Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has lost contact with its spacecraft, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), after eight years of orbiting Mars. They are yet to know the specific reason for this yet, but it is likely due to the orbiter running out of propellant.
It is also possible that the spacecraft had performed an automated maneuver that had cut the link for communications, according to media reports mentioned by Space.com.
The satellite battery may have been drained due to the fact that the orbiter has encountered many eclipses over the duration of its mission. The ISRO has tried maneuvering the orbiter to avoid the eclipses, but it seems that the MOM still faced a seven-hour long eclipse.
Since the satellite was only able to withstand eclipses that only lasted about an hour and 40 minutes, the lack of power may mean that it has used up all its propellant and that there is none left, according to The Hindu.
More About the Mars Orbiter Mission
The MOM, also known as the Mangalyaan, was launched in Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, in India. It was onboard PSLV-C25 on November 2013. The spacecraft was successfully placed into the Red Planet's orbit on September 2014.
The Mars orbiter has a 4.6 x 6-foot solar array wing and has three panels attached to one side of the spacecraft. This allows MOM to generate 800 watts of power which then charges a lithium-ion battery.
It is still an impressive feat for the Mangalyaan to last for eight years, seeing as the ISRO official claimed that its mission life was only designed to last for six months.
The instruments that the Mars Orbiter Mission carried included a Mars Color Camera (MCC), Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (MENCA), and Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP).
According to Britannica, the satellite's design was based on India's first Moon probe, which was the Chandrayaan-1.
The satellite's MCC managed to capture 1000 photos of Mars and published a Mars Atlas.
What Was the Satellite's Mission?
The primary mission of the Mangalyaan was to study the topography, morphology, mineralogy, and atmosphere of the Red Planet. Due to the spacecraft's orbital placement, it was also able to observe the Martian moon, Phobos.
Since this was India's first interplanetary mission, they aim to test key technologies to explore other planets as well.
Other ISRO Projects
ISRO has also launched other satellites before, which includes the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system. The INSAT's purpose was for telecommunication, television broadcasting, meteorology, and disaster warnings.
Their program expanded to geosynchronous satellites called GSAT when they launched their first INSAT in 1988.
It was around this time that they also launched the first IRS satellite program, which helped develop more-specialized satellites, including Radar Imaging Satellite-1 whihc was launched in 2012, and the Satellite with Argos and Altika which was launched in 2013.
