Mariner 6

 Mariner 6 is the second successful flyby of Mars by National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA. It was launched on 25th February of 1969 at 01.29.02 UTC from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Prime aim of this mission to analyse the atmosphere and surface of Mars.

LAUNCH:

       On 25th February 1969, Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A Rocket carried Mariner 6 to its destination. This spacecraft.was manufactured by Jet Propulsion Laboratory of California Institute of Technology. After its Launch it was controlled by NASA tracking station.

INSTRUMENT CARRIED:

1. Infrared Spectrometer

2. Two channel IR Radiometer Mars Surface Temperature

3. Ultra-violet Spectrometer

4. S-band Occultation

5. Thermal control flux monitor

6. Mars Television Camera

7. Celestial Mechanics

8. General Relativity

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

1) The body of Mariner 6 was made with Magnesium Frame

2) Four solar panels produced 449 watt power for spacecraft

3) Communication were made with high gain parabolic antenna.

4) And through Omnidirectional low gain Antenna using S-band travelling tube amplifiers.

5) It was tracked by Canopus Tracker and a Star Canopus

6) Spacecraft position were adjusted with newton rocket motor with hydrazine fuel

7) Photovoltaic cells produced 800 watt of power near Earth and 449 watt after reaching Mars

8) It had a mounted 1200 watt Silver-Zinc Battery for power backup.

9) An Analog tape recorder of 195 million bits installed to collect data.

10) It had a capacity to perform 53 direct commands, 5 control commands and 4 quantitative commands.

SPACECRAFT'S DISCOVERIES:

     It flew over northern and southern region of Mars, and took photograph of northern giant volcanoes and a grand canyon. Later it found creators and canals. Totally it took 201 photographs and transmitted back to Earth. It gave much details ever than all earlier missions. It also studied the atmosphere of Mars.

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Mariner 6 Spacecraft

Mariner 6 Spacecrafts Documentary Video in Our Youtube Channel.

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Kosmos 419 Orbiter

Kosmos 419 Orbiter. Russia's Fifth attempt to orbit around Mars. Soviet Russia.

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Zond 2 Mars Flyby

    Zond 2 was Russian space probe sent to Mars. It was under Soviet's Zond Programme. It was a fifth attempt of Russia, but results in spacecraft failure due to the loss of communication before it's flyby. It was planned to take closeup image of Mars during its flyby in early 1964.

LAUNCH :

     Zond 2 Spacecraft is also known as 3MV-4 No.2. It was carried by Soviet Rocket series Molniya T103-16 from Baikanour launch station on 30th November 1964. It was very close to Mars on 6th August 1965. It was intended to analyse Mars atmosphere.

INSTRUMENTS CARRIED:

1. Phototelevision Camera
2. Two ultra-violet spectrometers
3. Infrared Spectrometer
4.PPT acutators

FUNCTIONS OF INSTRUMENTS:

     Phototelevision Camera mounted to take photograph of Mars. Ultra-Voilet spectrometers were planned to detect metals and biological macro molecules. Infrared Spectrometer was planned to detect signs of Methane.

REASON BEHIND FAILURE:

    The spacecraft ran on half power due to the loss of one of its Solar Panel. It was very close to Mars on 6th August 1965. Finally the communication between Zond 2 flyby and the Members of Zond Programme on August 6, 1965.

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Mariner 4 Spacecraft of Mars

INTRODUCTION:

                Mariner 4 was an American’s first successful spacecraft (Flyby) to reach Mars on 15^th July 1965. It retains fourth number in the series of Mariner. It was designed for the interplanetary planet exploration. Mariner 4 was primarily intended for scientific observation of Mars during its close flybys and to transmit information back to Earth. This spacecraft became the first to return images from the deep space ever. Finally its communication was terminated on 21^st December 1967.

