inefficiencies, not (always) lack of funds.
- pjmlp 13y agoStill, it would make a difference in those people lives, even fighting corruption. Corruption often comes hand-in-hand with poverty. Speaking from experience as someone that has already traveled quite a bit around the world.
- bolder88 13y agoOne of the bigger questions is international aid. "Since 2007 India has been the world's largest recipient of recorded remittances from abroad. In 2010 these inflows were worth $54bn (£35bn). UK foreign direct investment in India is considerable, reaching £1.8bn in the same year." You can't really on the one hand claim your country is terribly poor, and needs handouts from other nations, and on the other play at being spacemen. Thankfully the UK will stop sending foreign aid to India in 2015.
- gadders 13y agoIt reminds me of the people on state benefits that think a good use of their money is a 52" plasma tv. On the other hand, I think the stopping of state aid to a country should be celebrated as a positive thing - a "graduation", if you like.
- InclinedPlane 13y ago
- shared4you 13y agoYou can follow the live telecast of the launch: http://isro.org/scripts/livewebcast-mars-orbiter.aspx http://isro.org/scripts/livewebcast-mars-orbiter.aspx http://isro.org/scripts/livewebcast-marsorbiter.aspx http://isro.org/scripts/livewebcast-marsorbiter.aspx http://webcast.gov.in/live/ http://webcast.gov.in/live/ Text-only updates: http://www.isro.org/pslv-c25/c25-status.aspx http://www.isro.org/pslv-c25/c25-status.aspx
- swatkat 13y agoISRO stream is up: http://216.185.104.74/isro http://216.185.104.74/isro (needs Windows Media Player).
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- kamaal 13y agoThose people claiming ISRO does it at a shoe string budget, because they reuse yes they do. But we are talking of a factor of more 10 here. Let me put facts on ground. Go and visit any ISRO campus in India. See the kind of offices they work in, they kind of food canteens they eat lunch at, they kind of buses they travel in and take a look at how much they are paid. I assure you will be shocked. In fact shocked will be a mild statement to make. These people work on ordinary steel tables, with fans over their heads. Eat the 15 rupee rice-curry meal and travel in 20 year old buses. Well forget all that. Take a look at pictures of ISRO available over the internet, they look like to be taken in some one's garage than a space research organization. Your average MacOS/iOS app development start up has better working conditions and infrastructure than any ISRO office in India. I'm not talking just about the work place infrastructure. Even the working gear, stuff like computers etc. For the salaries and the net compensation ISRO offers no ambitious well qualified youth in India would be willing to work there- I'm even surprised they have even gotten this far. Note, you are comparing a salary for something like 20K per month with a salary of something like 100K a month Google offers. You get peanuts for building the most important pieces of technology in the history of mankind, compared to building websites for sharing cat pictures. This is working on shoe string budgets to its very extreme. I hope these people get better funding in the future. And yeah for those people too worked up about spending some 100th decimal rounding error of India's budget on a mars project. That is doing far more benefit to India's reputation, than a yet-another-scam-infested scheme.
- skrish 13y agoI used to stay in a paying guest accomodation during my first job. My roommate was a guy who had just joined ISRO - we graduated same year but from different colleges. And I also had a chance to interact closely with 2 other friends who were working with ISRO at that time (one was a senior in college). His payscale started at Rs.8000 per month (in 2001 that was less than $200usd). He was a production engineer. He would be up for next revision of payscale & promotion pending a review in 4 years! He knew that. I used to wonder what keeps them motivated and I used to constantly question them. One common thread you find based on these conversations is that they are extremely satisfied with work - each of them used to say that what they are working on is UNIQUE that nobody else in ISRO is responsible for. And buck stops with them. They knew that. That sense of ownership and the way the employees connect to a much larger cause is something unbelievable at ISRO, in my perspective. I used to be in awe of every conversation about his superiors, the work and their perspective of the organization in general. I think it is an interesting case study in organizational behavior and what keeps you motivated with factors other than just money. Teaching is another profession I think requires similar mindset. ISRO somehow hires the right kind of people, the employees within the organization are not so flamboyant setting examples for new hires and helps them connect in a way it makes people see contribution to a bigger cause. Just my observation from what I have seen from close quarters. BTW, it is also given that he knew they get pension after retirement, medical benefits & all such taken care of for his entire life because he is part of the organization. Would love to read if there are any case studies on this.
- paraschopra 13y agoHere's live webcast from Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DcSDOkDvyQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DcSDOkDvyQ
- _anshulk 13y agoLive youtube broadcast here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DcSDOkDvyQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DcSDOkDvyQ
- ved_a 13y agoFaster streaming at - http://spaceflightnow.com/pslv/c25/status.html http://spaceflightnow.com/pslv/c25/status.html
- swatkat 13y agoT+150 secs. PSLV Stage-1 separated. PS-2 lit. T+260 secs. PS-2 separated. PS-3 lit. PS-3 burn out. PSLV enters a long coasting of 28 minutes, after which 4th stage will be triggered. T + 32 minutes. Coasting almost done. Stage 4 ignition in few moments. Altitude is a bit higher due to over-performance. PS-4 started. 4th stage performance normal. Yay!! T+44 minutes. PS-4 cutoff. Spacecraft separation success :) Spacecraft successfully placed in elliptical orbit around Earth. 300 day long journey begins now. http://i.imgur.com/NX9MNsF.jpg http://i.imgur.com/NX9MNsF.jpg
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- knightsamar 13y agoIf you cannot get the DD and ISRO sites, you can catch the live stream at http://www.livestream.com/spaceflightnow http://www.livestream.com/spaceflightnow
- Continuous 13y agoI watched the lift off Good launch and good start. All 3 stages complete. It's in space in a matter of seconds. Need another 45 mins to declare launch success and 10 months to reach mars!
