India triumphs in maiden Mars mission, sets record in space race

[Buster's Uncle]

India triumphs in maiden Mars mission, sets record in space race
Reuters
By Aditya Kalra  1 hour ago



Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientists and engineers watch Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) on screens after India's Mars orbiter successfully entered at their Spacecraft Control Center in the southern Indian city of Bangalore September 24, 2014. REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa



NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's low-cost mission to Mars successfully entered the red planet's orbit on Wednesday, crowning what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said was a "near impossible" push to become the only country to complete the trip on its maiden attempt.

The Mars Orbiter Mission was achieved on a budget of $74 million, nearly a tenth of the amount the U.S. space agency NASA spent on sending the Maven spacecraft to Mars.

"History has been created today," said Modi, who burst into applause along with hundreds of scientists at the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) when it was announced the mission had been accomplished.

"We have dared to reach out into the unknown and have achieved the near impossible," said Modi, wearing a red waistcoat at the space command centre in the southern city of Bangalore.

India joins the United States, Russia and Europe in successfully sending probes to orbit or land on Mars. Apart from India, none managed to succeed on their first attempt.

The mission also makes India the first country in Asia to reach Mars, after an attempt by regional rival China failed to leave Earth's orbit in 2011.

ISRO successfully ignited the main 440 Newton liquid engine and eight small thrusters that fired for 24-minutes and trimmed the speed of the craft to allow smooth orbit. A confirmation of orbit entry was received at around 8 a.m. India time (10:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday).

After completing the 666 million km (414 million miles) journey in more than 10 months, the spacecraft called Mangalyaan meaning Mars craft in Hindi - will now study the red planet's surface and scan its atmosphere for chemical methane. It will not land on Mars.

ISRO scientists will operate five scientific instruments on the spacecraft to gather data, the space agency's scientific secretary V. Koteswara Rao told Reuters.

The expected life of the craft is six months, after which it will run out of fuel and the agency will not be able to maintain its orbit.

Modi has said he wants to expand the country's five-decade-old space programme. The technological triumph is fortuitously timed for him - he will be able to flaunt the achievement on a trip to the United States starting on Friday.

Modi also holds the additional charge as India's minister of space, and has endorsed the low-cost of the project, saying it cost even less than the budget of 'Gravity'. The Hollywood blockbuster cost about $100 million to make.

NASA, which helped India with communications on the mission, congratulated ISRO. The Mangalyaan and the NASA's Maven, built at a cost of $671 million, are simultaneously orbiting the red planet.


INDIA IN SPACE VS OTHERS

India's space programme was launched in the early 1960s and the country developed its own rocket technology after Western powers imposed sanctions for a nuclear weapons test in 1974.

Still, the country remains a small player in the global space industry that grew to $314 billion in revenues and government budgets in 2013, according to Colorado-based Space Foundation.

Experts say Mars mission success can help change that.

"ISRO will now hopefully attract a lot of business," said Mayank N. Vahia, a scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. "We will now attract more international attention and international trade for satellites."

Two-thirds of the craft's parts were made by Indian companies such as Larsen & Toubro LART.NS and Godrej & Boyce.

With 30 Indian and 40 foreign satellite launches so far, its nearest cheap competition would be China, which is armed with bigger space launchers. ISRO signed an agreement with China National Space Administration on Friday to cooperate in research and development of various satellites.

Despite its success, India faces criticism for spending on space research as millions go hungry.

(Additional reporting by Devidutta Tripathy in MUMBAI and Andrew MacAskill in NEW DELHI; Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Frank Jack Daniel)


http://news.yahoo.com/india-triumphs-maiden-mars-mission-025104678.html

[sisko]

India joins the United States, Russia and Europe in successfully sending probes to orbit or land on Mars. Apart from India, none managed to succeed on their first attempt.

so, that why the Kavithan Protectorate is one of the first eight..   

[Buster's Uncle]

And on the cheap, one gathers...

