support through the agency’s
Deep Space Network (DSN).
ndia is gearing up for its first
As India’s initial mission to
ever space undertaking to the
Mars, ISRO says that the mission’s
Red Planet - the Mars Orbiter
objectives are both technological
Mission, or MOM - which is the
and scientific to demonstrate
brainchild of the Indian Space
the nation’s capability to design
Research Organization, or ISRO.
an interplanetary mission and
Among
other
objectives,
carry out fundamental Red
MOM will conduct a search for
Planet research with a suite of
potential signatures of Martian
indigenously built instruments.
methane - which could stem
MOM’s science complement
from either living or non living
comprises the tri color Mars Color
sources. The historic Mars bound
Camera to image the planet
probe also serves as a forerunner
and its two moons, Phobos
to bolder robotic exploration
and Deimos; the Lyman Alpha
goals.
Photometer to measure the
If all goes well India would
abundance of hydrogen and
become only the fourth nation
deuterium and understand the
or entity from Earth to survey
planets water loss process; a
Mars up close with spacecraft,
Thermal Imaging Spectrometer
following the Soviet Union, the
to map surface composition
United States and the European
and mineralogy, the MENCA
Space Agency (ESA).
mass spectrometer to analyze
The 1,350 kilogram (2,980
pound) orbiter, also known as The PSLV-C25 rocket (above) undergoing launch atmospheric composition, and
‘Mangalyaan’, is slated to blast rehearsal with the Moible Service Tower retracted. the Methane Sensor for Mars
off as early as Nov. 5 atop the The MOM spacecraft (below) is being integrated to to measure traces of potential
more powerful, extended XL the fourth stage of its rocket.
Photos: ISRO atmospheric methane down to
the ppm level.
version of India’s highly reliable
It will be of extremely great interest to compare any
four stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from a
methane detection measurements from MOM to those
seaside launch pad in Srihanikota, India.
MOM is outfitted with an array of five science instru- ongoing from NASA’s Curiosity rover - which found
ments including a multi color imager and a methane ground level methane to be essentially nonexistent gas sniffer to study the Red Planet’s atmosphere, and Europe’s planned 2016 ExoMarsTrace Gas Orbiter.
MOM’s design builds on spacecraft heritage from
morphology, mineralogy and surface features.
India’s Chandrayaan 1 lunar
Methane on Earth ori