This past weekend, the world's eyes turned towards Mars, as NASA's MAVEN spacecraft entered orbit in the planet's upper atmosphere after 10 months in space. But the planet won't be out of the news for that long, as this week marks yet another long-awaited event, as India's first Mars spacecraft Mangalyaan is expected to enter its very own orbit this Wednesday, Sept. 24.
Though the spacecraft may not be the largest orbiter planned for Mars, Mangalyaan formally known as the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), is a point of pride for the Asian nation of India. Launched last November by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Mangalyaan was designed to image the red planet of Mars and probe both the surface and atmospheric contents, testing for methane, deuterium and hydrogen.
"[Success for Mangalyaan] will be a validation that Indian research and development has come of age" Indian-born astronomer based out of Washington DC, Amitabha Ghosh says. "India is still perceived as a place where work is outsourced, not because of superior science and engineering skills but because of a cost advantage."
But while much anticipation has surrounded the mission, researchers are worried that a rushed development process of only 15 months may hinder the project as it enters a vital period in the mission.
"A significant gestation period would have ensured proper engineering rigor and maximized the chances of success" Ghosh says regarding concerns about the mission's efficacy only hours away from reaching its goal.
As the spacecraft approaches Mars, it now enters a stage of reactivation, after having been in sleep mode for several months. Needing to restart its processors and enact a 24 minute rocket firing before it can make its one shot into entering the Martian orbit, researchers for ISRO and space agencies worldwide are eager to see if the project will be able to fulfill its intended mission.
Whether Mangalyaan is successful or not has yet to be seen, however, either way the spacecraft mission will undoubtedly go down in Indian recordbooks in the years to come. As quite a unique project, which used low-power rockets, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), to be set off towards Mars, Mangalyaan is a beam of hope for the nation looking towards redefining its image in the scientific community worldwide.
"Being able to launch a robust spacecraft, overcoming minor glitches, sending it towards Mars innovatively, braving adverse space weather and radiation hazards while maintaining reliable communication for nearly ten months" researcher at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis in New Delhi, Ajey Lele says. "It is already a significant achievement for India's first deep-space endeavor."
