ISRO to launch first Mars orbiter on 28th October

Why was this under wraps and we come to know of it only now? This is huge!

ISRO on Saturday said the country’s October 28 Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was on schedule, dismissing suggestions that NASA may not be in a position to offer it deep space network support following government shutdown in the U.S.

“There is no delay. We are going ahead with our MOM as scheduled,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spokesperson Deviprasad Karnik told PTI in Bangalore.

The Bangalore-headquartered space agency is drawing comfort from the fact that NASA has announced that it would go ahead with its own MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission, slated for launch as early as November 18.

This, in other words, means that NASA would have to keep its DSN, an international network of antennas that track interplanetary spacecraft missions, operational.

India plans to launch its MOM spacecraft on October 28, the first day of the launch window which remains open till November 19.

Once launched, MOM would go around the earth for 20-25 days before embarking on a nine month voyage to the red planet.

An ISRO official said, “We don’t need NASA DSN support during initial days after the launch as small antennas can track but when it moves further and further away from earth, we need such a support.”

There has been no communication from NASA to ISRO saying that it would not support the Indian mission, sources said.

Source : India

Pic gallery : India's First Mars Mission in Pictures (Gallery) | Space.com

Without NASA DSN(Deep Space Network) support,Indian MOM will be at stake.
Total wastage of resources will occur.

just throwing out an object in dark, withut developing any tracking & communicating systems. its a total gimmick ! *l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/102.gif

first nasa carried out their moon analysis via chandrayan, then this. they are outsourcing their deep space probe launching division to india or what ?

Apparently, NASA is going to back ISRO : NASA reaffirms support to India's Mars Orbiter Mission: ISRO - Sci/Tech - DNA

NASA has reaffirmed its communications and navigation support to India's Mars Orbiter Mission and stated that the current US government partial shutdown would not affect ISRO's launch schedule.

India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft is scheduled for launch on the afternoon of October 28. The launch window remains open till November 19.

The American NASA/JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) is providing communications and navigation support to this mission with their Deep Space Network facilities.

"NASA/JPL authorities have reaffirmed support for the MOM as planned and stated that the current US government partial shutdown will not affect the schedule of MOM," Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement.

^ At least a news of respite for us.

I'm waiting for the day when isro starts it's first manned space mission.

Harsh Pranami said:
I'm waiting for the day when isro starts it's first manned space mission.

I was wondering the same thing too. After an unmanned mission to the moon, they should have followed up with a manned mission instead of another unmanned mission to Mars.

Friend, manned mission are much<<more<<most complex and costlier than an unmanned mission.
We may have the Technological knowhow,but...I think we haven't reached that stage at least economically.

Perhaps if corruption was less and the government gave more grants to ISRO....

When robots can do the same that astronauts can do, it makes not sense to risk send them into space. A robot may seem expensive, but the cost of living of humans in space, their return back to earth and their safety would cost more than that. And then there are the costs of training prior to the launch and the observation after re-entry.

DeSmOnD dAvId said:
Perhaps if corruption was less and the government gave more grants to ISRO....

+1 ,for this.
Adding also that Red Tapism,ego(a very bad vice that destroys everything from a very learned person/group of persons),etc...should be made to disappear.

For manned missions, choosing the right Psycho-personality of an individual is an utmost difficult task.

There may be Hon'be (late) Kalpana Chawla,and Sunita Williams of Indian origin...but they have the U.S. environment at their support.
Even our Honurable Hero & son of India(Retd.Wing Commander)Mr. Rakesh Sharma,had a brave ,self disciplined,amicable personality of his own,but he also got much support from the erstwhile U.S.S.R. I mean the environment of U.S.,Russia,European Union,etc. are pretty much advanced than ours,not only in Technology but the ultimate mind-set of the working atmosphere.
That we lack very much in India,and it's a shame for us.

lywyre said:
When robots can do the same that astronauts can do, it makes not sense to risk send them into space. A robot may seem expensive, but the cost of living of humans in space, their return back to earth and their safety would cost more than that. And then there are the costs of training prior to the launch and the observation after re-entry.