STEPPING INTO ORBIT:

                Mariner 4 was launched on 28 November 1964, carried by Atlas LV-3 Agena-D rocket from Cape Canaveral Air force station at 14:22:01 UTC. This spacecraft was manufactured by Jet Propulsion Laboratory/JPL  of California. After its launch it was fully controlled and operated by NASA. It remained active for 3 years and 23 days of flyby around the Red planet (Mars). After its first image, it changed the view of scientific community to explore life on Mars.

INSTRUMENTS CARRIED:

1. Cosmic dust detector                                    
2. Cosmic ray telescope
3. Geiger Counter / Ionization Chamber
4. Helium Magnetometer
5. Solar plasma probe
6. Trapped Radiation Detector
7. Television Camera

COMMUNICATION:

                Mariner 4 communicated to Earth by its High-gain parabolic antenna for long distance communication after reaching Mars and a omnidirectional low-gain antenna for short distance communication during its travel after the crossing Low Earth orbit (LEO)

FUNCTIONS OF INSTRUMENTS:

Helium Magnetometer                    To measure the magnitude and other interplanetary magnetic fields

Ionzation Chamber                          To measure the charged particle intensity around Mars

Trapped  Radiation detector        To measure intensity and direction of low-energy particles

Cosmic ray telescope                     To measure direction and energy spectrum of proton and alpha particles

Solar Plasma Probe                         To measure very low energy particles from Sun

Cosmic dust detector                     To measure momentum, distribution, density and direction of cosmic dust

Television camera                            To capture images of Mars

TECHNICAL DETAILS: 

1. Solar panels of Mariner 4 could provide 310 watts at the distance of Mars
2. It had a rechargeable 1200 w-h Silver-zinc battery for Power
3. Monopropellant Hydrazine was used for propulsion ( 222-Newton Motor 50lbf )
4. The attitude control was performed by 12-Cold nitrogen gas jets
5. It was tracked and navigated by the four sun sensors and the star Canopus
6. Data recorded in a magnetic tape recorder of 5.24 million bits
7. Precision tracking was done based on Celestial Mechanics

RESULTS:

1. Total data returned my Mariner 4 was around 634 Kb
2. Images showed Moon like creator on Mars
3. Atmospheric pressure of   410 to 740 pascals was found
4.  Daytime temperature of -373 Kelvin was found
5. No Magnetic field and radiation belts were detected
6.  Its photographs helped for Mars Geologic History

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Mangalyaan 2 Proposal 2020

Mangalyaan 2 will be the India's second interplanetary mission to Mars. ISRO aims to launch it by 2020. If it launched it will carry a Orbiter, a Rover and a Lander. Mangalyaan 2 will be the collaborative mission plan between India and France. It will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space centre. 

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ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

A Short Documentry On ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter of European Space Agency. 

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Mariner 4 Spacecraft

Mariner 4 , the first successful spacecraft to Mars.

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Ultrafast Black Hole

   Scientists from Michael Parker institute of Astronomy , Cambridge found an ultrafast wind flowing from the vicinity of a blackhole at nearly quarter of the speed of light.

Outflowing of gas is the common feature of supermassive black holes that reside in the centre of the galaxies. They have massive gas which is million or billion times larger than the sun. This ultra-fast black hole feed out the surrounding gases and stars supressing the birth of new stars. Space telescope saw this bright emmission, including Xrays from the innermost part of the disc around that black hole.

    These winds are an important characteristics to study, because it has strong influence on regulating the growth of host galaxies. These ultrafast blackhole has been found by European Space Agency's XMM Newton and NASA  Nustar telescopes. Scientists found this galaxy named or identified as IRAS-13224-3809. The velocity of gases in this Blackhole is around 71000 km/s. 0.24 times the speed of the light which is 300000 km/s.

   They took this image after focusing for a period of 17 days straight revealing the variable nature of winds. After a long observation campaign, they have seen the changes such as increase in temperature of winds and greater X-ray emission from the disc right next to the black hole. It will help us to  understand that how black hole winds get launched and accelerated, how moderate star formed in the host galaxy.

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