Mission Mars: India's Quest for the Red Planet

131 Pages·2014·3.079 MB·English

by  Ajey Lele (auth.)

SPRINGER BRIEFS IN
APPLIED SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
Ajey Lele
Mission Mars
India’s Quest for
the Red Planet
SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences
and Technology
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Ajey Lele
Mission Mars
India’s Quest for the Red Planet
123
Ajey Lele
InstituteforDefence Studies andAnalyses
New Delhi
India
ISSN 2191-530X ISSN 2191-5318 (electronic)
ISBN 978-81-322-1520-2 ISBN 978-81-322-1521-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-1521-9
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(cid:2)TheAuthor(s)2014
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To my sister Suvarna
Preface
India’s first mission to Mars is scheduled for launch in November 2013. This
missionhasattractedasignificantamountofattentionglobally.Atthebackdropof
this mission this book attempts to discuss the interests and importance of Mars.
Reaching Mars is a quantifiable science but convincing people about the
importanceofMarsismoreaboutart.Thisbookoscillatesbetweenscienceandart
to understand the scientific and technological endeavour called Mission Mars and
its relevance to society. It is hoped that this work would offer a reader with an
appreciationofcontemporaryhappeningswithregardtothehumaneffortstostudy
Mars and the nature of complexities and the context in which these attempts are
evolving.
In respect of India’s Mars programme, the author is grateful to Dr. K. Radha-
krishnan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for useful
discussions and for giving access to requisite information with regard to India’s
first Mars mission. Also, I would like to specially thank Dr. V. Adimurthy,
Mr.ShantanuBhatawdekar,Mr.V.GopalakrishnanandotherISROscientistsand
Professor J. N. Goswami, Director, Physical Research Laboratory, for providing
relevant information and useful discussions.
I owe my sincere gratitude to the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
(IDSA) and Director General Dr. Arvind Gupta, for encouraging me to undertake
this work. I am also grateful to Mr. Parveen Bhardwaj and Mr. Vivek Kaushik
from IDSA for their support.
Lastly, I extend my gratitude to my parents, wife Pramada and son Nipun for
their support. The contents of this book reflect my own personal views.
Ajey Lele
vii
Contents
Part I Prelude
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2 Why Mars?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3 Discerning Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.1 Natural Features and Atmospheric Conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.1.1 Moons of Mars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.2 Mars Astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Part II India and Mars Agenda
4 Indian Multidimensional Space Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5 Mars Orbiter Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.1 Mission Silhouette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.1.1 India’s Mars Agenda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.1.2 Mission Mars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.1.3 The Mars Orbiter Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.1.4 Launch Platform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.1.5 Mars Orbiter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5.1.6 Mission Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.1.7 Mission Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
5.1.8 Mission Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5.2 Mission Payloads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5.2.1 Lyman Alpha Photometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.2.2 Methane Sensor for Mars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
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x Contents
5.2.3 Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser. . . . . . . 58
5.2.4 Mars Color Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.2.5 Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer
(TIS)-Backup Payload. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.2.6 Processing and Distribution of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.3 Undertaking Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.3.1 Power Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.3.2 Communication Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.3.3 Ground Segment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.3.4 Propulsion Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.3.5 On-board Autonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.3.6 Weather. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.3.7 Comet Strike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
5.3.8 Overall Mission Intricacies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6 Asia’s Investments in Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.1 Japan’s Mars Agenda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.2 China’s Interests in Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
6.3 Chinese and Japanese Mission Payloads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.4 Sum Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Part III Depicting and Debating
7 Mars Missions: Past, Present and Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
7.1 A Journey Through a Half Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
7.2 Future Programmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
7.2.1 Maven. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
7.2.2 ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
7.3 Human Mission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
7.4 Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
8 Cost Contested: Perceptions Versus Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
9 Wrapping Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Acronyms
BWG Beam Wave Guide
CA Core-alone
CBM Confidence Building Mechanisms
CTH Crew Transfer Habitation
DoS Department of Space
EIS Electron and Ion Spectrometer
ESA Electron Spectrum Analyser
ExoMars Exobiology on Mars
FOV Field of View
GSLV Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle
IIST Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology
IMI Ion Mass Imager
IMP International Mars Project
INCOSPAR Indian National Committee for Space Research
IRNSS Regional Navigational Satellite System
ISA Ion Spectrum Analyser
ISRO Indian Space Research Organisation
ISSDC Indian Space Science Data Centre
JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
LAP Lyman Alpha Photometer
LEM Liquid Engine Motor
LEO Low Earth Orbit
LEOS Laboratory for Electro Optics Systems
LFA Low Frequency Plasma Wave Analyser
LLRI Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument
MAVEN Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution
MCC Mars Colour Camera
MDC Mars Dust Counter
MDRS Mars Desert Research Station
MELOS Mars Exploration with a Lander and Obiter
MENCA Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser
MGF Magnetic Field Measurement
MIC Mars Imaging Camera
xi
xii Acronyms
MOI Martian Orbit Insertion
MSM Methane Sensor for Mars
MTT Martian Transfer Trajectory
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NGIMS Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer
NMS Neutral Mass Spectrometer
PET Probe for Electron Temperature
PIs Principal Investigators
POCs Payload Operations Centres
PRL Physical Research Laboratory
PSLV Polar Orbiting Satellite Launch Vehicle
PWS Plasma Wave and Sounder
RosCosmos Russian Federal Space Agency
SCC Spacecraft Control Centre
SOI Sphere of Influence
SRE Space Capsule Recovery Experiment
TGO Trace Gas Orbiter
TIS Thermal Imaging Spectrometer
TPA Thermal Plasma Analyser
UAVs Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
USGS United States Geological Survey
UVS Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer
VEGA Venus–Earth Gravity Assist
XUV Extra Ultraviolet Scanner