MOM
September 23, 2014 5:34 PM Subscribe
India's Mars Orbiter Mission In 45 mins from now (watch a webcast), India's Mars Orbiter Mission's satellite will insert itself into orbit around Mars. This is the final hurdle for MOM to overcome to achieve a big milestone for the Indian Space Research Organization.
It is with much delight and glee that I type GO MOM!!!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:43 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:43 PM on September 23, 2014
The hold music on the webcast is making me anticipate a particularly glorious, exotic and mysterious Mars mission.
Doing it right, India.
posted by MrVisible at 5:45 PM on September 23, 2014
Doing it right, India.
posted by MrVisible at 5:45 PM on September 23, 2014
Let's hope they don't substitute miles for kilometers in their calculations, like the Americans did once.
Of course not! This is India's prestige mission!
They'll substitute guz for meters.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:45 PM on September 23, 2014 [4 favorites]
Of course not! This is India's prestige mission!
They'll substitute guz for meters.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:45 PM on September 23, 2014 [4 favorites]
I'm just picturing what will happen if they lose radio signal. In my head, it's something like this.
posted by nubs at 5:47 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by nubs at 5:47 PM on September 23, 2014
While your'e waiting, do check out this in depth look at the mission. They did some really neat things to make this Mars launch window when the rocket booster they wanted to use wasn't quite reliable, so they went with a less powerful rocket and did some other maneuvers to sent Mom to Mars.
MOM to Mars! The jokes just write themselves!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:50 PM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
MOM to Mars! The jokes just write themselves!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:50 PM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
NASA's Maven just entered martian orbit a day ago.
Maybe they can have a meetup!
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:58 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Maybe they can have a meetup!
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:58 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
1 crore favorites for India!
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:59 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:59 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
If I recall correctly, Maven and MOM are planning to do some collaborative thing. Not sure on the details.
posted by dhruva at 6:02 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by dhruva at 6:02 PM on September 23, 2014
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Hindoos on Mars)
posted by Angleton at 6:06 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
(with Hindoos on Mars)
posted by Angleton at 6:06 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
If I recall correctly, Maven and MOM are planning to do some collaborative thing. Not sure on the details.
kvetching, ideally.
posted by poffin boffin at 6:16 PM on September 23, 2014 [6 favorites]
kvetching, ideally.
posted by poffin boffin at 6:16 PM on September 23, 2014 [6 favorites]
ok , some action on the webcast. Basic description stuff going on now
posted by dhruva at 6:18 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by dhruva at 6:18 PM on September 23, 2014
What's a standard orbit of Mars?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:23 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:23 PM on September 23, 2014
It's an elliptical orbit. Not sure if that's standard or not.
posted by dhruva at 6:24 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by dhruva at 6:24 PM on September 23, 2014
From the link above:
If the MOI burn is successfully accomplished, MOM, at 07:30 IST (02:00 UTC; and 20:00 EDT on 23 Sept.), will enter a highly elliptical orbit around the red planet.posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:25 PM on September 23, 2014
This elliptical orbit will give MOM an orbital characteristic of 80,000 x 423 km and an orbital period of 75.8 Earth hours.
Once a stable orbit is achieved, the bulk of the mission’s primary objectives will be realized.
Everybody remember to call MOM tonight and say "I love you"!
posted by wenestvedt at 6:28 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by wenestvedt at 6:28 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
In case anyone else is as confused as I was, 0730 IST is actually 2200 EDT, not 2000. Typo on the linked page.
posted by dorque at 6:30 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by dorque at 6:30 PM on September 23, 2014
They missed an opportunity to launch this in parallel with a Pluto Orbiter Project.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:31 PM on September 23, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Wolfdog at 6:31 PM on September 23, 2014 [4 favorites]
What's a standard orbit of Mars?
