ASTITVAIssue: X

October 2014

To all members of

CURAJ family

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iwali also known as Deepavali and the"festival of lights", is an ancient Hindu fes-tival celebrated in autumn every year. Thefestival spiritually signifies the victory oflight over darkness, knowledge over igno-rance, good over evil, and hope over de-spair. The festival preparations and ritualstypically extend over a five day period, butthe main festival night of Diwali coincideswith the darkest, new moon night of theHindu Lunisolar month Kartika. In theGregorian calendar, Diwali night falls be-tween mid-October and mid-November.Before Diwali night, people clean, reno-vate and decorate their homes. On Diwalinight, Hindus dress up in new clothes ortheir best outfit, light up diyas (lamps andcandles) inside and outside their home,participate in family puja typically to Lak-shmi - the goddess of wealth and prosper-ity. After puja (prayers), fireworksfollow,then a family feast includingmithai(sweets), and an exchange of gifts betweenfamily members and close friends. Diwalialso marks a major shopping period in na-tions where it is celebrated.Diwali is an important festival for Hindus.The name of festive days as well as the rit-uals of Diwali vary significantly amongHindus, based on the region of India. Inmany parts of India, the festivities startwith Dhanteras, followed by NarakaChaturdasi on second day, Diwali on thethird day, Diwali Padva dedicated to wife-husband relationship on the fourth day, andfestivities end with Bhau-beej dedicated to

sister-brother bond on the fifthday.Dhanteras usually falls eighteen daysafter Dussehra.On the same night that Hindus celebrateDiwali, Jains celebrate a festival of lightsto mark the attainment of moksha by Ma-havira, and Sikhs celebrate Bandi ChhorDivas.Diwali is an official holiday in India,Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius,Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname,Malaysia, Singapore and Fiji.Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, andSikhs to mark historical events, stories ormyths, but they all spiritually mark the vic-tory of light over darkness, knowledgeover ignorance, good over evil, hope overdespair. In the Yoga, Vedanta, and Samkhyaschools of Hindu philosophy, a central be-lief is that there is something beyond thephysical body and mind which is pure, in-finite, and eternal, called the Atman. Thecelebration of Diwali as the "victory ofgood over evil", refers to the light of higherknowledge dispelling all ignorance, the ig-norance that masks one's true nature, not asthe body, but as the unchanging,infinite,immanent and transcendent reality.With this awakening comes compassionand the awareness of the oneness of allthings, and knowledge overcomes igno-rance. Diwali is the celebration of thisInner Light over spiritual darkness, knowl-edge over ignorance, right over wrong,good over evil.

DIWALI

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In every aspect of life, purity andholiness, cleanliness and refinement, exalt the human condition . . . Even in the physical realm,cleanliness will conduce to spirituality.

Abdu'ul-Baha

dsanz ljdkj dh rjQ ls fn, x, funsZ”k dkikyu djrs gq, jktLFkku d¢Unzh¸k fo|kYk¸kesa 2 vDVwcj dks lqcg 9%30 cts ls lQkÃvÇÒ¸kku dh “kq#vkr dh xbZ A bLk voljij lh ;w jkt ds dqyiÇr v©j lÒh f”k{kddeZpkjh v©j fo|kFkÊ mIkfLFkRk FksaA blvfÒ¸kku dh “kq:vkr dqYkifRk us iwjs tks“kds lkFk fd;kA mUgksaus us dgk fd ;g dsoy,d fnu dh ckr ugha gS gesa ;g lQkbZges“kk gh djuh gksxhA ogka mifLFkrfo|kfFkZ;ksa us ;g izfrKk Hkh yh fd ge gesa“kkvius vkl&ikl dh lQkbZ j[ksaxs vkSj ,slkekgkSy cuk nsaxs fd yksx lQkbZ djus dsfy, [kqn c [kqn izsfjr gks tk;saxsA ogka mi-fLFkr] dYpj ,oa ehfM;k foHkkx ds fo|kFkhZvfHkeU;q us dgk fd LoPN “kjhj esa gh LoPNeu dk okl gksrk gSA blfy, gesa vius rudh lQkbZ ds fy, eu dh lQkbZ Hkh j[kuhgksxhA vxj ge nhikoyh ioZ dh ckr Hkhdjsa rks Hkh bl ioZ esa lcls vf/kd egRrklQkbZ dh gSA bl ioZ esa ge ?kj dkdksuk&dksuk lkQ djrs gSa rkfd gekjs ?kjesa y{eh dk okl gksA lgh ek;uksa esa rksbldk vFkZ ;g gS fd LoPNrk gh /ku gSA

