India's Mars Orbiter Mission: Triumph of Frugal Engineering
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Case Code: BSTR473 Case Length: 11 Pages Period: 2011 - 2014 Pub Date: 2015 Teaching Note: Available |
Price: Rs.300 Organization: ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) Industry: Space Technology Countries: India Themes: Innovation, Frugal Innovation |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
Excerpts
Mars Orbiter Mission
Mars had caught the imagination of human beings like no other planet in the solar system. The similarity of the planet with Earth made scientists wonder whether the environment had ever been suitable for living organisms. Mars's period of rotation around its axis was close to that of the Earth at 24 hours and 37 minutes, while a complete revolution around the sun took the planet 687 days. The gravity on the surface was calculated to be one third that of Earth. The planet remained a major subject of study over the years for various space organizations around the world. The Soviets made a series of attempts in the 1960s to reach the planet. However, all the attempts were unsuccessful.....
The Launch
The mission was designed to achieve maximum momentum with minimum fuel. The Earth parking orbit characteristics were so chosen as to minimize the energy requirement for the trans-Mars injection and for the Mars orbit insertion operations. Mangalyaan's journey was largely divided into 3 phases: the geocentric phase, the heliocentric phase, and the areocentric phase. The geocentric phase consisted of the launch by the PSLV C25, maneuvers of orbit raising, and successful insertion into the trajectory of the path to the Mars orbit. Initially, ISRO had planned to launch MOM...
Frugal Innovation! For Whose Benefit?
Mangalyaan successfully completed the journey on a shoestring budget of $74 million. The Mars Orbiter Mission became the first interplanetary mission of the organization to reach Mars and ISRO became the 4th organization after NASA, the Soviet Space Program, and the European Space Agency to do so. In addition, ISRO became the first space agency to reach the planet in its first attempt. The scientific expertise achieved by the ISRO scientists received praise from space organizations and media around the globe.
The budget of the Mars Orbiter Mission was less than the budget for the Hollywood movie Gravity which was produced at $100 million and also less than Boeing commercial planes which cost $76 million. With the success of the Mars Orbiter Mission, Indian scientists proved that meaningful science was possible at low cost. According to Saritha Rai of Forbes, "ISRO can now market itself as a low cost destination for sophisticated engineering. ISRO is already launching commercial satellites for a host of western countries at competitive costs."....
Exhibits
Exhibit I:Details of the Mars Orbiter Mission
Exhibit II: Mars Orbiter – Mission Profile
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