It's what Captain Kirk always called for
posted by thelonius at 6:41 PM on September 23, 2014
It's what Captain Kirk always called for
posted by thelonius at 6:41 PM on September 23, 2014
At Mars?! Wow!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:47 PM on September 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:47 PM on September 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
So, did it work? (When do we find out?)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:48 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:48 PM on September 23, 2014
ISRO says "#MarsOrbiter Burn must have started. All engines must have started firing by now. Skip a few heartbeats and stand by for confirmation."
posted by dhruva at 6:49 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by dhruva at 6:49 PM on September 23, 2014
Confirmation of burn is supposed to be in 7 PM.
posted by TheLittlePrince at 6:53 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by TheLittlePrince at 6:53 PM on September 23, 2014
I'm betting it'll be fine.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:01 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:01 PM on September 23, 2014
confirmed!
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:01 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:01 PM on September 23, 2014
ISRO "All engines of the #MarsOrbiter are going strong. Burn start confirmed. pic.twitter.com/U01nRSysIS"
posted by dhruva at 7:02 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by dhruva at 7:02 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Mars is a long way from Earth right now, so I suppose we're subject to speed-of-light delay on all this.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:15 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:15 PM on September 23, 2014
ISRO "Burn end? The firing must have been completed by now & MOM must be turning towards Earth to resume communication. pic.twitter.com/ztn42wHwfN"
posted by dhruva at 7:15 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by dhruva at 7:15 PM on September 23, 2014
Mars is 224 million kilometers away so the latency is twelve and a half minutes, about.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:17 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:17 PM on September 23, 2014
I think the speed of light delay is 12 and a half minutes right now, if I heard it right on the feed. Google says it varies from 3 - 21 minutes.
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:18 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:18 PM on September 23, 2014
Actually, it may be longer than that. It's behind Mars and we can't get any transmissions until it comes out on the other side. And THEN wait twelve and a half minutes.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:21 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:21 PM on September 23, 2014
MOM is also occulted by Mars at the moment. Looks like telemetry should resume at 02:31:14 UTC (Earth Received Time). Confirmation of burn start was great, confirmation of burn end will be even better.
posted by Rob Rockets at 7:21 PM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Rob Rockets at 7:21 PM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yay!
posted by Kevin Street at 7:21 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Kevin Street at 7:21 PM on September 23, 2014
Thunderous applause...
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:31 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:31 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
well .. it has happened!!!!
posted by TheLittlePrince at 7:31 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by TheLittlePrince at 7:31 PM on September 23, 2014
Congrats India! Well Done!
posted by benito.strauss at 7:32 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by benito.strauss at 7:32 PM on September 23, 2014
I presume it will take a couple of days to fully characterize the orbit, won't it?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:32 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:32 PM on September 23, 2014
Yay!
posted by dhruva at 7:33 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by dhruva at 7:33 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm glad there's another member of the interplanetary club. The solar system is big enough to justify a lot of exploring, and it's nice that it isn't just the US and Russia any more.
Now let's see China and Brazil join in, along with Japan, Europe, India, Russia and the US.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:39 PM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Now let's see China and Brazil join in, along with Japan, Europe, India, Russia and the US.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:39 PM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Congrats to India. That wait for the insertion burn, knowing how long the spacecraft has been in flight, is excruciating. Getting into orbit on your first interplanetary mission deserves praise.
posted by eriko at 8:12 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by eriko at 8:12 PM on September 23, 2014
Aaaaaaaaaand dance number! Followed by wedding.
As is traditional.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 8:13 PM on September 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
As is traditional.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 8:13 PM on September 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
Let's hope they don't substitute miles for kilometers in their calculations, like the Americans did once.
That's nothing - the French once substituted 16-bit integers for a 64-bit float.
But seriously, congratulations to ISRO and all the people of India. They're lucky enough to be closer to the equator for the launch facilities too!
posted by GuyZero at 8:24 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
That's nothing - the French once substituted 16-bit integers for a 64-bit float.
But seriously, congratulations to ISRO and all the people of India. They're lucky enough to be closer to the equator for the launch facilities too!
posted by GuyZero at 8:24 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure if anyone else noticed, but the lift off weight for the orbiter was 1337 kilograms.
posted by ZaneJ. at 9:10 PM on September 23, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by ZaneJ. at 9:10 PM on September 23, 2014 [7 favorites]
852 kilograms of that was rocket fuel.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:25 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:25 PM on September 23, 2014
Fuck yeah.
posted by sevensixfive at 11:07 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by sevensixfive at 11:07 PM on September 23, 2014
And neither they nor NASA use MechJeb for this, which makes it even more impressive.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:17 PM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:17 PM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Hey, there's nothing wrong with using MechJeb.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:50 AM on September 24, 2014
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:50 AM on September 24, 2014
This is seriously impressive, as much for the cost as the engineering. That's almost Kickstarterable. And since once you're out of the Earth's gravity well you can go anywhere you want (if you're prepared to wait, your spacecraft and power can last long enough, and you can talk when you get there) there are a lot of options after this for the patient.
