ISRO releases book on Indian Space Programme

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday released a book on Indian Space Programme "From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet" to commemorate second anniversary of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft launch. On the second anniversary of the launch of the spacecraft, a technical meet was organised today at Mission Operations Complex, the location of Spacecraft Control Centre in the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore, ISRO said in a release.

It said the meet deliberated on the mission challenges during the past one year of spacecraft operations around Mars and also on the data received from the five payloads of the spacecraft. ISRO had launched the Mars Orbiter Mission's spacecraft on its nine-month long odyssey on a homegrown PSLV rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 5, 2013. Mars Orbiter Spacecraft has successfully completed one year in orbit around Mars on September 24, 2015. ISRO had released the Mars Atlas to mark the feat of the Orbiter whose life is now expected to last many more years.

ISRO said on the occasion of the second anniversary of the launch of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, a book "From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet" was released by Prof U R Rao, Chairman, PRL Council and Former Chairman, ISRO, in the presence of A S Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO, Dr K Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman, ISRO and many distinguished dignitaries of ISRO. This comprehensive compendium traces the evolution of India's satellite, launch vehicle and application programmes from a historical perspective, it added.

Chief Editor of the book is P V Manoranjan Rao, and its Associate Editors are BN Suresh and V P Balagangadharan, all retired ISRO Scientists. 

Speaking on the occasion, Kiran Kumar said the book places on record the innovative approach adopted by ISRO right from the beginning to develop space technologies for national development. 

He also stressed the need for ISRO to shoulder new responsibilities in the contemporary times. 

ISRO said during its journey around Mars, the spacecraft has sent hundreds of Mars images including numerous full disc images of Mars, because of the unique elliptical orbit in which it was placed; and data sent by other four payloads (scientific instruments) of the spacecraft is being systematically analysed. It said Mars Orbiter Spacecraft is now circling the Red Planet in an orbit with a periareion (nearest point to Mars) of 311 km and an apoareion (farthest point to Mars) of 71,311 km, and the spacecraft health is normal. 

European Space Agency (ESA) of European consortium, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US and Roscosmos of Russia are the only three other agencies which had so far sent their missions to Mars. Only 21 of the total of 51 missions sent to Mars by various countries have been successful before MOM. The Mars mission of the ISRO is aimed at establishing the country's capability to reach the red planet and focus on looking for the presence of methane, an indicator of life in Mars. 

The life of the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft which now ISRO says can last "many years" was earlier intended for only six months, and later extended for another six months in March this year. The Rs 450-crore Mangalyaan is the cheapest inter-planetary mission that, at just USD 74 million, costs less than the estimated USD 100 million budget of the sci-fi blockbuster "Gravity" and a tenth of NASA's Mars mission Maven that entered the Martian orbit couple of days before MOM.