I Sem

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Diwali is the festival of lights. It is also knownas’ Deepawali’. It is celebrated in our countrywhich joy and happiness every year. It is one ofthe biggest festival of Hindus. Usually it comes

in the month of October and November aftertwenty days of Dussehra, on the 13th day of thedark fortnight of the month of Ashwin. It is cel-ebrated in the memory of coming back home ofLord Rama along with his wife Sita & brotherLaxman after 14 years of exile. It is believedthat on this day, Lord Rama returned to his king-dom, Ayodhya, after killing the demon, KingRavana and people lighted earthen

diyas all around their house andcelebrated his victory over Raa-van. It is asymbol of vic-tory of good over evil.Since then, the festi-val is celebratedby lighting diyasand candles todrive away thedarkness ofAmavasya and the

dark of ignorance.Homes are deco-rated on the day ofdiwali and sweetsare distributed.Laxmi Puja is per-formed in the evening and blessings of Goddessof Wealth is seeked. People present diwali giftsto their near and dear ones. Earlier, it was cele-brated with diyas but slowly it took the form oflights, lighting lamps, candles and crackers.Now a days, people burn dangerous fire crack-

ers limitlessly. Crackers have big hand in pollut-ing our environment. The toxic substances usedin the firecrackers release toxic gases that areharmful to the health of all living beings. The

noise of the crackers cause immense suffering tobirds and animals. Diwali is the festival of lightsand not burning of the limitless crackers whichtakes the form of air and noise pollution. Weshould minimize the use of firecrackers duringdiwali celebrations and other celebrations. Noise-less diwali has become the concept for the lastfew years. It is slowly gathering momentum too.But it has not yet reached that level to which weall can say that yes, we celebrated a noiselesssafe and pollution free diwali. A festival must betreated like a festival not like enjoyment or nui-

sance. There is no need to pollute the envi-ronment for this.

We must take stepsto make ourselves and

others aware to put an endto noise throughrallies and hoard-ings. We must notbuy unlimitedcrackers instead ofthat we can help a

poor with thatmoney. These days,trend of diwali

greetings, diwalimessages, diwalicards, diwali

ecards, diwali calen-dar, diwali greeting cards, diwali flash,diwalithemes, diwali screensaver, diwali images, diwalirangoli, diwali scraps, diwali designs, diwalipainting is going on. It seems and feels very niceto wish each other by different means. But wemust also make each other aware of the harms ofthe pollution caused by the firecrackers that leadsdirectly or indirectly to global warming. Hence,Say ‘NO’ to Crackers and play a safe, noiselessand pollution free Diwali.

Is Diwali the Festival ofLights Or Crackers?

