On Wednesday, India’s orbiter to Mars will begin its journey from Isro’s Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bengaluru to the launch pad at Sriharikota range, precisely five years to the day that Chandrayaan-I
On Wednesday, India’s orbiter to Mars will begin its journey from Isro’s Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bengaluru to the launch pad at Sriharikota range, precisely five years to the day that Chandrayaan-I commenced a similar trip to the spaceport, marking the first step of the space scientists’ tryst with the red planet. The 1,340-kg orbiter, set for launch by a modified, powerful version of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on October 28, has been given the thumbs-up by experts after a slew of tests, Isro chairman K. Radhakrishnan told this news in an exclusive interview. It will be propelled into space in such a manner that the spacecraft saves sufficient fuel for its 300-day cruise to Martian environment even as space scientists check out five instruments onboard — two to support atmospheric studies, two for surface imaging studies, and one for environmental studies beginning September 2014. Two ships of the Shipping Corporation of India and DRDO, positioned in Pacific Ocean, would track the orbiter during the initials hours of the orbiter’s entry into space, he added. With communication signals likely to take 20 minutes to the orbiter and vice-versa, Indian space scientists have built-in systems which allow the orbiter to take decisions on its own when plagued by glitches. “It is for the first time that we have built full-scale autonomy on the spacecraft,” he said.