India’s inaugural voyager to the Red Planet, the Mars Orbiter Mission or MOM, has just celebrated 100 days and 100 million kilometers out from Mars on June 16, until the crucial Mars Orbital Insertion (MOI) engine firing that will culminate in a historic rendezvous on September 24, 2014.
MOM is cruising right behind NASA’s MAVEN orbiter which celebrated 100 days out from Mars on Friday the 13th of June. MAVEN arrives about 48 hours ahead of MOM on September 21, 2014.
June 23rd, 2014
India’s 1st Mars Mission Celebrates 100 Days and 100 Million Kilometers from Mars Orbit Insertion Firing – Cruising Right behind NASA’s MAVEN Universe Today
April 19th, 2014
India’s First Mars Mission Midway Through Its Journey, Nearing Its Goal Business Insider
September 24, 2014, is all set to be a red letter day for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). On this day, India’s Mars spacecraft, Mangalyaan, will enter the Red Planet’s orbit. Midway through its journey, India’s solo Mars mission has captured the imagination of both its citizens and the international space community. If it succeeds, it will be testimony to Indian jugaad – our unique ability to part-innovate and part-improvise – and will also affirm the country’s status as an emerging space superpower.
February 19th, 2014
From India, Proof That a Trip to Mars Doesn’t Have to Break the Bank The New York Times
While India’s recent launch of a spacecraft to Mars was a remarkable feat in its own right, it is the $75 million mission’s thrifty approach to time, money and materials that is getting attention.
Just days after the launch of India’s Mangalyaan satellite, NASA sent off its own Mars mission, five years in the making, named Maven. Its cost: $671 million. The budget of India’s Mars mission, by contrast, was just three-quarters of the $100 million that Hollywood spent on last year’s space-based hit, “Gravity.”
December 18th, 2013
An Updated Mars Exploration Family Portrait The Planetary Society
The Mars Exploration Family Portrait shows every dedicated spacecraft mission to Mars, and now includes India’s Mars Orbiter Mission and NASA’s MAVEN. The dates listed are for launch.
December 2nd, 2013
India’s First Mars Probe ‘MOM’ Blasts Free of Earth Joining MAVEN in Race to Red Planet Universe Today
India’s first ever Mars probe ‘MOM’ successfully fired its main engine today (Dec. 1), blasting the craft free of the Earth’s sphere of influence forever to begin her nearly yearlong momentous voyage to the Red Planet.
Indian space engineers initiated the 440 Newton liquid fueled engine firing precisely as planned at 00:49 hrs (IST) on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013 during a critical nail-biting burn lasting some 22 minutes.
The Trans Mars Insertion (TMI) firing propelled India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) away from Earth forever and placed the spacecraft on course for a rendezvous with the Red Planet on September 24, 2014 – where it will study the atmosphere and sniff for signals of methane.
Sunday’s Mars insertion burn imparted the vehicle with an incremental velocity of 647.96 meters per second (m/sec) consuming 198 kg of fuel.
November 22nd, 2013
Op/Ed: Why India Is Going to Mars The New York Times
If you want to marry in India and are looking for a bride or groom, normally you need to consult an astrologer, to learn whether the position of the planet Mars is favorable on your birth chart. If not, you may find it difficult to get the match of your choice. Lately, some employers have been trying this as well, matching their horoscopes with those of their prospective employees; companies are also comparing horoscopes with their clients for good fortune. The influence of Mars and the other planets on the life of an average Indian cannot be forgotten, especially this month. On Nov. 5, a Tuesday — Mangalvaar in Hindi, named for the planet Mars — India launched its first mission to the red planet. The day before, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization paid a visit to a temple, to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateswara. If the mission is successful, the Mars Orbiter will study the planet’s atmosphere and mineralogy, map its surface and test for methane, a possible sign of the presence of life.
November 5th, 2013
Why India’s Mars Mission Is So Much Cheaper Than NASA’s
Former NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin pioneered a “faster, better, cheaper” approach to America’s space program, but he would have been hard-pressed to deliver a Mars mission for the bargain-basement price of India’s first probe to the red planet, which blasted off Tuesday.
“India’s Mars mission, with a budget of $73 million, is far cheaper than comparable missions including NASA’s $671 million Maven satellite that is expected to set off for Mars later in November,” reports The Wall Street Journal, which is among several publications noting the disparity between the cost of U.S. space missions and India’s burgeoning program.
Even the project director of India’s Mars orbiter mission has been quick to tout his country’s frugality in space:
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
“This is less than one-tenth of what the U.S. has spent on their Mars mission Maven,” S. Arunan told reporters at a pre-launch news conference last week, according to Al-Jazeera, which added that “the cost-effectiveness of the mission is indeed turning out to be the highlight of the project, almost eclipsing the other aspects.”
November 5th, 2013
India Mars Orbiter Mission Status Center Spaceflight Now
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November 5th, 2013
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission’s little-known facts IBN Live
At 2:38 pm on November 5, 2013 a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C25 will lift off from Sriharikota spaceport with the aim of reaching the red planet Mars. If the mission is successful then the PSLV-C25 will travel for almost 300 days, cover 680 million kilometres and reach Mars on September 24, 2014.
The mission will catapult the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) into a select list of countries to have sent a mission to Mars successfully. ISRO would be the fourth space agency in the world to have sent a mission to Mars. European Space Agency (ESA) of European consortium, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US and Roscosmos of Russia are the only three agencies which have so far sent their missions to the red planet. Only 21 of the total of 51 missions sent to Mars by various countries have been successful.
November 4th, 2013
India’s 450-crore mission to Mars to begin today: 10 facts NDTV
India is aiming to join the world’s deep-space pioneers with a journey to Mars that starts today and costs 73 million dollars or Rs. 450 crores.