Mangalyaan - Four Year of Successful Operation in Mars Orbit

Mangalyaan- Mars Orbiter Mission

Four Year Completion of Successful Operation in Mars Orbit
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Congratulations to ISRO for Successful Operation in Mars Orbit (Mangalyaan)

Introduction:

     Mangalyaan is the first interplanetary mission of India to explore space beyond Earth and Moon system. India and its Mangalyaan (Mars Craft) is the world's first spacecraft to achieve success in its first attempt whereas NASA got victory in second attempt, ESA got partial success in first attempt and Russia got no success out of 19 attempts. After its successful orbital insertion, India became fourth nation to reach Mars after Russia, America and Europe. India places the first nation among Asian continent to reach Mars. After this successful victory China referred India's Mangalyaan "Pride of Asia". This article explains a brief journey of India to the Red planet and their major challenge. This article is specially dedicated to Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) in memory of four year completion of successful operation in Mars orbit from 24 September 2014 to 24 September 2018.

Highlights:

• Exploration of Mars around Four years in operation around Mars
• Major challenges and attempts made behind Mangalyaan to maintain active state
• Achievement and Honor of Mars Orbiter Mission
• Future vision of ISRO and India towards Mars and Interplanetary Mission

Mission Overview:

     Mangalyaan is an active spacecraft orbiting and investigating Mars since 24-Sep-2014. India became the fourth nation to reach Mars after the successful launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL) on 05 November 2013. MOM was launched from first launch pad Satish Dhawan Space Center located near Sriharikotta range in Andhra Pradesh. It was placed in orbit during October-2013 launch window.

     MOM is a "Technology demonstrator probe" intended for future advancement of design and planning for interplanetary mission. It carried five instruments for surface topography studies. This spacecraft is being monitored by (ISTRAC) ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network located at Bangalore with aid from India Deep Space Network antenna and additional support from NASA Deep Space Network.

History and Origin of Spacecraft:

     India have been interestingly taking part in space exploration since 1970s. Its first science mission was Chandrayaan-1 mission to the Moon in October 2008 which ultimately created history by finding water on the Lunar Surface. After the successful achievement of Chandrayaan, India's vision towards Mars was first publicly announced on 23 November 2008 by ISRO's chairman Dr. Madhavan Nair. Following the announcement design and feasibility begin in 2010 by Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology in Trivandrum. Prime minister of India Dr.Manmohan Singh approved the Mangalyaan project and accepted for funding for whole mission design and study. Based on the economic prospect, ISRO completed the whole mission within 450 crore approximately.

     On 05 August 2013, assembly of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL or PSLV-C25). After the completion of spacecraft designs, it was shipped to Sriharikotta SHAR for the integration with PSLV launch vehicle. The design and integration was completed within 15 months of record. Following this NASA approved to provide communication support from NASA Deep space network during black out phase on 05 October 2013. After this stage, MOM set to fly into cosmos on 05 November 2013 setting proud to the Indian nation and inspiring  millions of space enthusiastic students.

Launch:

     Mangalyaan was officially scheduled to launch in 28th October 2013. But, the launch was postponed to 05th November 2013 due to the delay in ISRO's spacecraft tracking ships to take positions in the Pacific Ocean. This happened due to the bad weather in Ocean. Finally, MOM was lifted-off from Satish Dhawan Space Center at SHAR range on 05 November 2013 at 09:08 UTC. It was aimed to launch with Geosynchronous Satellite Launch vehicle, but due to continuous failure of two launches in 2010, it was switched to launch by PSLV.

Launch Challenges:

     PSLV-XL opted for launch is not powerful enough to place Mangalyaan in trans-Mars trajectory. Despite this concerns, ISRO placed MOM in high elliptical orbit around Earth and used its powerful thrusters over multiple perigee burns to place itself on a trans-Mars trajectory towards Mars. After the successful launch antenna and solar panels were successfully deployed for continuous active communication between Earth and ISRO command center. Following this operation, progressive checking of spacecraft system were also succeeded.

Trans-Mars Injection and Mars Orbital Insertion:

       After seven orbital raising maneuver burns, Mangalyaan was finally placed in Trans-Mars injection on 30 November 2013 at 19:19 UTC.After that a 23-minute engine firing was initiated to move MOM away from earth towards Mars. After travelling 780,000,000 kilometers of distance, it was successfully inserted into Mars orbit on 24 September 2014 at 02:11:46 UTC.During the travel four trajectory correction were made to correct path.

