Chandrayaan - indian mission to moon

Its not india that is getting excited about the chandrayaan. I'ts also other nations of the world that are as excited as we are.

Europe for example is the one who will take the next ride on chandrayaan-1


Excitement is rising as ESA is in the final stages of preparation for the first collaborative space mission with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Chandrayaan-1 will study the Moon in great detail and be the first Indian scientific mission leaving the Earth’s vicinity.

Europe is supplying three instruments for the mission.


Read more at Europe’s next ride to the Moon: Chandrayaan-1

Mission Moon is being given the final touches in Bangalore. All payloads and instruments, including five from overseas (from US and Europe) in Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft on India's PSLV are currently being assembled at the ISRO satellite integration centre bangalore, the biggest in Asia.

All satellites and instruments from India or abroad have to be tested followed by assembly and integration onto the spacecraft at this centre.

The instruments will be assembled and finally integrated onto Chandrayaan-1 before launch in a couple of months time. Engineers have already conducted vibration tests, temperature tests at high and low frequencies, tests with thermal sub-systems and all electrical and mechanical functioning.

Read the full story here

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What do GSLV and PSLV has common apart from being from ISRO?

PSLV will carry chandrayaan-1 and GSLv will carry none. But that's the difference, i asked what is common between GSLV and PSLV?

Its vikas engine!!! The Vikas engine, based on the French Viking engine developed for Europe's Ariane launcher, is used in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) as well as the GSLV.

The ISRO has farmed out the manufacture of the engine to three Indian companies: Machine Tools Aids & Reconditioning of Hyderabad, Godrej and Kerala Hitech Industries Limited (Keltec) based in Thiruvananthapuram. The final assembly of the engines and the stages is, however, carried out by the ISRO. The PSLV requires only one Vikas engine (for its second stage). The GSLV, on the other hand, needs five such engines: one for each of the four strap-ons and one for the second stage. The second stage employs indigenously manufactured Vikas engine and carries 40 tonne of liquid propellant — Unsymmetrical Di-Methyl Hydrazine (UDMH) as fuel and Nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) as oxidizer.

It generates a maximum thrust of about 724 kN!!!

When is Chandrayaan-1 launch? This is the question everyone is asking! First ISRO declared 9th april as chandrayaan launch date. Then it got delayed. Reason? To prepare the integration work. Now ISRO chief Nair, stated that chandrayaan launch will be in September. Though the date is not fixed but speculation is that it might be on September 19th!


So the whole world is waiting for chandrayaan launch! Its india's first mission to the moon. In fact its first isro mission that will take something so far from earth.
I have been following mission since the time i knew about it and here are some links that will help you understand this mission better.

Have a look at the pictures of chandrayaan. Know about the chandrayaan the spacecraft here. If you are interested in chandrayaan mission objectives click here. If you believe in seeing a video of the mission then this video of the mission will interest you.

Wondering what is the logic of india's sending chandrayaan to moon? read it here. If wondering Why go to moon? click here

But who will take chandrayaan to moon, yes PSLV, India's most successful launch vehicle. See and read about the launcher and its world record.

If all this talk ignites your interest in indian space program, then this link is for you. See the timeline of indian space program here from slv to chandrayaan.

Indian's moon mission is not only about india but it involves NASA, Europe and Russia

This post was my attempt to guide you to the relevant information you might like to read from this blog. Hope i succeeded. Do let me know in comments?

A PhD student,Rizwana Abbasi, at University of Leicester, UK wrote and interesting article at http://www.countercurrents.org/abbasi290108.htm

I liked the way he historically documented india's space program in such a lucid way. So i am reproducing it here.

Today India is surging ahead to bolster its image as a powerhouse of advanced Space technology. It is all the more surprising that it was only in the late 1960s that India embarked on its Space Programme on a rather modest scale by establishing the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was instrumental in staging the first of its low capability projects in the initial stages.

Earlier experiments and investments opened up opportunities for testing the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3), which proved successful. From then on India began to advance by leaps and bounds. It soon started testing a range of SLVs which followed the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLVs), the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the more powerful Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The modernisation of such duel use technologies enhanced Indian capabilities in space and profoundly influenced the South Asian strategic balance. From the 1980s, India jumped into Ballistic Missile superiority by developing its Integrated Guided Missile Programme (IGMDP), which followed the Satellite programme, anti-tank, surface to air, Prithvi and Agni Missiles.

The success of these developments allowed India to achieve rapid superiority in its advanced Satellite Programme. Building upon the success of the Aryabhatta, Bhaskara and Rohini satellites, India started to build high capability satellites, notably the Indian National Satellite (INSAT). The dual purpose INSAT system at present has ten satellites in operation: INSAT-2E, INSAT-3A, INSAT-3B, INSAT-3C, INSAT-3E, KALPANA-1, GSAT-2 and EDUSAT, INSAT-4A and INSAT-4B. The dual purpose GSLV launches INSAT satellites. The INSAT system is a joint venture by the Department of Space (DOS), Department of Telecommunications (DOT), India Meteorological Department (IMD), All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan, the public television broadcaster in India. It is undeniably one of the largest domestic communication satellite systems in the Asia Pacific Region.

The year 2007 has proved to be another significant milestone for the Indian Space Programme. It has brought a significant lead for India, which launched the PLSV-C7 and PSLV-C8 on 10 January and 23 April 2007 respectively. The PSLV-C7 established the Indian capability to launch satellites and bring them back to earth successfully. This venture introduced a new era in launch vehicle and satellite technology development which was an undoubted success and an essential step towards Indian manned space flight. It enhanced Indian capabilities to its global satellite launch business. India has joined the elite club of nations by deploying space exploration resources for commercial use. The PSLV-C8 carried an Italian satellite (AGILE) into a low earth orbit. The GSLV-F04 was launched successfully on 2 September 2007 carrying INSAT-4CR into the desired orbit. It is the largest satellite launched by an Indian launcher so far. The launch of GSLV Mk III is already scheduled for 2008-9. A
n Israeli military intelligence satellite, TechSAR, will be sent into orbit by an Indian rocket, the PSLV, in coming months: after this India could boost its intelligence gathering capability extensively. Above all, India is going to launch its first unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-I in April 2008, and Chandrayaan-II in 2011-12. In these developments India received help from the US, Russia, Israel and Europe.

Furthermore, India intends to build a constellation of seven satellites, the Indian regional Navigation Satellite system, a NAVSTAR system which will start functioning by 2012. This project will navigate telecommunication, transport, disaster areas and public safety networks along with other regional activities. Such technology plays an increasingly crucial military role, not only in the development of missiles, but in providing sophisticated intelligence, communications and navigation. Moreover, such is the nature of these projects that these satellites will keep the entire region under the watch of India

For those of who who wnat to read the whole thing please help click the link below

http://www.countercurrents.org/abbasi290108.htm

Related links
Watch the videos of chandrayaan-1
How chandrayaan-1 looks like
Who is actually taking chandrayaan-1 to moon?
Who is powering the Indian space program