MOM - Made In India

The accomplishment of MOM has made every Indian proud.  A developing nation had successfully built the spacecraft and launched it into the Mars Orbit in its first attempt.  World wide 51 attempts were made and only 22 succeeded in this endeavour.  India is the first Asian country and fourth in the world (US, Europe and Russia – the first three) to be able to insert Mangalyaan into Mars orbit and created history.  1000 scientists under ISRO chairman Shri. K. Radha Krishnan have worked diligently and created history in world space research. 

Mars also known as red planet is the second smallest celestial body in the solar system is believed to be similar to earth in many ways and is hospitable.  Mars is moving and even earth moves.  The space craft weighing 1350 KM equipped with five instruments – a sensor to track methane (possible sign of life), color camera, thermo imaging spectrometer to map surface and mineral wealth of Mars was lifted off by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from First Launched Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.  The space vehicle traveling for 680 million KM reached the tiny circle of less than 2 KM, the right time to insert into the orbit.  MOM employed accurate navigation modeling and precision hardware to execute Mars Orbit Insertion with 440 Newton engine that restarted after being idle for 300 days (since the trans Martian insertion burn on 15 November 2013).  It takes about 25 minutes for a radio signal to reach MOM and return ground station which makes real time control and communication impractical.  MOM built with its own intelligence to manage crucial operation like Mars Orbiter Insertion, fault detection, isolation and reconfiguration of systems and operations during non-visible periods worked out successfully and created history in the world.

The Mars Orbiter Mission is 100% indigenous.  The cost of the mission is 454 crores which is less than the amount spent for the production of a Hollywood movie.  India has produced a car for $2500, a tablet for $30 and now succeeded in Mangalyaan spending just at $74.million. 

The nation is indebted to all the sincere workers who achieve unbelievable targets with limited resources and make every Indian proud. 

Mera Bharat Mahaan.

Image Source : 1) ISRO Images and photos of Mars Orbiter Mission.

                          2) Space.com