No risk, no reward. Just need a person with the right discipline, qualifications and enthusiasm.

kg11sgbg said:
+1 ,for this.
Adding also that Red Tapism,ego(a very bad vice that destroys everything from a very learned person/group of persons),etc...should be made to disappear.

For manned missions, choosing the right Psycho-personality of an individual is an utmost difficult task.

There may be Hon'be (late) Kalpana Chawla,and Sunita Williams of Indian origin...but they have the U.S. environment at their support.
Even our Honurable Hero & son of India(Retd.Wing Commander)Mr. Rakesh Sharma,had a brave ,self disciplined,amicable personality of his own,but he also got much support from the erstwhile U.S.S.R. I mean the environment of U.S.,Russia,European Union,etc. are pretty much advanced than ours,not only in Technology but the ultimate mind-set of the working atmosphere.
That we lack very much in India,and it's a shame for us.

This.

DeSmOnD dAvId said:
Perhaps if corruption was less and the government gave more grants to ISRO....

And where will those grants come from ?

Taxes.

DeSmOnD dAvId said:
Taxes.

Like India gets so much.

If the politicians didn't eat it all, we would have some for something good.

DeSmOnD dAvId said:
If the politicians didn't eat it all, we would have some for something good.

That is something hypothetical.

^Public-Private partnership could also come into foray.

kg11sgbg said:
^Public-Private partnership could also come into foray.

I guess there are more important duties to be done/completed than manned mission. Plus don't forget the technicality involved, which India still lacks. That's secondary issue though.

Yeah, they should do such undertakings with Private partnerships, there are a lot of millionaires in India. I hope at least one of them gives ISRO a boost like Richard Branson is doing.

^ Yeah, right, and have another shuttle having ads of TATA/RP-SG..... *thats the Indian mindset*

Well, that wouldn't be much of a problem if they really tried to invest....Private involvement would be a good boost.....

govt doesn't like privates in aviation/aerospace/weapons sectors here, donno why.

What the government prefers is that we reverse engineer other people's technology and use it as our own. At least one example I can think of is that the INSAS assault rifle is actually a reverse engineered AK-47 copy.

Actually there are few private companies in the aviation sector..i have heard that godrej and L&T regularly make parts for ISRO..
There are many small companies as well who contribute to the aerospace industries..i cannot remember the names but i am very sure about the involvement.

DeSmOnD dAvId said:
What the government prefers is that we reverse engineer other people's technology and use it as our own. At least one example I can think of is that the INSAS assault rifle is actually a reverse engineered AK-47 copy.

Barring the INSAS rifle..we have not reverse engineered much..much of the reverse engineering is done by the chinese..case in point being making copies of Russian Sukhois and the military turbofans...India has been trying to make the turbo fan engine from scratch(Kaveri)

making few easy parts don't count. and insas is very bad quality of a copy.

and the mars launch programme has been postponed.

icebags said:
making few easy parts don't count. and insas is very bad quality of a copy.

Agreed but thats a lot better than just copying designs of someone else.That doesn't help at all.It has its limitations.Actually research work take ages.Reverse engineering is a quick fix to problems.Most of these private companies start off from scratch.So they work their way from building small parts to at a later stage the ignition of a launch vehicle.Thats how the likes of godrej are progressing.You cant be expected to start making the rocket if you have no expertise over their basic hardware which are the few easy parts.

I hope that this Mars project is a stepping stone to better days for ISRO.

^ isro still has very limited capability, and may be limited enthusiasm too. they only have 1 launch centre and manage limited payload launches like 2-4 per year ? and our big neighbor does upto 20.

to be exact, they are also aggressive enough to monopolize asian satellite market. they already offering cheap satellite launches to east asian countries, pakistan srilanka and bangladesh. unless govt considers anything seriously, we will always remain back benchers.

and yes, sending manned space mission is a lot more difficult than sending a mars satellite with nasa help. seriously, isro doesnt even have a vehicle to carry the huge payload of a manned cargo.

DeSmOnD dAvId said:
I hope that this Mars project is a stepping stone to better days for ISRO.

Yes,an optimistic future for India too...