Rajesh Anchara, III Sem

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Anurag Verma, III Sem

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tkus fdrus fQYeh jhyksa dks csdkj djus ds cknfp=iV ij ,d ÞxkbZMß mrjk gksxk, ftlus nsokuandks egt dksbZ uk;d ;k fdjnkj u j[k dj ,dfdEonUrh cuk fn;k A fQYe dk eq[; fdjnkj ,dvke balku gksdj Hkh egkuk;d cu tkrk gS vkSjdgkuh fQYeh gksdj Hkh thou n'kZu dh rjg fn[krhgS A nsonklh dh csVh] BqdjkbZ gqbZ C;kgrk dks çJ;nsdj lkekftd dqjhfr;ksa ls vk¡[ks feykus okyk galrk[ksyrk gqvk eLrekSyk ckadk ukStoku vpkud gh çkS<+vkSj vlk/kkj.k lk fn[kus yxrk gS Adgkuh ;gha [kRe ugha gksrh ---- ;g rks balku dsbZ'oj cuus dh xkFkk gS ftlesa nsoRo ls igys ,deuq"; dk ,d euq"; ds :i mRFkku vkSj iru nksuksgSa A gokvksa lax ckrsa djrk viuh eu ethZ dkekfyd jktw xkbZM rks iSjksa esa ca/kh gqbZ csfM+;ksa ds lkFkykpkj gj jkst ?kqVrh gqbZ jksth A t:jrean dhenn djuk---fdlh dk lkFkh cu mlds liuks¡ dksgdhdr esa cnyuk tgka ekuoh; ewY;ksa ds mR—"Vrkdk iSekuk gS rks ogh¡ bldk cstk Qk;nk mBkuk] ;su& dsu çdjs.k ml viuk gd tek;s j[kus dh dks-f'k'k djuk iru dh ijkdk"Bk, jktw ftUnxh ds bunksuksa igyqvksa dks oä ds lkFk thrk gS A xkbZM dk gj ,d Ýse gjsd –'; fdlh 'kkL=h;laxhr dh jkfxuh tSlh gS] tks n'kZdksa dks vkfRedvkuan dk vglkl fnykrh gS A var esa nqfu;kohvuqHkoksa ls nhf{kr gks pqds jktw ds fy, u dksbZ nhugS u dksbZ nqfu;k u fdlh dks pkgrs jgus dk lq:ju gh fdlh dks ftrk nsus dk xq#j A Hkys gh og nksod~r dh jksVh dh lqfo/kk dks ns[krs gq, egkRek cusjgus ds Lokax jprk gS ijUrq bl vfHku; esa ik-jaxrrk dh iw.kkZgqfr varr% mls vius çk.kksa dks Lokg% dj ds nsuhgksrh gS A vkt laosnukvksa dh lq[kkM+ ds bl nkSj esa dksbZ ,slk xkbZM

gh Hkkoukvksa dh ckfj'k esa l{ke gS A rks vkb, fey dj xqtkfj'kdjs--- jkek es?k ns, es?k ns js, vks vYykg es?k ns js, ';kek es?k nses?k ns es?k ns js ------ A

‘ ’

‘ ’, PhD Scholar, CMS

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Anurag Verma, III Sem

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epartment of Economics and Economic Society havesuccessfully organized the event “Entrepreneur in Ac-tion” on October 16th 2014. The title of the event wassponsored by “Bank of India CURAJ and Co-spon-sored by Indian Taste, Sapna Studio, Manoj Printers,Maruti Suzuki, Kuber, and Bhawani Tea Stall. We payour sincere thanks to all sponsors for making this eventa Grand Success.The Event was inaugurated by the auspicious hands

of Hon’ble Vice Chancellor Sir at 11:30 AM. We payour sincere gratitude towards hon'ble Vice ChancellorSir, Prof. Supriya Agarwal, Dean School of Social Sci-ences, Prof. A.K. Gupta, Proctor Sir, Dr. S.N. Ambed-kar, HOD PPLG departmentand Ms Anuradha Mittal, PROfor their valuable presence andsharing in the inaugural cere-mony. We are also thankful toall faculty members, teachingand non-teaching staff forbeing with us in inaugural ses-sion. Almost all faculties, students,officers, and non-teaching staffhave attended the event. De-partment of Economics ishighly obliged to each andeveryone who motivated thestudents by visiting the place.We received excellent com-ments by all visitors in our vis-itor book. We are also thankfulto Dr. Ashwini Garg, Dr.Manak Jain, Students (35 innumber) and faculties of com-merce and Economics depart-ment of government college Kishangarh for theirvaluable contribution and attending the event.We are happy to announce that the total business of