- anupshinde 13y agoJust had a thought - Outsourcing Space Exploration - makes sense?
- swatkat 13y agoThis is already being done at various levels. Rocket motors, parts, satellites etc are built by various private companies all over the world. Many space agencies provide launch and telemetry services. And, now we've exciting new space-companies like SpaceX, VirginGalactic, Icarus Interstellar etc. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Spaceflight_Federation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Spaceflight_Federati... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_spaceflight http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_spaceflight http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Space_non-governmental_organizations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Space_non-governmental... By the way, ISRO has Antrix: http://www.antrix.gov.in/ http://www.antrix.gov.in/
- mebesilly 13y agoISRO's commercial arm has put 28 satellites in space for foreign countries, including TECAR, a military satellite for Israel. http://www.antrix.gov.in/is_launched.html http://www.antrix.gov.in/is_launched.html http://www.antrix.gov.in/launch_services.html http://www.antrix.gov.in/launch_services.html They also sell complete satellites to those who want to use other launch firms. http://www.antrix.gov.in/geostationary.html http://www.antrix.gov.in/geostationary.html In addition, if you want to build your own satellite, you can buy space subsystems from ISRO. http://www.antrix.gov.in/sss_systems.html http://www.antrix.gov.in/sss_systems.html If you need ground systems to track your space hardware, that can be obtained for a price too. http://www.antrix.gov.in/gsystems.html http://www.antrix.gov.in/gsystems.html The Mars mission is good advertising and will help to grow ISRO's space outsourcing business
- discardorama 13y agoEvery single time India does something in Space, the bigots come out from the woodwork: but India is so poor! Let them solve poverty/hunger/education/water/toilets/ice-cream first, and then worry about space. When JFK pledged to put a man on the moon in 1961, the US did not even have the Civil Rights Act[1]. Millions of blacks lived in poverty, and were denied basic rights. Schools were segregated. In large areas of the South, blacks were denied the right to vote. There were lynchings. People were being killed just for demanding the right to vote. And Vietnam War was picking up steam. And you know what? The US still said that getting a man on the moon amidst all this was a worthwhile goal. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964
- pavs 13y agoI don't think most of them are intentionally bigoted they are most likely poorly informed.
- UweSchmidt 13y agoCould you state your argument more precisely, please? The original argument would be "don't do Space, solve povery/hunger/education...". You point out that "poverty/hunger/education..." have improved despite Space. This does only partly contradict the original argument, since there are plenty of severe and urgent problems today, including some of those from the 1961. Additionally, can you explain the usage of the word "bigot"? Seems harsh.
- discardorama 13y ago> You point out that "poverty/hunger/education..." have improved despite Space. I did no such thing. I'm saying that you can't wait to solve all problems before you take on space exploration. They are not mutually exclusive. One can do space exploration while simultaneously working to alleviate poverty/hunger/illiteracy/etc. The example of the US in 1961 was meant to illustrate that: the US was fighting a war in Vietnam, a massive Civil Rights movement at home, and still managed to put a man on the moon.
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- swatkat 13y agoReport: India PSLV successfully launches MOM en route to Mars http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/11/india-mars-debut-pslv-mom/ http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/11/india-mars-debut-pslv...
- swatkat 13y agoHere's a nice step-by-step animation describing the launch, tracking, spacecraft separation, and solar panel and antenna deployment: http://isro.org/launchtosolarpanel.aspx http://isro.org/launchtosolarpanel.aspx
- svirinchi 13y agoWell done by ISRO scientists. PSLV was proven vehicle in ISRO's arsenal. They yet to prove on GSLV.
- wil421 13y agoI have met a lot of Brilliant people from India that have blow me away on their technical knowledge. What is stopping them from helping to fix the infrastructure problem that India has? A lot of educated people seem to be seeking a way out to another country. While most of the people in India are living in poverty and have no chance of a decent education. Forget Mars, for India the problems are too great at home.
- chetanahuja 13y agoUnfortunately the massive social problems of India (or any society for that matter) are not fixable by technology for the most part. For the part that are susceptible to a technological (and managerial) solution, there's plenty of interesting work going on.. e.g. http://www.infowars.com/cashless-society-india-implements-first-biometric-id-program-for-all-of-its-1-2-billion-residents/ http://www.infowars.com/cashless-society-india-implements-fi...
- wil421 13y agoWell by technical I mean the engineering fields also. I assume there are people in the less technology focuses engineering fields such as civil and mechanical engineering. But social problems are a different breed. It would be remarkable if India could do what China is doing infrastructure wise at least. My knowledge is limited and I am still an outsider looking in at both countries. Edit: The link you provided mentioned corruption as a big problem in India. Engineers cant solve that problem.
- dharmach 13y agoTechnological advancement is necessary for protecting India from international thugs (Please check the world history).
- wil421 13y agoYes but if they are all leaving India to make technological advancements elsewhere, then how is that protecting India from thugs?
- japaget 13y agoArticle on spaceflightnow.com: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/pslv/c25/131105launch/#.UnkG4OLi28E http://www.spaceflightnow.com/pslv/c25/131105launch/#.UnkG4O...
- known 13y agoAnd http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2480424/VISUAL-EDIT-India-little-better-Ethiopia.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-24804...
- praveer13 13y agoIndian government is already spending billions on poverty problem. Money spent on this mission is less than 1% of money spent on welfare. You can't stop everything else and just focus on poverty. Poor people are not the only ones living in India, there are educated people who need jobs too.