Spacecraft Design:

     The spacecraft design was similar to I-Ik structure of Chandrayaan-1 moon probe with some upgradation and modification. The spacecraft is designed with Aluminum and composite fibre reinforced with plastic sandwich construction . Power was afforded by 7.56 sq.m area of solar panels generating 840 watts of power in Mars Orbit. This energy is stored in 36 Ah Lithium-ion Battery.

     For orbital raising maneuver and orbital insertion into Mars orbit was powered by 440 newtons of liquid fuel engine. it also has eight 22 newton thrusters for attitude control. Its propellant mass is about 852 kg and the total mass of the spacecraft is 1337.2 kg.

Scientific Instruments:

1. LAP - Lyman Alpha Photometer (1.97 kg)
2. MSM - Methane Sensor for Mars (2.94 kg)
3. MENCA - Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (3.56kg)
4. TIS - Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (3.20 kg)
5. MCC - Mars Colour Camera (1.27 kg)

     LAP and MSM were used for atmospheric studies; MENCA was used for particle environment studies; TIS and MCC were used for surface imaging studies.

Scientific Objective of the Mission:

• Primary - Technology demonstration for the purpose of designing, planning, management and operations for interplanetary mission.
• Secondary - Explore Mars surface, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments.
• Tertiary - Explore the Mars surface features like topography, mineralogy, atmosphere, Methane and CO2 detection using remote sensing detection, dynamics of upper atmosphere, effect of solar wind and radiation, escape of volatile atmosphere to outer space.

Pursuing Challenges: 

     Inspite of having low powerful launch vehicle “MOM” reached Mars by injecting itself in Trans-Mars trajectory towards Mars using continuous orbital maneuvering propulsion.  Survived in Black out phase when Mars lacked sunlight (It lost most of its fuel during this concern and moved away from blackout for power production).  Loss of capability for Methane detection of MCC (Mars Color Camera) made scientists to switch for albedo mapping applications.  This mission is planned for 6 months, but it survived more than 4 years and expected to continue its observations till 2020s.

Honors and Awards:

• Upon successful orbital insertion on 24 September 2013. NASA and their scientist congratulated ISRO and Mars scientist including whole team.   
• Google also celebrated the one-month successful operation of Mangalyaan around Mars.
• In 2014,China referred India's MOM as "Pride of Asia".
• MOM and theirs scientists won "US-National Space Society's 2015 Space Pioneer Award" in science and engineering category of which NSS stated "The award was given for successfully executing Mars Mission in its first attempt".
• One of the image of Mangalyaan's spacecraft is printed in Rupee 2000 currency note of India
• An image from Mars Color Camera (Mangalyaan) was printed as cover photo of 2016 November issue " National Geographic Magazine"

Future vision and follow up mission:

• ISRO plans for a follow up mission Mangalyaan-2" (MOM-2) with greater scientific payload by 2020s.
• It may include a Rover and a Orbiter which is scheduled to launch after Chandrayaan-2 in January 2019.

Results and Publications:

[1] Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft and its Challenges " S.Arunan and R.Satish" Special Issue. Current Science.

[2] "On the evening time Exosphere of Mars : Results from MENCA aboard Mars Orbiter Mission" by A.Bhardwaj.

[3] Interplanetary missions India Mars " V Adimurthy"

Additional References and Supplementary Data:

• Mangalyaan - MOM - ISRO
• Mars Orbiter Mission - Wikipedia
• An Overview - Mars Orbiter Mission
• Mission Objectives
• MOM First Year Data Release
• MOM Mission Objectives
• Illustrated Book of Mars Mission
• Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) ISRO.PDF
• MENCA - Space Physics Laboratory

References:

[1] Mars Orbiter Mission “ I n d i a n S p a c e R e s e a r c h O r g a n i z a t i o n ” Retrieved from https://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission.html on 22 September 2018.

[2] S. Arunan and R. Satish “ Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft and its Challenges ”. Special Issue published in Current Science.

[3] Mangalyaan (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved September 18, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalyaan.

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Parker Solar Probe

Parker Solar Probe  Image Credit: NASA

      National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Parker Solar Probe mission will change the perspective view and understanding of the Sun, where major changing condition happens in outer sphere of sun propagate into solar system affecting our earth and planetary systems. It will be the first spacecraft to travel too closer to the Sun's atmosphere after MESSENGER spacecraft facing enormous heat and radiation condition. It will provide a closer view of nearest star to the observers.