the market was 53,201/- rupees and the total cost ofall Entrepreneurs were 19,496/- rupees. The estimatedprofit of the day is 33,705/-. All participated teamshave earned profit and we also received the fund in

donation box by them worth of rupees 2518/-. Detailof cost and profit analysis of all teams is enclosedherewith for your reference.The Market was closed at 6:00 PM and Prize Distri-bution Ceremony was held at 7:00 PM. We pay oursincere gratitude towards Bank of India Manager Mr.Yadav for being with us in Prize Distribution Cere-mony.All teams’ participation was really remarkable. Theirefforts for the profit maximization were easily noticedin the event by the observation committee and organ-izers. But above all they did not take this event as thecompetition. They were learning by enjoying. Con-

gratulations to all teams for earningprofits. We wish a bright future forall.Special thanks to the promotionstall coordinated by the students ofdepartment of economics namelyShivangi Sharma and NamrataBhardwaj for making the eventmore interesting.And the most important the Specialgratitude towards the FinanceCommittee (Students Namely Ki-randeep, Nafis, Kamal Ludhani,Aswathi Nair, Justin Joy, Chandani,Srishti and Jitendra Choudhary) fortheir immense hard work and effi-ciency in maintaining records ofthe accounts and selling thecoupons. I am highly indebted to all facul-ties, students and Paras, Attendantof the department for their im-mense support and hard work for

organizing the event.This was the activity of learning by doing. We are hop-ing that department is successful at some extent tomake you learn at least few concepts of economics i.e.fixed cost, maintaining variable cost, maximizingprofit and using appropriate marketing skills for thebusiness by doing this practically

Entrepreneur in ActionEntrepreneur in Action

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We congratulate the winners and runners of the event “En-trepreneur in Action”. The details for the same are as fol-low:WinnerStall No. 21(Mini Mall) -- Minakshi, Pritam, Bhavesh,Manish Bhati (Department of Mathematics)Runner Up Stall No.17 (Junglee Sitara)-- Saurabh, Archit, Mohit,Mukesh (Department of Management)Best in Promotional & Marketing SkillsStall No. 22 (Spicy Kitchen)--Naman Kulshrestha M.Sc.Integrated Biotech), Sunita Gupta, Sonam Gangwar (MScMicroBio-I), Kalu (Non-Teaching)Special Award as a token of respect and love for theSpicy Kitchen: Mrs Gupta Best in Eco-friendly & Quality of ProductStall No 24(Chatkas)--Deepak, Sonu, Archana, Balram(Department of Management)Best in Cost Strategy: Stall No 08 (Min to Win)Highest Profit earner and Most Popular Stall- Stall No19 (HUD HUD Entertainment) Second highest Profit Earner Stall -Stall No: 05 (Hand-ishaft)Best in Innovative Idea-Stall No 25(Hungama Masti)

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...Entrepreneur in Action...Entrepreneur in Action

Winners...!!!

Stroy Credit: Dr. Hemlata Manglani mam, Coordinator, Department of Economics

ollege fests are the most effective way ofbringing youth under the same platform, en-hance social interaction and facilitate tech-nical and cultural ideas and thoughts.Keeping this in mind and to celebrate this E-Day, Department of Computer Science &Engineering organized “ABHIYANTRIKI2k14” fest (Abhiyantriki that means Engi-neering) from 11th-15th sept, 2014 that in-cluded 20 various technical, art, sports andcultural events. The fest was organized to provide a platformto all so that they could showcase their talentwith a competitive spirit. The glamour of thefest was when many faculties and staff mem-bers from other departments not only partic-ipated but contributed a lot to make this festa success. The event which couraged more than a 100students, about 30 judges, 40 game co -ordinators, Non faculty members and facultymembers. 20 Various programmes includingComputer games, puzzles, arts, color rain-

