With drained battery and no fuel, India's Mars Orbiter craft quietly bids adieu
Bengaluru, Oct 2: India's Mars Orbiter craft has run out of propellant and its battery drained beyond the safe limit, fuelling speculation that the country's maiden interplanetary mission 'Mangalyaan' may have finally completed its long innings.
The Rs 450 crore Mars Orbiter Mission was launched onboard PSLV-C25 on November five, 2013, and the MOM spacecraft was successfully inserted into Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 in its first attempt.
"Right now, there is no fuel left. The satellite battery has drained," sources in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told PTI. "The link has been lost".
There was, however, no official word from the country's national space agency, headquartered here.
With fuel on board, ISRO had been performing orbital manoeuvres on MOM spacecraft to take it to a new orbit to avoid an impending eclipse in the past.
"But recently there were back-to-back eclipses including one that lasted seven-and-half hours," officials said on condition of anonymity, noting that all the propellant on board the ageing satellite had been consumed.
"As the satellite battery is designed to handle eclipse duration of only about one hour and 40 minutes, a longer eclipse would drain the battery beyond the safe limit," another official said.
ISRO officials noted that the Mars orbiter craft functioned for almost eight years, well beyond its designed mission life of six months.
"It has done its job and yielded significant scientific results," they said.
The objectives of the mission were primarily technological and included design, realisation and launch of a Mars Orbiter spacecraft capable of operating with sufficient autonomy during the journey phase; Mars orbit insertion/ capture and in-orbit phase around Mars.
The MOM -- a technology demonstration venture -- carried five scientific payloads (total 15 kg) collecting data on surface geology, morphology, atmospheric processes, surface temperature and atmospheric escape process.
The five instruments are: Mars Color Camera (MCC), Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) and Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP).
"MOM is credited with many laurels like cost-effectiveness, short period of realisation, economical mass-budget, and miniaturisation of five heterogeneous science payloads", ISRO officials pointed out.
Highly elliptical orbit geometry of MOM enabled MCC to take snap shots of 'Full disc' of Mars at its farthest point and finer details from closest point.
The MCC has produced more than 1000 images and published a Mars Atlas.
Meanwhile, plans on a follow-on 'Mangalyaan' mission to the red planet, however, are yet to be firmed up.
ISRO came out with an 'Announcement of Opportunity' (AO) for future Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM-2) in 2016 but officials acknowledged that it's still on the drawing board, with the coming 'Gaganyaan', 'Chandrayaan-3' and 'Aditya - L1' projects being in the space agency's current priority list.
The AO had said: "It is now planned to have the next orbiter mission around Mars for a future launch opportunity. Proposals are solicited from interested scientists within India for experiments onboard an orbiter mission around Mars (MOM-2), to address relevant scientific problems and topics."
"Not in the approved list as of now", a senior ISRO official told PTI on being asked about an update on the MOM-2.
"We need to formulate the project proposals and payloads based on the wider consultation with the research community," the official said. "It's still on the drawing board. But needs some more details and international collaboration for finalising the mission."
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India look to protect home ODI record as NZ eye historic first series win
Indore (PTI): India's absolute dominance at home will come under examination when they meet a determined New Zealand in the decisive third ODI at the high-scoring Holkar Stadium here on Sunday, with the three-match series locked at 1-1.
India have not lost a bilateral ODI series at home since March 2019, when Australia overturned a 0-2 deficit to win 3–2, including the decider in Delhi. But that history is now firmly on the line.
For New Zealand, the context is equally compelling.
The Black Caps have toured India for bilateral ODIs since 1989 but have never won a series in India and this is arguably their best opportunity to break that barren run.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir would not like another tumbling at home under his regime after getting a number of unwanted firsts. India lost five Tests at home under Gambhir apart from losing an ODI series in Sri Lanka for the first time.
India's defeat in the second ODI at Rajkot was shaped less by one extraordinary innings than by how New Zealand seized control of the middle overs.
Daryl Mitchell's unbeaten century was built on calculated aggression, particularly against spin, an area where India have been struggling of late.
Indore, with its short boundaries and minimal assistance for bowlers, offers even less margin for error.
India's ability to tackle spin has raised questions. Despite depth and power, the side has continued to show discomfort against spin in the middle overs. Strike rotation has stalled at key phases, forcing batters into high-risk options rather than controlled accumulation.
On a ground where totals can quickly spiral beyond 350, those quiet overs can decisively tilt the momentum.
Will there be a RoKo show
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Much of the spotlight will be on Rohit Sharma, who is enduring a lean run in this series. His ultra-aggressive approach at the top has been a defining feature of India's recent ODI philosophy, but repeated early dismissals has added a bit of pressure.
Virat Kohli, meanwhile, remains the fulcrum around which India’s ODI batting revolves. With India’s next 50-over assignment for senior players likely to come in July during the tour of England, the fans would hope for another RoKo show.
Selection balance
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The choice between Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ayush Badoni is effectively a debate between depth and control.
Reddy adds seam-bowling insurance, though used sparingly, and late-innings power, while Badoni offers a tighter technique against spin and composure in the middle overs.
The case for including left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh also gains weight at Indore, where variations rather than raw pace often determines success.
Arshdeep’s ability to swing the new ball, attack the stumps and execute yorkers at the death offers India a different tactical dimension, particularly against New Zealand’s largely right-handed top and middle-order.
His inclusion would also reduce the burden on the spinners in the middle and late phases, allowing India to rely more on pace-off deliveries, wide yorkers and hard lengths — methods better suited at Holkar Stadium than spin.
The challenge lies in whom he replaces. Mohammed Siraj’s new-ball role makes him difficult to leave out. The most likely trade-off would be a spinner or a seam-bowling all-rounder, depending on conditions and batting depth.
KL Rahul's role is one area where clarity already exists. His returns at number five underline the value of keeping him in that position rather than pushing him down to six, where his ability to manage tempo and rebuild under pressure is diluted.
New Zealand has oodles of confidence and clarity. Mitchell's dominance, supported by Devon Conway, has reflected the Black Caps' ability to identify match-ups and execute without overreach.
Their bowlers, though lacking headline names, have used variations and hard lengths effectively in conditions offering little natural assistance.
At a venue where bowlers are often reduced to do damage control, the contest is likely to hinge as much on decision-making as it is on skill.
For Shubman Gill and his side, the challenge is not just to win a series, but to demonstrate tactical flexibility and situational awareness — traits that define successful teams when margins are thin and pressure is real.
Teams (from): India: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ayush Badoni, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana.
New Zealand: Michael Bracewell (c), Devon Conway (wk), Mitchell Hay (wk), Nick Kelly, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Josh Clarkson, Zak Foulkes, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Adithya Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Jayden Lennox, Michael Rae.
Match starts at 1:30pm IST.
