While the primary objective of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was to insert the spacecraft into the Red Planet’s orbit, the empirical objectives were to conduct science experiments about the atmosphere, mineralogy, presence of methane and the like, says K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, ISRO.
The focus will now shift to activating the science instruments, which together weigh about 15 kg. They were built by different ISRO facilities such as Space Applications Centre-Ahmedabad, Laboratory for Electro-Optic Systems-Bangalore and Space Physics Laboratory-Thiruvananthapuram. The ISRO expects its spacecraft to last from about six months to one year.
As an experimental measure, after the launch of the orbiter from Sriharikota on November 5, 2013, ISRO switched on the camera on November 19 and received pictures of the earth, including cyclone ‘Helen’ heading towards Andhra Pradesh, the Indian landmass, the Bay of Bengal and so on. As for the other instruments, the methane sensor will look for the presence of methane — an indicator of the possible microbial life on Mars; the thermal infrared imaging spectrometer study the geology, soil characteristics and mineralogy of the planet; Lyman alpha photometer will probe the escape processes of hydrogen and deuterium; and exospheric neutron composition analyser which will look at the exosphere.
After doing a feasibility study on MOM in 2011, ISRO requested the Advisory Committee for the Space Science led by Professor U.R. Rao, former ISRO Chairman, to define the instruments needed for the mission. The Committee received 30 ideas. Eleven were shortlisted and finally, five were chosen.