bow, sports, quizes etc. were the parts in theevent celebrated with utmost care of all theCSE stuents and the faculty members.A great success ozzed out of the coordinatorsof this festival. Organising 17 events was a The vibrant fest “ABHIYANTRIKI 2K14” ,where highly energetic students toiled to winappreciation for their talent. Prof. K.C.Sharma,Dean of Academics was the chiefguest in the ceremony and Prof. RamLakhan Meena, Dean of Student Welfarewas the guest of honour and all other depart-ment faculties and students were presentthere. It was started with a spectacular opening cer-emony inaugurated by Prof. Ram LakhanMeena.The cultural programme with various scin-tillating dance and melodious musical per-formances that had definitely boundedeverybody to tap their feet and sway on thebeats. The event captivated the audience andleft everyone mesmerized.

Anjali Gupta

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The Dept. of Culture and Media Studies (CMS) organized the MediaFest II that concluded on Sept. 04 in the university. The three-day Festincluded the attractive competition events like Photo Contest, PhotoExhibition, Photo Caption Writing, Cartoon Making, Ad-Mad (WhereCreativity = Madness), Best out of Waste, Movie Review, Storytelling,

(Qissa-goi), Essay writing, 100 Sec. Video, and Live Talk Show. The students from all departments took active parts in the var-

ious events. Participants captured the beautiful moments ofthe photo contest on the theme of "Life in Curaj". The event

of Cartoon-making competition and sketch exhibition byDejen Alemayehu, a student in CMS department, attracted

the viewers. Other events: AD-MAD, Story-Telling, Bestout of Waste & Movie Review also were creative and

attracted the audiences and judges. In the event ofBest Out of Waste, students creatively presented

things like drums, house, wall-hanging etc. withwaste material such as egg cells, newspapers, old

clothes, video cassettes, etc. The students participated inessay writing on the contemporary theme: ‘Globalization, Internet

and social change.’ The last day of Media Fest II was all the more attractive with colourfulcultural programmes. The diverse cultural items captured the audience.The cultural programme included Chhatisgarhi Dance, KathputliDance and Odessey Dance and fashion shows. The faculty membersand the students who watched the programmes in the Central audito-

rium, had great appreciation for the beautiful performances.Anamya Aditya (PG Commerce) said: "it was an awesome pres-

entation.’ Aditi Mishra expressed that the students of Culture andMedia Studies showed their innovative ideas all through the MediaFest. Simran from PG Commerce said that Ramp Walk was unique. Itrepresented the different traditional costumes from different states ofIndia. Prof. Ravi Chaturvedi of CMS Dept. expressed that the programmewas highly successful. The Fest was organized by the department ofCulture and Media Studies, but all departments participated in it. Themain concept behind organizing the annual media fest was to providea platform for the students to bring out their creativities and talents.

Sonali

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Minakshi Beniwal

he Department of Computer Science organ-ized an event titled ‘Computer and MobileDoctors-2014’ on 22/09/2014. The eventaimed at the troubleshooting and diagnosingvarious software related issues of computersand mobiles of various students, faculty andnon-teaching staff of the university. There were 6 panels, each comprising of 3students who were involved in the event. Atotal of about 95 gadgets were diagnosed bythe students. And about every machine wasupdated and upgraded. And a feedback formwas filled by each beneficiary for the purposeof self-evaluation. The faculty of the depart-

ment played an active part in the event by as-sisting the students with the entire trou-bleshooting process. Additionally a collection bin was placed inthe premises of the troubleshooting center tocollect money for the benefit of the commu-nity college of the campus. Accordingly asum of Rs 2500 was donated by willingmembers of the faculty, students and non-teaching staff. The sum was accordingly do-nated to the Day Care Center of theUniversity for the purpose of the benefit ofthe children of the laborers studying in theplace.