It's a BE joke, folks.

[Buster's Uncle]

UPDATE 3-India triumphs in maiden Mars mission, sets record in space race
Reuters
7 minutes ago


(Deletes reference in paragraph five to no previous maiden Mars mission having succeeded, as a multinational European craft did enter orbit successfully in 2003; in paragraph two, changes 'nearly a tenth of' to 'almost 10 times less than')


* India mission costs fraction of similar NASA probe

* First country from Asia to reach Mars

* Most parts made by Indian companies

* Competition heats up for cheap satellite launches



NEW DELHI, Sept 24 (Reuters) - India's low-cost mission to Mars successfully entered the red planet's orbit on Wednesday, crowning what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said was a "near impossible" push to become the only country to complete the trip on its maiden attempt.

The Mars Orbiter Mission was achieved on a budget of $74 million, almost 10 times less than the amount the U.S. space agency NASA spent on sending the Maven spacecraft to Mars.

"History has been created today," said Modi, who burst into applause along with hundreds of scientists at the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) when it was announced the mission had been accomplished.

"We have dared to reach out into the unknown and have achieved the near impossible," said Modi, wearing a red waistcoat at the space command centre in the southern city of Bangalore.

India joins the United States, Russia and Europe in successfully sending probes to orbit or land on Mars.

The mission also makes India the first country in Asia to reach Mars, after an attempt by regional rival China failed to leave Earth's orbit in 2011.

ISRO successfully ignited the main 440 Newton liquid engine and eight small thrusters that fired for 24-minutes and trimmed the speed of the craft to allow smooth orbit. A confirmation of orbit entry was received at around 8 a.m. India time (0230 GMT).

After completing the 666 million km (414 million miles) journey in more than 10 months, the spacecraft called Mangalyaan - meaning Mars craft in Hindi - will now study the red planet's surface and scan its atmosphere for chemical methane. It will not land on Mars.

ISRO scientists will operate five scientific instruments on the spacecraft to gather data, the space agency's scientific secretary V. Koteswara Rao told Reuters.

The expected life of the craft is six months, after which it will run out of fuel and the agency will not be able to maintain its orbit.

Modi has said he wants to expand the country's five-decade-old space programme. The technological triumph is fortuitously timed for him - he will be able to flaunt the achievement on a trip to the United States starting on Friday.

Modi also holds the additional charge as India's minister of space, and has endorsed the low-cost of the project, saying it cost even less than the budget of 'Gravity'. The Hollywood blockbuster cost about $100 million to make.

NASA, which helped India with communications on the mission, congratulated ISRO. The Mangalyaan and the NASA's Maven, built at a cost of $671 million, are simultaneously orbiting the red planet.


INDIA IN SPACE VS OTHERS

India's space programme was launched in the early 1960s and the country developed its own rocket technology after Western powers imposed sanctions for a nuclear weapons test in 1974.

Still, the country remains a small player in the global space industry that grew to $314 billion in revenues and government budgets in 2013, according to Colorado-based Space Foundation.

Experts say Mars mission success can help change that.

"ISRO will now hopefully attract a lot of business," said Mayank N. Vahia, a scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. "We will now attract more international attention and international trade for satellites."

Two-thirds of the craft's parts were made by Indian companies such as Larsen & Toubro and Godrej & Boyce.

With 30 Indian and 40 foreign satellite launches so far, its nearest cheap competition would be China, which is armed with bigger space launchers. ISRO signed an agreement with China National Space Administration on Friday to cooperate in research and development of various satellites.

Despite its success, India faces criticism for spending on space research as millions go hungry.