     Parker Solar Probe is estimated to unlock all the mysteries of Sun, in order to achieve this intent, it will use Venus gravity assist to gradually travel near to the sun during seven days of flyby around Venus. It is estimated approach to sun is about 3.8 million miles ( within the orbit of Mercury) and seven times closer than any spacecraft has ever attempted.

     Parker Solar Probe was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force station on 12th August 2018 strapped with Delta IV-Heavy class launch vehicles. Now the spacecraft is in the trajectory phase to Sun. It will fly first into the outer part of the sun (Corona) and will start its experiments and imaging. The experimental result will help us to expand our knowledge about the origin and evolution of solar wind in sun's atmosphere. The winds affects the technological spacecrafts around earth and damage to life systems on Earth.

     Parker Solar Probe will perform extreme level scientific investigations and studies in a hazardous condition around the region where there is extreme heat and radiation. The spacecraft will fly close to the sun by crossing extreme sun's particles. Instruments will be protected from heat by a 4.5 inch thick carbon wall to maintain stable temperature and to perform investigations.

    Parker Solar Probe is a part of NASA's Living with a Star exploration  program and its operations were managed by Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt. The John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel is responsible for design and building of spacecraft and mission operation.

More Information About Parker Solar Probe:

• Parker Solar Probe - NASA
• Space.Com - Parker Mission to Sun
• Parker Solar Probe Mission Details - Wikipedia
• John Hopkins University of Applied Physics Laboratory - Parker Probe
• Milestone to Sun - Parker Mission - Spaceflightnow
• Parker Solar Mission - Description-one | Description-two
• Contractor - United Launch Alliance
• Manufacturer - Applied Physics Laboratory
• NASA Blog - Parker Probe
• Track Speed of Parker Probe
• Living With a Star Program

Parker Solar Probe Launch - Delta IV-Heavy Rocket:


Credits:

Image Credit: NASA
Video Credit : NASA

References:

[1] Parker Mission " NASA"  Retrieved from url https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe on 10 September 2018

[2] Parker Speed "NASA". Retrieved from url https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/ on 10 September 2018.

[3] Parker Mission Updates "NASA". Retrieved from url https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/programs/living-with-a-star on 10 September 2018.

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Unispace Nano Satellite Assemble & Training by ISRO

Unispace Nano Satellite Assemble & Training

Indian Space Research Organisation is going to organise UNNATI ( Unispace Nano Satellite Assemble & Training) for engineering students, post graduate students and any major physics background students at UR Rao Satellite Centre, Bangalore. It was proposed during 54th Scientific and Technical Sub Committee Session at Vienna in Feb 2017. It is suggested for conducting a capacity to build small nano satellites. Great initiative taken by ISRO to promote students of various interest areas to participate in space related activities. 

See more details at https://www.isac.gov.in/indounssp/index.jsp

Download UNNATI Bronchure

To Register Click here

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Discovery of Sub-Saturn Exoplanet around a Star

Sub-Saturn like Planet Discovery, India (PARAS Spectrograph).

Flash points:

• Indian discovery of exoplanet named K2-236b.
• Discovered by team of Dr.Abijit Chakraborthy.
• Surrounds around EPIC 211945201 Star.
• Precise measurements was made by PARAS Spectrograph.
• Observation were made in Gurusikhar Observatory, Mount Abu, India.
• It's mass is about 27-times mass of Earth.
• It lies about 600 light years away from Earth
• Surface temperature of the planet is about 600 degree Celsius.
• Period of Revolution around star 19.5 days.
• Period of discovery and confirmation 420 days (1.5 Years).
• The Research article can be found at doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aac436

 Scientific Facts:

    The scientific team led by professor Abijit Chakraborthy of Ahmedabad Physical Research Laboratory discovered a sub-Saturn or super-Neptune size about 27 times the mass of Earth. The planet moves around the star in every 19.5 days. It is about 600 light years away from our earth. The discovery was made with a new kind of rare spectrograph in Asia called PARAS ( Physical Research Laboratory Advanced Radial Velocity Abu-Sky Search) which is about 1.2 m telescope in PRL's Gurusikhar Observatory located in Mount Abu, India.