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COMPUTERS AND MOBILE DOCTORS-2014

From the Department of CS

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A giant interplanetary leap to MarsRintu Nath

India created history on its maiden attempt in an interplan-etary mission. On 24 September 2014, Indian Space Re-search Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed MarsOrbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft, also known as Man-galyaan, in the orbit of Mars. MOMis an orbiter craft designed to orbitMars in an elliptical orbit. For thenext six to ten months, MOM willremain a satellite of Mars, click pic-tures and sniff out details on the at-mosphere and morphology of thered planet. India is the first country to reachMars’s orbit on a maiden venture,and the first Asian country to launcha successful Mars mission, all with much less expenditurethan any other Mars mission before it.MOM is India's first interplanetary mission and ISRO hasbecome the fourth space agency in the world to reachMars, after the Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOS-MOS), US space agency NASA, and the European Space

Agency (ESA). Before ISRO, only the European SpaceAgency could place its orbiter right in the first attempt(‘Mars Express’ in 2003). However, India can claim to bethe first country to achieve the distinction, as the European

Space Agency is a conglomeration ofseveral countries. Japan and Chinaare the other Asian countries that hadattempted Mars missions, but failed.Accomplished at a cost of around Rs450 crore, which in itself is anachievement as the most economicalinterplanetary space mission till date,the Mars Orbiter Mission is an am-bitious leap forward for India’s spaceprogramme.

After its launch on 5 November 2013, Mangalyaan hastravelled over 670 million kilometres (radio distance is210 million kilometres) between Earth and the red planetduring its 300 days’ journey. A number of manoeuvringwas done by ISRO scientists to ensure successful insertionof the orbiter into Mars orbit.

Artist's renderingof the Mangalyaanorbiting Mars(Source Wikipedia)

The Mars Orbiter will be ableto capture full-globe views whenit is near the apoapsis of its orbit(farthest from the surface). Thespacecraft will spend most of its time near apoapsis. As a re-sult, the Mars Orbiter will be able to capture a series ofglobal views of Mars at different phases and of differentparts of the planet over time.

The ISRO’s Mars Orbiter capturedthis global view of Mars with its MarsColour Camera on 28 September2014, from a distance of 74,500 kilo-metres [Source: ISRO]

ISRO’s Mars Orbitertook this photo of thehazy limb of Mars on24 September 2014,just two hours afterentering orbit, froman altitude of about8,449 kilometres.[Source: ISRO]

When the spacecraft is closer to Mars, it will be able to capture detailed viewof a part of the planet’s surface.

Orbit of the orbiter around Mars

Apoapsis and periapsis

Mars's limbfrom MarsOrbiterspacecraft

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As it goes around Mars in a highly elliptical orbit, with theclosest point of around 420 km and the farthest of around80,000 km, the Mars Orbiter will employ five instruments todo scientific studies like exploration of surface features, mor-phology, and mineralogy and studyof Martian atmosphere.Interestingly, only three days beforeISRO’s Mangalyaan arrived atMars, on 21 September, NASA’sMAVEN (Mars Atmosphere andVolatile Evolution) spacecraft suc-cessfully entered Mars’ orbit. BothMangalyaan and MAVEN will sup-plement each other in solving themystery of Mars’ missing water. While on the ground, Curiosity - NASA’s robotic rover con-tinues to search for local evidence of past and present water,MAVEN’s investigation, along with those of Mangalyaan,will provide necessary data to scientists for better understand-ing of the planet. Together, these missions could reveal theentire planet’s geological history. Mission objectivesMars Orbiter Mission is India's first interplanetary mission toplanet Mars with an orbiter craft designed to orbit Mars. Themission is designed to demonstrate India’s capability to per-

form deep space communication, navigation, mission plan-ning, and management; and incorporate autonomous featuresto categorise and handle contingency situations. Although the mission is primarily a technological mission, it

has a number of scientific objectives likeexploration of Mars’ surface features,morphology, mineralogy and its atmos-phere.The Mars Orbiter carries five sci-entific payloads to observe Martiansurface, atmosphere and exosphere ex-tending up to 80,000 km for a detailedunderstanding of the evolution of theplanet, especially the related geologicand the possible biogenic processes. Thepayloads consist of a camera (Mars

Colour Camera), two spectrometers, a radiometer, and a pho-tometer. Together, they have a weight of about 15 kg.Considering the critical mission operations and stringent re-quirements for spacecraft navigation to put the orbiter in grav-itational sphere of influence of Mars, ISRO has alreadyachieved the technological objective. While writing this article, four out of five instruments havealready been activated. Mars Colour Camera (MCM) has cap-tured and sent back breathtaking views of Mars. The imagesreturned from the Mars Orbiter are truly captivating.