(Additional reporting by Devidutta Tripathy in MUMBAI and Andrew MacAskill in NEW DELHI; Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Frank Jack Daniel)


http://news.yahoo.com/india-triumphs-maiden-mars-mission-081850969.html

[Buster's Uncle]

India triumphs in maiden Mars mission, sets record in space race
Reuters
55 minutes ago


* India mission costs fraction of similar NASA probe

* First country from Asia to reach Mars

* Most parts made by Indian companies

* Competition heats up for cheap satellite launches (Edits throughout)



NEW DELHI, Sept 24 (Reuters) - India's first mission to Mars entered orbit on Wednesday, making it the first Asian nation to reach the Red Planet, all for less than the budget of the Hollywood space blockbuster "Gravity".

The Mars Orbiter Mission, or MOM, cost $74 million, a fraction of the $671 million the U.S. space agency NASA spent on its newly arrived MAVEN Mars mission.

"History has been created today," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bursting into applause along with hundreds of scientists at the Bangalore command centre of the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"We have dared to reach out into the unknown and have achieved the near-impossible."

India joins the United States, Russia and Europe in successfully sending probes to orbit or land on Mars.

In 2011 a Chinese spacecraft destined for Mars failed to leave Earth's orbit after a botched Russian launch.

ISRO successfully ignited the main engine and eight small thrusters, which fired for 24 minutes, trimming the speed of the craft so it could be captured by Mars's gravity and slide into orbit.


SIGNS OF LIFE

Nervous flight controllers received confirmation of the successful manoeuvre around 8 a.m. India time (10:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday) when the spacecraft, nicknamed MOM, emerged from behind the planet and transmitted a signal.

After completing the 666 million km (414 million mile) journey in more than 10 months, the spacecraft, also known as Mangalyaan -- Hindi for "Mars craft" -- will now study the Red Planet's surface and scan its atmosphere for chemical methane.

ISRO scientists will operate five scientific instruments on the spacecraft to gather data, said ISRO's scientific secretary, V. Koteswara Rao.

The expected life of the craft is six months, after which it will run out of fuel and be unable to maintain its orbit.

Modi has said he wants to expand India's five-decade-old space programme. The technological triumph is fortuitously timed for him - he will be able to flaunt it on a trip to the United States starting on Friday.

Modi is also India's minister of space, and noted with satisfaction that the project had cost less than "Gravity", whose budget the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) estimates at $100 million.

Mangalyaan and NASA's MAVEN join two other NASA orbiters, Europe's Mars Express orbiter and two NASA rovers currently exploring Mars.

MAVEN, which arrived on Sunday, is an acronym for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution. It is designed to study the planet's thin atmosphere in attempt to learn what happened to Mars's water.


LOST IN SPACE

Both the United States and Russia lost their first Mars probes. Europe's first Mars mission, the multinational Mars Express, did enter orbit in December 2003, although a companion British-built lander was destroyed during its descent to the surface.

NASA duly tipped its hat. "We congratulate the Indian Space Research Organisation for its successful arrival at Mars with the Mars Orbiter Mission," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

"It was an impressive engineering feat, and we welcome India to the family of nations studying another facet of the Red Planet."

India's space programme was launched in the early 1960s and it developed its own rocket technology after Western powers imposed sanctions for a nuclear weapons test in 1974.

Still, it remains a small player in a global space industry that grew to $314 billion in revenues and government budgets in 2013, according to the Colorado-based Space Foundation.

Experts say Mars success can help change that.

"ISRO will now hopefully attract a lot of business," said Mayank N. Vahia, a scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. "We will now attract more international attention and international trade for satellites."

Two-thirds of the craft's parts were made by Indian companies such as Larsen & Toubro and Godrej & Boyce.

With 30 Indian and 40 foreign satellite launches so far, its nearest cheap competition would be China, which is armed with bigger space launchers. ISRO signed an agreement with China National Space Administration on Friday to cooperate in research and development of various satellites.

Despite its success, India has been criticised for spending on space research as millions go hungry.

(Additional reporting by Devidutta Tripathy in MUMBAI, Andrew MacAskill in NEW DELHI and Irene Klotz in PORTLAND; Editing by Kevin Liffey)


http://news.yahoo.com/india-triumphs-maiden-mars-mission-181555067.html