      The surface temperature of the planet is about 600 degree Celsius measured by very sensitive instruments. The name of  the hot-star is EPIC 211945201 or K2-236. Initially, the source was found to be a planetary candidate from NASA K2 photometry, because it was transisting and lies between the star and the observer on the earth as it goes around the star and blocks tiny amount of light to reach earth.

     Using the spectrograph, its radii was about 6 times the Earth radii. The K2 photometric data was not sufficient to confirm the planetary nature of the planet. Therefore, independent measurement of the mass of the body was necessary for the discovery, which was made by PARAS spectrograph.

Reach the article at https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aac436

References:

[1] ISRO (07-June-2018) " Discovery of Sub-Saturn Exoplanet around a Sun like Star" Indian Space Research Organisation. Retrieved from https://www.isro.gov.in/discovery-of-sub-saturn-exoplanet-around-sun-star on 22-07-2018. 

Credits:

Image Credit : ISRO | PARAS | Gurusikhar Observatory - India

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Accidental discovery of 12 Jupiter's new moons

12 New moons of Jupiter discovered

Team of astronomers from Hawaii and Arizona has reported the discovery of 12 moons around Jupiter in addition to 67 moons which were discovered earlier. After this majestic discovery the total count of the Jupiter's moon reached to 79 which is most for any other planet./

The discovery of this moons were not planned but they were accidentally discovered while looking for the objects on the fringes of the solar system. In this report, astronomers confirmed that two were discovered earlier and 10 more were discovered on Tuesday. One of these moon called oddball as named by the astronomers due to the unusual orbit around the Jupiter.

The newly identified moons were too small ranges from 1 km to 2 km. But the Jupiter is a home to the largest moon in the solar system Ganymede having diameter about 5,268 km. These team were led by astronomer Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington who identified twelve small Jovian moons.

Researcher conclude that these moons were formed in the earlier stage of formation of the solar system but they were probably captured by the Jupiter's strong gravitational pull. Researcher thinks that, these moons may be intermediate between rocky asteroids and icy moons. Because they are probably half ice and half rock.

Valetudo is named for the odd moon which have unusual orbit around Jupiter. It was named after the Roman god Jupiter's great-granddaughter - the goddess of health and hygiene. It spins normal like other moons but it sometimes spins in a wrong way. It have probability of getting collided with other objects. It may have collided with many objects as predicted by Scott Sheppard. From this discovery he concludes that, other planets may have undiscovered moons.

Images taken with Carnegie's 6.5-meter Magellan telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Lines point to Valetudo

Credit: Carnegie Institution for Science.

References:
[1] Astronomers accidentally discover 12 new moons orbiting Jupiter (18-July-2018) India Today.
[2] Image Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Jupiter on 19-July-2018.
[3] Astronomers discovered 10 new moons of Jupiter (17-July-2018). Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/7/17/17576408/jupiter-moons-carnegie-blanco-telescope-astronomy-iau on 19-July-2018.
[4] One 'Oddball' among 12 new found moons discovered orbiting Jupiter (17-July-2018) . Retrieved from https://www.space.com/41180-oddball-moon-orbits-jupiter.html on 19-July-2018.

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Life 2017 full movie

Life 2017 full movie

Movie Name : Life 

Directed by : Daniel Espinosa

Produced by : David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Bonnie Curtis and Julie lynn

Written by : Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick

Production : Sony Pictures

Release Date : 18 March 2017

Country : United States

Duration : 104 minutes

Language : English

Budget : $58 million USD
Download Link :

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Spacex - blue origin - new era in space exploration

New Shepard 2 - blue origin rocket launch and landing video

Blue Origin's New Shepard 2 succeeded in launch and landing. It's major success will create new era in space science exploration and human interplanetary travel in upcoming decades. In parallel to Blue Origin, Space-x also have Falcon9 and Falcon Heavy class rocket which are reusable and capable of landing. Both the Falcon and New Shepard will be used for future interplanetary exploration and manned mission. 

This Video shows the launch and landing of New Shepard 2 reusable rocket successfully tested on 23 November 2015.

References:
[1] Image Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ef/Blue_Origin_New_Shepard_Launch_april_2015.jpg on 18-July-2018

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Successful Test of ISRO's Vikas Engine

Successful Test of Vikas Engine | ISRO [2]

    On 15-July-2018, Indian Space Research Organisation's ( ISRO Propulsion Complex) successfully tested high thrust version of Vikas Engine. The test was about 195 seconds at Mahendragiri. It is a liquid rocket engine powering the second stage of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and also second stage and four strap of the stages of Geosynchronous Satellite launch Vehicle (GSLV) with the twin liquid core engine (L110) of GSLV-Mark-III.

