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Congratulations to ISRO. I was up all night following ISRO's updates :) Mission homepage: http://www.isro.org/mars/home.aspx http://www.isro.org/mars/home.aspx

by swatkat 13y ago

Congratulations to ISRO. I was up all night following ISRO's updates :) Mission homepage: http://www.isro.org/mars/home.aspx http://www.isro.org/mars/home.aspx Here are some pics from ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network) that was looking over the Trans Mars Injection, and the spacecraft itself: http://www.isro.org/mars/momimg.aspx http://www.isro.org/mars/momimg.aspx Here's a color picture of Earth captured by MOM last week: http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25/Imagegallery/mom-images.aspx http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25/Imagegallery/mom-images.aspx Launch photos of PSLV-XL: http://www.isro.org/pslv-c25/Imagegallery/launchvehicle.aspx http://www.isro.org/pslv-c25/Imagegallery/launchvehicle.aspx Differences between NASA MAVEN and ISRO MOM trajectories: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/11220947-maven-mom-trajectory-explainer.html http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/1122094... Here's a nice animation detailing the trajectories of MOM and MAVEN, in their heliocentric and geocentric phases: http://sankara.net/mom.html http://sankara.net/mom.html Before jumping to heliocentric orbit, ISRO did a series of interesting orbit-raising maneuvers to build necessary escape velocity to escape from Earth's sphere of influence. Here are the details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Orbiter_Mission#Orbit_raising_manoeuvres http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Orbiter_Mission#Orbit_rais... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Orbiter_Mission#Mission_profile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Orbiter_Mission#Mission_pr... Now, MOM has left geocentric orbit and is now in heliocentric (Sun-centric) orbit heading towards Mars. MOM has now entered inter-planetary space. When MOM comes close to Mars in Sep 2014, its rocket motor will be fired to move spacecraft into Mars orbit and get captured by Mars gravity. During this journey, ISRO has planned for four mid-course corrections if needed.

swatkat 13y ago
NASA Eyes on the Solar System is tracking ISRO MOM as well: http://eyes.nasa.gov/ http://eyes.nasa.gov/ NASA Eyes gets spacecraft trajectories from their DSNs. Here's a screenshot showing NASA MAVEN and ISRO MOM: http://i.imgur.com/7l56d7N.jpg http://i.imgur.com/7l56d7N.jpg
kaushalkpr 13y ago
excellent reply swatkat. Thanks for the info
vardhanw 13y ago
I saw a reference to the [interplanetary transport network](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Network http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Networ...) sometime back, and wanted to confirm if that is the only/best way to travel between planets and is that what the MOM is doing, i.e. it has entered into one of those paths where it does not need to spend any energy till it reaches nearby Mars.
- Pinckney 13y ago
  No, the ITN isn't the only way to travel, and it's not what MOM is using. It's just doing a Hohmann transfer, which is just about the most basic orbital maneuver possible. The ITN is the clever, sneaky way to travel between planets with a shoestring fuel budget by bouncing around chaotically. It can be better, but it does tend to take a whole lot longer. Note that even a standard Hohmann doesn't need to spend any fuel until arrival (aside from minor course corrections). But with the ITN, it's potentially cheaper to achieve certain chaotic trajectories than it is to change the orbit enough for a Hohmann.

by swatkat 13y ago

swatkat 13y ago

NASA Eyes on the Solar System is tracking ISRO MOM as well: http://eyes.nasa.gov/ http://eyes.nasa.gov/ NASA Eyes gets spacecraft trajectories from their DSNs. Here's a screenshot showing NASA MAVEN and ISRO MOM: http://i.imgur.com/7l56d7N.jpg http://i.imgur.com/7l56d7N.jpg

kaushalkpr 13y ago

excellent reply swatkat. Thanks for the info

vardhanw 13y ago

I saw a reference to the [interplanetary transport network](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Network http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Networ...) sometime back, and wanted to confirm if that is the only/best way to travel between planets and is that what the MOM is doing, i.e. it has entered into one of those paths where it does not need to spend any energy till it reaches nearby Mars.

Pinckney 13y ago
No, the ITN isn't the only way to travel, and it's not what MOM is using. It's just doing a Hohmann transfer, which is just about the most basic orbital maneuver possible. The ITN is the clever, sneaky way to travel between planets with a shoestring fuel budget by bouncing around chaotically. It can be better, but it does tend to take a whole lot longer. Note that even a standard Hohmann doesn't need to spend any fuel until arrival (aside from minor course corrections). But with the ITN, it's potentially cheaper to achieve certain chaotic trajectories than it is to change the orbit enough for a Hohmann.