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It was in 2008 when ISRO launched its first Moon missionChandrayaan-1. The Mars mission was conceptualised dur-ing this time. A feasibility study was conducted in 2010 andsubsequently the project was approved by Government ofIndia. Scientists from ISRO, Physical Research Laboratory (PRL),and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) took about 15months for the design and construction of the spacecraft andpreparation of the launch vehicle, aiming for a target launch

date of 28 October 2013. The launch date was calculated tomeet the trans-Mars injection requirements needed to placethe Mars Orbiter into the correct heliocentric Mars transferorbit. Scientists of ISRO calculated the manoeuvring se-quence and procedure of the orbiter based on the location ofthe launch, the orbital insertion parameters at Mars, resourceavailability in the spacecraft, the orbital positions of Earthand Mars at the time of the Mars Orbiter’s arrival at the grav-itational sphere of influence of Mars and many other factors.

Journey to Mars

Mangalyaan in the making

Launch of

Mangalyaan

A giant interplanetary leap to Mars...

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MOM is being maneuvered from ISRO's Mars mis-sion control complex in Bangalore

Construction on the Mars Orbiter was successfully completedon schedule on 2 October 2013, and the spacecraft wasshipped to its launch site in Sriharikota. The orbiter was in-tegrated on top of its PSLV-XL (Polar Satellite Launch Vehi-cle) rocket – which had been under assembly since August2013.The use of the PSLV-XL rocket was a change from the orig-inal mission proposal that recommended the use of the more-powerful Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).However, the GSLV had failedtwice in 2010 and to find thecause of failure took time. ISROdid not want to take a chance anddecided to use the tried and testedpolar satellite launch vehicle(PSLV). Time of launch was cru-cial. If it could be done sometimein November 2013, less energywould be required to insert theorbiter in the gravitational field ofinfluence of Mars. If launch is de-layed, ISRO would have to waittill 2016 when the next Marslaunch window would open.Therefore ISRO decided to launchthe mission with a PSLV-XLrocket that carried six stretched solid rocket motors using 12tons of solid propellant instead of the 9 tons used in the stan-dard PSLV variant.The switch in launch vehicle, however, meant that MOMcould no longer be launched directly into a Mars transferorbit. Rather, the craft would have to be launched into anelongated Earth orbit, and then perform a series of orbit-rais-ing manoeuvres to raise its apogee while using Earth’s grav-ity to sling-shot it into the correct Mars transfer orbit.As launch preparations continued, MOM’s launch date wasrescheduled from 28 October to 5 November 2013 becauseof the delayed arrival of a necessary telemetry ship at the FijiIslands in the Pacific, which would track the satellite afterlaunch. On 5 November 2013, the orbiter was launched on

time at 14:38 hrs IST from the First Launch Pad at the SatishDhawan Space Centre. Over the next 42 minutes, the PSLV-XL inserted the orbiter into Earth orbit, a process completedat 15:20 hrs IST.The successful launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission markedIndia’s entry into interplanetary space.A series of five planned orbit raising manoeuvres began, con-trolled by engineers at the Spacecraft Control Centre atISRO’s telemetry, tracking and command network in Peenya,

