Chandrayaan - indian mission to moon

Chandrayaan is Scheduled to launch on October 22nd if weather God permits. Here in this post I am publishing some quick facts of the mission that will help you understand the mission better.

It will answer some  quick questions that a kid might have for the mission. Here's wishing ISRO a grand success!

 

what do you think of this mission? How will it help India? what will its impact. Do tell me in your comments!!

Well the world is eagerly waiting for the chandrayaan mission launch but it seems everyone in ISRO is busy preparing for the launch of chandrayaan on October 22nd 2008.

See the screenshot of the ISRO’s official chandrayaan site its shows its last updated on January 16 2007!!! Yes 2007 !!!!

 

 

Hope it will be updated soon!!!

Wishing ISRO a grand success in this particular mission!!!!

India's maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, is scheduled to take off from Sriharikota at 6.20 am on October 22, ISRO officials said on Monday.
"We are definitely targeting October 22. But if the weather becomes unfavorable, we will postpone the launch to October 23. The window of opportunity will remain open till October 26.We are keeping our fingers crossed and praying that the weather gods will be on our side on October 22," an official said.

 

now that you have seen so many videos and other stuff about the chandrayaan mission. Read this small article to understand the mission better.

As this news reports Aero show 2009 begins on the feb 2009 in Bangalore. Its still 6 months from now. But i was wondering if by then chandrayaan will make it its maiden flight. Its been 3 delays for the mission, and now mid October is the launch date. Hope this one is not delayed further. Well if it meets that time, it will surely be at the aero show 2009.

Do you know what is the most less talked about features of the chandrayaan mission?

We all talk about India’s giant leap that it will take after the launch of chandrayaan mission. Its will not only put Indian space program to limelight but also enhance the space prowness of Indian space program. But what is the less talked about feature of this whole chandrayaan mission.

It’s the 64-pound impactor that will be dropped from the orbiting chandrayaan spacecraft for a suicidal nosedive into the moon. The impactor as it falls towards the moon’s soil will relay video imagery, altitude information and spectral data back to Earth through the Chandrayaan mothership, which will be in a lunar orbit 100 kilometers away.

To my knowledge this will be the first Indian thing that will touch the moon’s soil!

In what way will this Moon Impact Probe be useful for future missions?
G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, answered this

The impactor is essentially to evaluate the lunar trajectories. When we send the spacecraft to the moon, the gravitational field will have a strong influence on its [the spacecraft's] orbit. We have some inputs available on this based on past missions. But when the spacecraft orbits the moon we will get some data on this. Using these, we will try to define a trajectory for the impactor. That will be one of our major experiments. As the impactor descends, it will take closer pictures of the lunar surface and when it impacts, it will kick up some dust. Using the mass spectrometer, we will be able to get the signature related to the composition of the material that covers the lunar surface. This is the first step towards later missions, which that will require a soft landing and a robot, experimental set-up to analyse and return the data.

Interested in seeing the animation or video of the chandrayaan mission, click here.

ISRO's chief spokesperson, S Satish, on Thursday at the launch of the Nehru Planetarium's new show, "Conquest of the moon and the secrets of the sun." said that as part of the public outreach programme relating to India's maiden voyage to the moon, "Chandrayaan-1," Isro plans to conduct essay and poster competitions for youngsters in different cities.


He told TOI that Isro is aiming for a launch date of September 19, 2008, for Chandrayaan. "But, the final date will be decided towards the end of this month," he said, while pointing out that the launch can be conducted till October 16, 2008.

Preparations for kicking off the Chandrayaan launch campaign at Sriharikota have been initiated and the lunar satellite is undergoing various tests at the Isro Satellite Centre. The launch campaign is slated to take off 50 days prior to the lift off.

Source : times of india

Two months before the launch of Chandrayaan-1 mission, the Nehru Planetarium in Mumbai is planning to show a simulation video of India’s maiden mission to the moon. You can see it here.


As you all know Chandrayaan-1 is an unmanned lunar mission scheduled to be launched on September 19, 2008 by india. The main objectives of the mission is to map the moon. Read more here. Interested in seeing video's click here. And see the pictures of chandrayaan, the cube shaped spacecraft here.

