Countdown for crucial Mars Mission event begins

India's Mars Orbiter Mission will leave earth's gravity at 12.49 am on December 1 following sling into Sun orbit

The count down for the much awaited moment on the Mars Mission has begun at Isro. India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will leave earth's gravity at 12.49 am on December 1 (past midnight on November 30).

This crucial slingshot (sling into Sun orbit), which was code-named as Trans-Mars Injection) is one of the two key events, which Isro is looking for post the successful launch on November 5, 2013.

“To get thrown out of Earth’s orbit, towards Mars, with the right velocity, in the right direction and at the right time- That’s MOM’s Escape Challenge!,” said Isro.

While MOM leaves the cradle of Earth, we need to rely on Sun’s gravity and laws of the universe to deliver it to Mars at the right epoch. ‘Attitude and Orbit Control thrusters’ and the Liquid Engine on board will be used for keeping MOM on course. This is ISRO’s first ever experience of hurling a spacecraft beyond Earth’s Sphere of Influence, said Isro.

This Trans-Mars injection, will herald a new era of interplanetary missions for India.

Most of the past Missions, by the Global agencies have failed in this process, including China’s, which failed to leave Earth's orbit in 2011.

The spacecraft, after going through several steps of increasing its orbit around Earth, was walking around the Earth for the last 25 days and was travelling around for one last time in its last orbit in the last four days, before bidding adieu to the loved ones in what should have been a long journey of 300-days to Mars.

It was expected that the Orbit will reach the red planet on September 24, 2014, after traversing 400 million km. For Isro, it was a challenge to precisely place it in the orbit.

The plan was that after reaching the Mars' orbit the five payloads deployed in the spacecraft would start working to collect information for the scientists.

MOM was put into an orbit of 247 km by 23,567 km around the Earth by PSLV-C25 on November 5. Thus began MOM's geo-centric phase in its journey to Mars. In the last two weeks, the spacecraft has been moved to higher apogee of almost 200,000 km in six manoeuvres.

The Rs 450 crore mission, the lowest in the history of Mars Mission in the World, was actually initiated in 2010 and it includes Rs 110 crore for building PSLV-C25 that would launch the Rs 150 crore spacecraft, while the balance spent on augmenting ground facilities, including those required for deep space communication.