<p>The Nasa’s “Curiosity”, which will complete one year on Mars this Tuesday, might have found a wealth of data (190 gigabits), but India’s MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) has its own uses and its technologically is a huge milestone given that the Red Planet is still largely unexplored.<br /><br /></p>.<p>According to the Nasa, the rover has already achieved its main science goal of revealing that ancient Mars could have supported life and has provided. “It has returned more than 36,700 full images; fired more than 75,000 laser shots to investigate the composition of targets; collected and analysed sample material from two rocks; and driven more than one mile (1.6 km),” Nasa on its website said.<br /><br />While Curiosity’s success comes as a path-charter to Mars and is welcomed by global space agencies, MOM’s success, Indian scientist says, will determine if the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) can put a rover on the surface of the red planet. <br /><br />Speaking to Deccan Herald, Prof U R Rao, former Isro Chairman and Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS), which selected the payloads for MOM, said: “Mars is still largely unexplored, there have been many failures, so the fundamental thing for us is to achieve the technology.”<br /><br />Stating that all five chosen payloads are of critical value, he said: “We did not know we will find water when we sent Chandrayaan. All payloads on MOM are really good.”<br />Senior scientists, while conceding that using Isro’s workhorse –the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)– has left the agency staring at weight limitations, however, rubbished that it has anything to do with the success or failure of the mission, per se. <br /><br />Time-frame<br /><br />The important thing is to design and realise a spacecraft with a capability to reach Mars (Martian transfer Trajectory), then to orbit around Mars (Mars Orbit Insertion) which will take about nine months, a senior scientist said. <br /><br />Rao added that in this aspect there is no difference a launch vehicle can create.<br /><br />Scheduled for a November launch, the MOM spacecraft will cruise in deep space for 10 months and will reach Mars in September 2014, when it will be placed in an elliptical orbit, the nearest point of which from Mars’ surface will be 500 km and the farthest point will be 80,000 km.<br /><br />The 1,350-kg spacecraft will carry five instruments/payloads totaling a mass of 15-kg to study the Martian surface, atmosphere and mineralogy.<br /><br />Among the important things that Isro seeks to achieve is check for methane and map Mars’ surface besides getting data from the optical imaging payload.</p>
<p>The Nasa’s “Curiosity”, which will complete one year on Mars this Tuesday, might have found a wealth of data (190 gigabits), but India’s MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) has its own uses and its technologically is a huge milestone given that the Red Planet is still largely unexplored.<br /><br /></p>.<p>According to the Nasa, the rover has already achieved its main science goal of revealing that ancient Mars could have supported life and has provided. “It has returned more than 36,700 full images; fired more than 75,000 laser shots to investigate the composition of targets; collected and analysed sample material from two rocks; and driven more than one mile (1.6 km),” Nasa on its website said.<br /><br />While Curiosity’s success comes as a path-charter to Mars and is welcomed by global space agencies, MOM’s success, Indian scientist says, will determine if the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) can put a rover on the surface of the red planet. <br /><br />Speaking to Deccan Herald, Prof U R Rao, former Isro Chairman and Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS), which selected the payloads for MOM, said: “Mars is still largely unexplored, there have been many failures, so the fundamental thing for us is to achieve the technology.”<br /><br />Stating that all five chosen payloads are of critical value, he said: “We did not know we will find water when we sent Chandrayaan. All payloads on MOM are really good.”<br />Senior scientists, while conceding that using Isro’s workhorse –the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)– has left the agency staring at weight limitations, however, rubbished that it has anything to do with the success or failure of the mission, per se. <br /><br />Time-frame<br /><br />The important thing is to design and realise a spacecraft with a capability to reach Mars (Martian transfer Trajectory), then to orbit around Mars (Mars Orbit Insertion) which will take about nine months, a senior scientist said. <br /><br />Rao added that in this aspect there is no difference a launch vehicle can create.<br /><br />Scheduled for a November launch, the MOM spacecraft will cruise in deep space for 10 months and will reach Mars in September 2014, when it will be placed in an elliptical orbit, the nearest point of which from Mars’ surface will be 500 km and the farthest point will be 80,000 km.<br /><br />The 1,350-kg spacecraft will carry five instruments/payloads totaling a mass of 15-kg to study the Martian surface, atmosphere and mineralogy.<br /><br />Among the important things that Isro seeks to achieve is check for methane and map Mars’ surface besides getting data from the optical imaging payload.</p>
