Mom (Mars Orbiter Mission)
What is MOM?
India marks its history day on 5 November 2013 when India sent its probe to Mars. India showed its prowess in the field of Science and Technology. Mars Orbiter Mission is also known as ‘Mangalyaan’ (Hindi) by doing so; India becomes the first country that has successfully inserted its probe into Mars. The main aim of this mission was to successfully send a probe to Mars and to give important information about its mineralogy, morphology, and the entire Martian atmosphere. This probe was ingressed into Mars on 24 September 2014. After this splendid succession of this mission, ISRO has been appreciated by various space agencies. Even NASA has offered a collaboration project to ISRO.
MOM carries a total set of five scientific payloads to study the Martian surface features, morphology, mineralogy, and Martian atmosphere.
Spacecraft And Its Designing
There are a total of 5 sets of equipment inside MOM. This equipment weighs almost 15 kilogram. These five types of equipment are:-
- Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP)- It measures the sufficiency of deuterium and hydrogen in the upper surface of Mars, so that presence of water could be detected.
- Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM)- This equipment looks for the presence and source of various gases available in the Martian atmosphere.
- Mars Color Camera- This captures the photo on Mars.
- Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS)- This spectrometer helps to study minerals and soils on Mars.
- Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition (MENCA)- It helps to examine the neutral upper atmospheric composition and helps in understanding escape from the Martian atmosphere.
Cost And Budget Of MOM
- MOM is known for its cheap budget. This is India’s low-cost mission. It is estimated to be 7 per kilometer in space. The cost of another probe that other space agencies had sent to travel in the red planet in these past years are as follows:-
| Name of the Space Agencies | Estimated cost of sending probe to the space | Year in which probe was sent |
| NASA Maven | $671mn | November 18, 2013 |
| Mara Express Orbiter | $386mn | June, 2013. |
| Japan Aerospace Exploration | $189mn | July, 1998. |
| Russian Federal Space Agency Phobos Grunt with Chinese Satellite | $117mn | November 8, 2011. |
| Indian Space Research Organization | $74mn | September 24, 2014. |
Future Of Mars Mission
- After successful completion of this Mission. Mangalyaan 2 or MOM-2 will be the next Orbiter Mission. ISRO plans to set three humans into space by 2022, under the Gaganyaan Mission. The second mission to Mars will be undertaken only after the launch of Chandrayan-3. Even NASA had given an offer for a collaboration project with ISRO.
Movie Made On MOM Mission
- Well, the entertainment industry had made multiple movies on the planet Mars. The Indian film industry, Bollywood had made a movie named ‘Mission Mangal’ based upon the true events of MOM Mission; starring Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sakshi Tanwar in the year 2019. The movie portrayed the sheer hardship of Indian scientists while they go through the actual mission. Though the movie focused majorly on women scientists especially parading womanhood as its central theme.
Team Members And Scientists Involved In This Mission
- This mission was successfully carried out with the help of 500 members who had worked hard and contributed their part to the mission. Kudos to all genius mind scientists who helped our nation to enter the elite club. 27% of the key executive positions were held by women scientists. Meet the faces behind this successful mission.
1. K Radhakrishnan: -
- He is the chairperson of ISRO. He received Padma Bhushan in 2014. He led this project and managed the entire activity of the team members. It was under his leadership that the team came together and executed his orders.
2. M Annadurai: -
- He was deeply involved in all the former missions of ISRO and Chandrayaan. He played an integral part in the MOM Mission. He received the Padma Shri in 2016 for his outstanding contribution in the field of science and technology. He was the program director of MOM. It is said that the cost of this mission was minimal because of him as he was responsible for budget management.
3. Moumita Dutta: -
- She hails from Kolkata. She has already worked on many projects with ISRO. She was the project manager for this mission. Since childhood, she has had a special interest in stars, the universe, and celestial bodies. Currently, she is making different instruments for ISRO.
4. Ritu Karidhal: -
- She was one of those faces amongst women scientists who made this mission successful. She was the mission director of this mission. She has won many prestigious awards. She has been working for ISRO since 1997.
5. Nandini Harinath: -
- She is the rocket scientist at ISRO. She is one of the renowned faces inside the ISRO who has been actively working for the organization. She was the Deputy Operation Director of the MOM mission.
6. Anuradha TK: -
- She is the senior-most officer at ISRO. She has worked for the past 34 years at ISRO. She was the Geosat Program Director of this MOM project and specialized in communication satellites.
Top 13 Interested Facts About Mars Orbiter Mission
‘Mars Orbiter Mission’ popularly addressed as ‘MOM’ or ‘Mangalyaan’ is an indigenous built space probe and successfully launched mission of India.
India becomes the first country to reach Mars without any failure to send the MOM in the first attempt.
The center of this mission was in Sriharikota which is situated in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
MOM bagged a few prestigious Awards like Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace and Disarmament and Development. Another award is the Space Pioneer Award.
5 Nov 2013 is the historic day when Mangalyaan was launched.
One of the major objectives of this MOM is to develop technologies that are required in planning, designing, and management. It also yields information on Mars morphology and mineralogy.
It was sent to read the Martian atmosphere and it also reads the presence of methane gas.
This mission costs approximately Rs 450 crore which is the cheapest interplanetary mission.
The weight of this Orbiter is 1,350kg comparatively lesser than other spacecraft.
Currently, ISRO is planning to develop and launch another mission called MOM-2 in 2024.
Apart from India, three other space agencies countries that tried to send their craft to Mars were Russia, China, and Japan.
The mission was successfully carried out by a group of scientists who shed their sweat and blood and set out the path for ISRO to Mars. K Radha Krishna is the chairman of ISRO, M Annadurai, is the program director of this mission. Major contributions go to women scientists Ritu Karidhal, Nandani Harinath, Anuradha TK, and Moumita Dutta.
Mangalyaan covered almost 622 million kilometers in a heliocentric trajectory which is approximately 199 million away from the Earth with a velocity of 23.33 km/second.
Tanisha Singh
Writer
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