I'm particularly impressed/heartened by the way three agencies have co-operated on the comms, India, NASA and South Africa. There are so many good reasons why a truly trans-national DSN makes sense - technical, political and financial - that I hope this is another step towards that.
posted by Devonian at 4:18 AM on September 24, 2014
I'm particularly impressed/heartened by the way three agencies have co-operated on the comms, India, NASA and South Africa. There are so many good reasons why a truly trans-national DSN makes sense - technical, political and financial - that I hope this is another step towards that.
posted by Devonian at 4:18 AM on September 24, 2014
<3
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 5:02 AM on September 24, 2014
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 5:02 AM on September 24, 2014
Nice photo here of scientists.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 7:33 AM on September 24, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 7:33 AM on September 24, 2014 [6 favorites]
Given the history of Mars probes, they are rightfully proud of themselves. Japan and China both have failed missions. In fact, are they the first nation to succeed at their first shot? The USSR had a ton of failures before the first success, and Mariner 3 failed even though Mariner 4 was a US success.
posted by tavella at 8:45 AM on September 24, 2014
posted by tavella at 8:45 AM on September 24, 2014
Don't get me wrong, I love MechJeb. Though Chatterer is still my favorite KSP plugin.
That picture of the scientists is so great!
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:04 AM on September 24, 2014
That picture of the scientists is so great!
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:04 AM on September 24, 2014
Per the NY Times, yes, they are the first to get it right first try. Though it's kind of an odd passive aggressive article -- it spends the bulk of it snarking about Modi and Nehru. How about a little bit in depth about the scientists and the program, NYT?
posted by tavella at 10:47 AM on September 24, 2014
posted by tavella at 10:47 AM on September 24, 2014
And since once you're out of the Earth's gravity well you can go anywhere you want (if you're prepared to wait, your spacecraft and power can last long enough, and you can talk when you get there) there are a lot of options after this for the patient.
Well, no, not really. The sun's gravity well is quite formidable, much more so than Earth's gravity well. Which is why only four human-made objects have ever escaped from the solar system: Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:52 AM on September 24, 2014
Well, no, not really. The sun's gravity well is quite formidable, much more so than Earth's gravity well. Which is why only four human-made objects have ever escaped from the solar system: Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:52 AM on September 24, 2014
I expected something very different, given the recent movie dramatization of this project.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:59 AM on September 24, 2014
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:59 AM on September 24, 2014
You're right, Mr Pickle, but there's still the option of spending more time doing gravity-assist maneuvers, though. albeit with the small issue that you need to get rid of some of that velocity at your destination. Unless you don't want to orbit when you get there. And after New Horizon's Pluto encounter (less than a year away!) there'll be a fifth human-made object well on its way to the outside.
Perhaps we could persuade the Indians to pick up the Uranus or Neptune orbiter proposals?
posted by Devonian at 11:58 AM on September 24, 2014
Perhaps we could persuade the Indians to pick up the Uranus or Neptune orbiter proposals?
posted by Devonian at 11:58 AM on September 24, 2014
Given that it was $80 Mn Can we do a kickstarter project to get the funding for and ask ISRO to send a project to Neptune/uranus?
posted by TheLittlePrince at 5:04 PM on September 24, 2014
posted by TheLittlePrince at 5:04 PM on September 24, 2014
Probably be more than $80m
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:26 PM on September 24, 2014
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:26 PM on September 24, 2014
Emily Lakdawalla: "Reflecting on the success of the Mars Orbiter Mission"
posted by dhruva at 7:35 PM on September 25, 2014
posted by dhruva at 7:35 PM on September 25, 2014
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posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:40 PM on September 23, 2014