All the performance parameters during the test were found to be satisfactory and closely matched to the simulation predictions. It validated the performance adequacy of the Vikas Engine for the use in future flight of GSLV-Mark-III. It is estimated to improve the payload capability of launch vehicles such as PSLV, GSLV and GSLV-Mark-III.[1]

Image Credit: ISRO Propulsion Complex | ISRO

References:

[1] Vikas Engine (15-July-2018) "Successful test of Vikas Engine" Indian Space Research Organisation. Retrieved from https://www.isro.gov.in/update/15-jul-2018/successful-qualification-of-high-thrust-vikas-engine on 18-July-2018.

[2] Vikas Engine (15-July-2018) "Successful test of Vikas Engine" Indian Space Research Organisation. Retrieved from https://www.isro.gov.in/sites/default/files/hot_test.jpg on 18-July-2018.

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Mangalyaan Updates 2018

Olympus Mons (Mars) | Image Credit : Mangalyaan ISRO

     The above image shows picture of solar system's largest volcano Olympus Mons taken by Indian Space Research Organisation's Mangalyaan (Mars Colour Camera). It was taken on 18th March of 2018 at an altitude of 8,387 km from the surface with spatial resolution is about 436m. This volcano is located in Tharasis region and its height is about 21,000 metres.

   Mangalyaan is a small orbiter designed and developed by Indian scientists. It has been achieving its mission goal since its arrival in 2014. It is one of the active spacecraft around Mars among various Mars orbiters. Latest image of Mangalyaan was upated on 18 March 2018 in ISRO's official website.

Image Credit : ISRO | Mangalyaan

References:
[1] ISRO (18 March 2018) "Mangalyaan Update" Indian Space Research Organisation. Retrieved from https://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/olympus-mons on 16-July-2018.

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Successful test of Crew Escape System from India

Crew Escape System:

Crew Escape System-India-Technology Demonstrator

     India had planned to carry out manned mission by 2018, but due to some obstruction in financial condition. It has achieved a major technology demonstration on 05-July-2018. The first series of tests to qualify Crew Escape System, which is critical technological relevant for human spaceflight. The crew escape system is an emergency escape designed to quickly pull astronauts along with crew module away from launch vehicle during emergency launch abort. The foremost test (Pad Abort Test) demonstrated the safe recovery of crew module in case of exigency in launch pad from Sriharikotta Rocket Launch Pad.

     After a smooth countdown of 5 hours, the Crew Escape System along with crew module with mass of 12.6 tonnes, lifted off at 07:00 AM Indian Standard Time at the opening of the launch window from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on 05-07-2018. The test was over in 259 seconds, during the Crew Escape System roared towards the sky and landed in Bay of Bengal using main parachutes about 2.9 kilometers away from Sriharikota.

    After the launch, the Crew Escape System reached a height of 2.7 km using specially designed seven solid rocket motors. During the course of launch, nearly 300 sensors recorded various mission performance parameters. After the landing, three boats were used to recover the Crew module from Bay of Bengal.

    Indians hope that this type of Crew Capsules will be helpful in manned mission for the exploration of Moon and they may extend their exploration to Mars after subsequent mission of Mangalyaan-2. This Crew Escape System is complete indigenous technology designed and developed in India by various scientists and engineers. It is aimed that India will join the major countries to have the capabilities of launching crews to space after future successful mission. First man in space Dr.Rakesh Sharma brought proud to the Indian nation reaching the space from Russian manned mission. But, soon we will have astronauts in space, which will be launched from Indian land with its own indigenous launch vehicle.

Image Credit : Indian Space Research Organisation

References:

[1] ISRO website (05-July-2018) " Successful flight testing of Crew Escape System-technology demonstrator" Indian Space Research Organisation. Retrieved from url https://www.isro.gov.in/update/05-jul-2018/successful-flight-testing-of-crew-escape-system-technology-demonstrator on 15-07-2018.

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Discovery of Saturn like planet around a star | India

Date: 22-June-2018

Discovery of new exoplanet around a star:

Discovery of Indian Exoplanet

     A team of researchers and engineers under professor. Abhijit Chakraborthy from Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmedabad), have discovered a planet which size lies between sub-Saturn and Super-Neptune. Its mass is about 27 times of Earth around a sun like star. The planet was named as EPIC-211945201b or K2-236b.