Want to play the chandrayaan game?

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G Madhavan Nair appears to be too involved in Chandrayaan-I project.

Delivering the National Technology Day lecture at the National Geophysical Research Institute on June 20, Nair said:"Some crores of years ago, a crumble from our planet spun off. Now, in a few months, we (Indians) would be landing there to get back in touch with it again."


He exhorted the scientist community in the State to harness technological development for the benefit of mankind. He also called for the usage of local language to communicate science and technology to people at large.

The countdown for the chandrayaan mission begins! Moon mission will launch in September says ISRO. A precise launch date is not still not finalized.

A crucial meeting of the senior scientists at Isro's Satellite Centre has decided that the moon mission could blast off in September. Weather conditions will also determine the precise launch date.

source : times of india

The PSLV's recent launch of 10 satellites into precise orbit has boosted the confidence of the space community and elevated the status of India among space-faring nations, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair said on 30th May 2008.

Source : The hindu

Adding a feather to its cap, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its own satellite imagery on the Internet six months from now, rivaling popular mapping service Google Earth.

"Our images are better than good. These images will be on our website six months from now," ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair told news persons here after receiving the Rammohan Puraskar.

Related : Play chandrayaan game

Pointing out that certain locations with high security risks were prohibited by law from being imaged, he said, "We are figuring that out. The remaining places, of course, would be on the net."

Earlier, while receiving the award, Nair pointed out that India had the world's largest constellation of Remote Sensing Satellites!.

via sify

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From SLV to chandrayaan - follow the story of indian space program

I read this blog entry on indian space progress by Hardik Kothare. Re-printing a part of it here.

Finally, the pioneers of Mathematics and Science (the title which has been denied to us by the global community since ages) are now snatching (not demanding) their rightful place on the map of laudable feats achieved in science and technology. ISRO and DRDO have been involved in projects which promise considerable respect and awe towards the two organisations which are always at the helm of technological development in India.
ISRO launched a staggering number of 10 satellites at a time using its indigenous launching system, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)! The project involved nanosatellites from other nations too! Sriharikota, the mecca of Indian Aerospace Engineering exulted with pride as the common man of India also appreciated India's leaps and bounds in space research. ISRO missions are now almost independent of foreign technological help because now we have started constructing our very own cryogenic engines which is a remarkable achievement (apparently our ever-controversial dear Director is an expert in the field!)

Read the full post here

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Chandrayaan-1 mission will launch at the end of 3rd quarter of 2008, and during the same time NASA has plans for LRO that is Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter!!!

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is the first mission in NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, a plan to return to the moon and then to travel to Mars and beyond. LRO's objectives are to finding safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.

Send your names to the moon. Names are being collected and placed onboard the LRO spacecraft for its historic mission bringing NASA back to the moon. You will receive a certificate showcasing your support of the mission.

The deadline is June 27, 2008 for the submission of names.

Send your names to the moon.

This is an animation of chandrayaan-1 rovering on moon with earth in the background, that i have created in javascript which shows chandryann-1 on its mission of mapping the moon.

Do you know what are the Scientific Objectives

The Chandrayaan-1 mission is aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the moon in visible, near infrared(NIR), low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions. Specifically the objectives will be

To prepare a three-dimensional atlas (with a high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10m) of both near and far side of the moon.

To conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of elements such as Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium with a spatial resolution of about 25 km and high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium with a spatial resolution of about 20 km.

Learn more here

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Watch the videos of chandrayaan-1
How chandrayaan-1 looks like
Who is actually taking chandrayaan-1 to moon?
From SLV to chandrayaan - follow the story of indian space program

With ISRO successfully placing 10 satellites into their orbits simultaneously using the PSLV-C9 last week, according to analysts, this has put it several notches ahead of even countries like Russia. Indeed, while speaking to the media after the launch, ISRO's chairman G Madhavan Nair who doubles up as the secretary of the Department of Space (DoS), said as much. This record mission now puts ISRO's commercial arm, the Rs 600-crore Antrix Corporation, in a better position to capture part of the $4bn global satellite launch business since ISRO launch costs are a lot lower than those of its competitors.

