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India's Mars Mission Back On Track After Brief Hiccup

Posted by Soulskill on from the drank-water-from-the-far-side-of-the-cup dept.

New submitter rahultyagi writes "After running into some problems in its fourth orbit-raising maneuver two days ago, Mangalyaan (India's Mars Orbiter Mission) seems to be back on track now. A supplementary burn lasting ~304 seconds was completed today, raising the apogee of MOM to 118,642 km — the intended apogee after the original maneuver. After the glitch two days ago, ISRO again seems to be on track to become the first entity to have a successful Mars mission on its first attempt. Though, of course, there are quite a few things that might still go wrong before this can be called a successful mission. Let's all hope that a year from now, we are all celebrating the entry of another nation into the small club capable of successful interplanetary missions."

9 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Casual slashdot racism in 3... by mwvdlee · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not racism to cry USA number 1 and hope other countries fail

    Hoping others will fail is a sign of inadequacy.

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  2. Re: Casual slashdot racism in 3... by rosshalz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...

    Did you know that if indisns shake their head from left to right that it means they agree with you ?

    The difference is small... Let me clear this for the un-initiated.. if you consider an axis through the center of your head and the centre of your...nether region, and if the head shaking is about this axis, then it means "No" If you consider an axis through the tip of your nose and the back of your head, and if the head shaking is about THIS axis, then it means "Alright" or "affirmative"(especially if the indian you're talking to happens to be a terminator). Not to be confused with "yes". Source: I'm Indian

  3. Re:Casual slashdot racism in 3... by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's not racism to cry USA number 1 and hope other countries fail... (just nationalistic jingoism)

    And why not - America's German scientists did a better job laying the foundations of space flight than Russia's German scientists did.

  4. The real Triumph.... by tanveer1979 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is exciting. Really exciting. First the successful moon mission and now this.
    However, from a ISRO's standpoint, this is more significant from another angle too.
    With such low cost, now others are looking at India as a satellite launch country. Even before, those who wanted satellite launches, often came to ISRO if cost was an issue. But success rate was not too good.
    With this mission reaching this stage, ISRO has shown that it can launch any type of satellite. From satellite launch perspective, this is a complete success. No doubt about it.
    All these dollars invested will come back over the next few years, as more and more companies gain more trust in ISRO launch capabilities. I won't be surprised if ISRO recovers all the costs of this mission from commercial launches within the next 5 years.

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    1. Re:The real Triumph.... by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Are you that insecure that you must mock the success of your fellow men? India hasn't re-invented anything. They are merely affirming that they too now possess the technology. This is a good thing for mankind as a whole. It helps ensure a technological level of prowess across a broad population which means we as humans are now less likely to "go back" to a pre-space era if anything should happen to the one country that possessed the technology. You know. Kind of like when empires fall and dark ages ensue. Well now even if America collapsed, there is a technology "reservoir", just like there was an intellectual "reservoir" in the middle east when the Western Roman Empire fell.

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    2. Re:The real Triumph.... by dbIII · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So says the guy waving the flag so much he hasn't noticed that NASA has been stripped back so much it has to get taxi rides from the Russians to get people into space. You, me, all of us should be cheering the Indians on instead of having a pissing contest with the retired champion bringing up the glory days.

  5. Casual slashdot racism in 3... by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Since someone is looking for "Casual Racism", I'll oblige.

    All power to India for their mission to MARS.

    And this greeting comes from an American who was from China.

    How's that for "Casual Racism" ??

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  6. I am at awed at their low cost ... by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... I was doing some reading on India's Mars mission and found two articles quoting the price tag for the entire mission to be $ 83 million.

    Yes, you read it right, Eight-Three-Million-United-States-Dollars !

    I don't know what NASA can come up with $ 83 Million, but I am pretty sure if NASA to send another probe to Mars it would be far greater than that.

    PS. To my Indian friends, can you please share with us how you guys can keep the budget so low?

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    1. Re:I am at awed at their low cost ... by Frankie70 · · Score: 4, Funny

      They didn't do everything. They did only the needful.