The work regarding the discovery and measurement has appeared in the Astronomical Journal of the American Astronomical Society and the article was published by IOP Publishing house.

The discovery was made by measuring the mass and size of the planet by using the indigenously developed PRL Advance Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search (PARAS) spectrograph integrated with 1.2m diameter telescope located at Gurushikhar Observatory in Mount Abu, India. There are 23 such planetary systems are known to this date with masses between 10 to 70 Earth mass and size of 4 to 8 Earth radii. This discovery is very important to understand the formation of planets and planetary systems around sun like star.

With this discovery of EPIC-211945201b, India has joined a handful of countries, which have discovered planets around stars beyond our solar system.

About PARAS:

     PARAS is the first kind of spectrograph in Asia, which can measure the mass of a planet going around a star. Rare spectrograph were found all over the world which can measure such precise measurements.

References:

[1] ISRO (22-June-2018) "Discovery of a sub-Saturn like planet around a Sun-like star" Indian Space Research Organisation. Retrieved from https://www.isro.gov.in/update/22-june-2018/discovery-of-a-sub-saturn-like-planet-around-a-sun-like-star on 15-07-2018.

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MARS in Our Naked Eye - Night Sky Events July-2018

Earth-Mars Closest Approach

     This year will be the best to turn our telescope towards Mars. According to National Aeronautics Space Administration, from July 27 to July 30 of 2018, Mars will appear brightest object in the night sky. It is estimated that the closest approach will be in 31-July-2018. [1]

Mars in our Naked Eye:

Mars to the naked eye [2]

     Simply we can go outside and make a look into the sky. The Mars will look brighter like a star in reddish-yellow colour. This can be seen from middle of May-2018 to End July-2018.

Mars Close Approach to Earth:

     Mars will be at somewhat around 57.6 million kilometers away from Earth. Mars will reach it highest point around midnight approximately at 35 degrees above the southern horizon.

     By middle of the August, Mars will become fainter object as it will move farther away from each other in their orbits around Sun. The next estimated close approach is October 2020.[2]

Perfect for Mission Launches:

     This Mars close approach will be best for Mission launches to Mars, so that it can travel and reach earlier as possible. In this 2018- launch window NASA's InSight Mars Lander launched on 05-May-2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Station. [3]

References:

[1] The night sky in May 2018 ( 18-May-2018) Jet Propulsion Laboratory | California Institute of Technology. (NASA). Retrieved from The Night Sky in May 2018 on 03-07-2018.

[2] Mars in our night sky ( July-2018) Mars Exploration Program. National Aeronautics Space Administration. Retrieved from https://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/nightsky/mars-close-approach/ on 03-07-2018.

[3] Mission Timeline ( 5-May-208) Mars InSight Mission. NASA Website. Retrieved from https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/timeline/launch/ on 03-07-2018.

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Organic Molecules in Enceladus

     Data from earlier Cassini mission spacecraft has found complex organic molecules coming out of Saturn's Icy moon Enceladus. It strengthens the idea of existence of water and hosts good condition for life.

Scientists revealed that complex organic material get mixed with hot hydro-thermal water and released into space in the form of water vapor and ice grains. These results were discovered by a team led by Frank Postberg and Nozair Khawaja from the University of Heidelberg.

On Enceladus, bubbles of gas, rising through miles of ocean, could bring up organic material from depths, where they could form a thin film floating on the ocean surface and in cracks of vents, in the interior of the moon, beneath its icy shell.

After rising near the top of the ocean, the bubbles may burst or otherwise disperse the organics, where they were detected by Cassini.

Continuing studies of Cassini data will help us unravel the mysteries of this intriguing ocean world,” said Cassini Project Scientist Linda Spilker of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

References:

[1] Gretchen McCartney, Dwayne Brown, JoAnna Wendel, Markus Bauer (27 June 2018) " Complex Organics Bubble up from Ocean-world Enceladus" NASA Website. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/complex-organics-bubble-up-from-ocean-world-enceladus on 02-06-2018.