Bangalore.Of the five planned manoeuvres,the first was a 416-second firingof the spacecraft’s liquid engine(LAM), the second a 570.6-sec-ond burn, and the third a 707-sec-ond burn. At this point, the MarsOrbiter’s apogee was 71,636km.During the fourth burn, anunder-burn prevented the space-craft’s apogee from reaching theplanned 1,00,000 km. Instead, theorbiter was in a 78,276-kmapogee orbit. The resulting under-burn mandated the addition of asupplementary orbit raising ma-noeuvre of the orbiter. After this

supplementary orbit raising manoeuvre (starting at 05:03 hrsIST on 12 November 2013, with a burn time of 303.8 sec-onds) height of the apogee was increased from 78,276 kmto 1,18,642 km.The fifth orbit raising manoeuvre of the orbiter took place on16 November 2013, with a burn time of 243.5 seconds.Height of the apogee now increased from 1,18,642 km to1,92,874km.With the needed apogee achieved, spaceflight controllers ini-tiated a 1328.89-second engine firing manoeuvre on 1 De-cember 2013 to place the orbiter into a heliocentric transferorbit towards the red planet. Trans-Mars Injection (TMI) op-eration was completed successfully at 00:30 hrs IST on 1 De-cember 2013.

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Image shows trajectory correction manoeuvres undertaken byISRO throughout the journey of MOM (image courtesy ISRO)

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A giant interplanetary leap to Mars...

Cruise to MarsAfter leaving Earth orbit, a total of three trajectory coursemanoeuvres were performed to ensure that the Mars Orbiteris aligned into the proper trajectory for arrival at Mars.On 22 September 2014 at 14:30 hrs IST, spacecraft con-trollers successfully fired the 440N liquid apogee motor for3.9 seconds. The test firing confirmed the engine’s viabilityfor planned orbital insertion operations 41 hours later.Mars Orbital Insertion (MOI)

As the Mars Orbiter approached Mars for orbital insertion,the spacecraft reoriented itself to align its thrust with thecraft’s line of travel. Once in the proper orientation, the or-biter, already under the influence of Mars’s gravity, passedinto the shadow of Mars. This entry into the Martian shadowoccurred five minutes before the start of the Mars Orbit In-sertion (MOI) burn. As the MOI burn began, Mars Orbiter’smain liquid engine and eight smaller thrusters fired to beginreducing the vehicle’s velocity to 1,098.7 metres per second.

As this burn began, the spacecraft moved behind Mars asviewed from the telemetry and tracking stations on Earth,thereby severing the radio communications link between thespacecraft and ground controllers. The duration of the mis-sion-critical MOI burn occurred while communications withthe spacecraft were blocked. After the MOI burnOnce the MOI burn was completed, the spacecraft began re-orienting itself to point its main communications antenna to-ward the location where Earth will be when the spacecraftemerged from the communications blackout period. WithMOI burn successfully accomplished, the Mars Orbiter en-tered a highly elliptical orbit around the red planet at 07:30IST on 24 September 2014, marking the success of the firstIndian interplanetary mission.International cutting edgeDespite being a technology demonstration, the MOM willmorph into a truly scientific mission as it carries five sophis-ticated equipment. The Mars Colour Camera (MCC) is the"eye of the mission", meant to capture images and informa-tion about the surface features and composition of the Mars.

MCC has already captured and sent back global view anddetailed views of Mars.The global scientific community is very excited about India'seffort to send the first dedicated methane gas sensor to Mars.The presence of methane gas, also called "marsh gas", onEarth is one of the clinching signs of the presence of carbon-based life forms. Findings of ISRO’s Mars Orbiter will bevital in supplementing the findings of MAVEN and otherspacecraft orbiting Mars and surface rovers like Curiosityand Opportunity. With new data, global scientific commu-nity would be one step closer in unfolding the mystery of thered planet. Through spearheading cutting edge technologydemonstration like MOM, ISRO has once again proved thescience and technology capability of India. Way aheadISRO can now look forward with confidence to its other fu-ture missions the second Moon mission - Chandrayaan-2 thatis to land a rover on the Moon's surface, possibly in 2017;launching Aditya-1 a spacecraft to study the Sun; and theambition of putting Indians in Earth orbit as part of itsHuman Spaceflight Programme.

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A giant interplanetary leap to Mars...

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Happy Diwali

byASTITVA Editorial Team