Nair, who took over as chairman in September 2003, however, is not sitting on his laurels. In another few months, he plans to kick off the Chandrayaan mission, India's unmanned lunar mission. The idea is to, over a two-year period, survey the moon's surface to provide a complete map of its chemical characteristics.

Read more here

Related links
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How chandrayaan-1 looks like
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From SLV to chandrayaan - follow the story of indian space program

ISRO, indian's space agency is gearing up for the chandrayaan mission to be launched by the end of this year. Mean while why not know about the chandrayaan the craft that will place India into the elite club.

The moon craft is cuboid in shape of approximately 1.50 m side and it weighs 1304 kg at launch and 590 kg at lunar orbit and accommodates eleven science payloads.

Well that is about the size and the capacity of chandrayaan, what about the power unit?

It is 3-axis stabilized spacecraft using two star sensors, gyros and four reaction wheels. The power generation would be through a canted single-sided solar array to provide required power during all phases of the mission. This deployable solar array consisting of a single panel generates 700W of peak power. Solar array along with yoke would be stowed on the south deck of the spacecraft in the launch phase. During eclipse spacecraft will be powered by Lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries.

After deployment the solar panel plane is canted by 30º to the spacecraft pitch axis.

The spacecraft employs a X-band, 0.7m diameter parabolic antenna for payload data transmission. The antenna employs a dual gimbal mechanism to track the earth station when the spacecraft is in lunar orbit.

The spacecraft uses a bipropellant integrated propulsion system to reach lunar orbit as well as orbit and attitude maintenance while orbiting the moon.

The propulsion system carries required propellant for a mission life of 2 years, with adequate margin.

The Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TTC) communication is in S-band frequency.

The scientific payload data transmission is in X-band frequency.

The spacecraft has three Solid State Recorders (SSRs) on board to record data from various payloads.

SSR-1 will store science payload data and has capability of storing 32Gb data.
SSR-2 will store science payload data along with spacecraft attitude information (gyro and star sensor), satellite house keeping and other auxiliary data. The storing capacity of SSR-2 is 8Gb.
M3 (Moon Mineralogy Mapper) payload has an independent SSR with 10Gb capacity.


Related links
Watch the videos of chandrayaan-1
How chandrayaan-1 looks like
Who is actually taking chandrayaan-1 to moon?
From SLV to chandrayaan - follow the story of indian space program

I have been searching the net for some video's of chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to moon, scheduled to launch in 3rd quarter of 2008 and here is the video's i found.


This one is beautiful animation of the ISRO satellite launch






And here is a playlist of Indian space program that i have created




Check this one on you tube. This is really good!

Indian space scientists are aiming to launch their ambitious Moon-mission Chandrayaan-I in the third quarter of this year. It will launch a 500 kg satellite that will orbit Earth's only natural satellite for two years for terrain mapping and lunar surface mapping.

Read more

Watch PSLV, the launch vehicle that will send chandrayaan-1 to moon, make history by launching 10 satelites here

Setting a world record, India's Polar rocket on 28th april, successfully placed ten satellites, including the country's remote sensing satellite, into orbit in a single mission.


This is for the first time that ISRO has put ten satellites in orbit in a single launch. This is also the PSLV's twelfth successful flight.

It is for the first time in the world that ten satellites were launched in a single mission. Russia had earlier launched eight satellites together.


The ten-pack launch of the Indian Space Research Organisation saw the 230-tonne Polar Satellite launch Vehicle carry the heaviest luggage--824 kgs--and put into orbit an Indian Mini Satellite and eight foreign nano satellites besides the Cartosat-2A remote sensing satellite.
Read more

watch the vedio of PSLV making world record

India might launch its Chandrayaan 1 probe in July. While there is no official words out from ISRO, but spaceflight.com presents this view.

Read more on the return to moon report from this link


July PSLV • Chandrayaan 1
Launch time: To be decided
Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India

India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will send the Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft to the moon. It will be country's first lunar orbiter. The mission carries a slate of instruments provided by scientists from India, Bulgaria, the European Space Agency and NASA. Delayed from April.

use this link to track chandrayaan's launch date http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html