Credits:

Information Source: NASA

Image : NASA

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Insight Mars Lander Launch

Insight Mars Lander on Atlas-V Rocket at Vandenburg launch pad

     NASA's mission to Mars to study the Interior part of Mars with the launch of Insight Mars Lander on 5th May 2018. It will the first mission to be launched from Canada. The lander will be launched in May-June Mars launch window, which is determined by Hohmann Transfer Orbit. ( The cheap and most fuel saving path for Mars). 

   This lander was designed and constructed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory a part of California Institute of Technology.The lander will be carried out by Atlas-V class launch vehicle.

About Insight Mars Lander:

Insight Lander

     It is a robotic lander designed to study the interior and subsurface of Mars. This study will help scientists to understand the history of Earth and Solar system. The expectation of the arrival is around November 2018. It carries two science instruments additionally to deploy during EDL phase to perform radio science experiment. They are Seismometer and heat probe to study the internal structure of Mars.

Backronym: InSight

InSight - Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport. 

Successfully Launched:

     Rocket of United Alliance (Atlas-V) lifted-off from the Space Launch Complex-3 that is Vandenburg Air Force Base, California.  The lift-off was on 4:05 AM at PDT time and 7:05 AM at EDT time. It will be the first mission to look beneath the Martian surface.

Credits:

Image and Text  : NASA

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Intricate Clouds Jupiter

Intricate Clouds of Jupiter | Image : JunoCam | NASA

Intricate Clouds:

 

     NASA's Juno Mission had explored intricate cloud patterns in the northern hemisphere of planet Jupiter.

This image was processed by National Aeronautics Space Administration Image Processing Department. It was taken on 1st April 2018 at 02:32 a.m, when Juno performed its twelfth close flyby of Jupiter. At that time the spacecraft was about 12,326 kilometers from the top of the clouds with an angle of 50.2 degrees.

About Juno Mission:

     Juno spacecraft was launched on 5 August 2011, from Cape Canaveral Air force station, Florida.  After few years it arrived Jupiter on 4 July 2016. From its arrival it had completed nine science pass around the Jupiter. The last science pass was on 16 December 2017. During its flybys Jupiter's clouds, atmosphere, great red-spot and radiation zone was explored including its magnetosphere. Juno mission is a part of NASA"s New Frontiers Program and the spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, part of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech in Pasadena, California.

More Information:

• https://www.nasa.gov/juno
• https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/

Get JunoCam Raw Images at:

www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam

More Information about Juno is at:

https://www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.swri.edu

Credits:

Image Credit: JunoCam

Text Credit : NASA

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Insight Mars Lander Updates

InSight Mars Lander

Introduction:

     Humans started to explore Mars since 1960s. Exploration journey began with the launch of Soviet Union's spacecraft Mars 1M No.1 which failed in its first attempt. Among 12 Martian landers, Insight is one of the upcoming lander program of National Aeronautics Space Administration. It's most fundamental plan is to study deeper about Mars Surface. It had reached Vandenberg for launch in few months.

Insight Mars Lander:

     Insight is Mars Science Lander aimed to launch in May of 2018 and it will land on the surface of Mars in November 2018. After its landing, it will deploy its Seismometer & Heat Probe to perform radio science experiment. It will study and analyze the interior of the Mars body.

Mission Overview:

     Insight was manufactured and designed by NASA's Lockheed Martin Space Systems and controlled by Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The mission duration was planned for approx.two years. The full form of Insight - Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport. It is constructed using the same technology from Mars Phoenix Lander which successfully landed on surface of Mars in 2008. Its construction began in 19 May 2014 and completion in 27 May 2015.

Scientific Instruments:

1.  Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure
2. Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package
3. Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment
4. Temperature and Winds for InSight

Name Chip:

     Interesting part of this lander is Name Chip, for NASA's outreach program. NASA conducted two rounds of registering names and send it to Mars. As by 2017 1.6 million names were etched in a small chip (0.3 inch). The lander have two chips for carrying name to Mars.(* I also have a ticket to send my name to Mars | Thanks to the Program Committee and Insight lander)

Launch:

     The launch is scheduled between 5 May 2018 to 8 June 2018. It will be carried by Atlas-V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base, California,United States. This will be the first interplanetary mission launched from California. The journey towards Mars will take 6.5 months of traveling time and about 484 million kilometer. The lander is planned to land in Elysium Planitia which is located slightly above the landing site of a Curiosity Rover.

Credit:

Image : NASA

Text : NASA | Wikipedia  

Tags: Space Updates | Insight Mars Lander | Fornax Space Missions

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