Chandrayaan - indian mission to moon

After the launch of chandrayaan-1, ISRO has planned Chandrayaan-II for 2010 using GSLV, in which it will send a rover to moon, a vehicle that will wander on the surface of moon for about a month to collect scientific data and material. The design of this moon rover will be based on MIP (Moon Impact Probe) of Chandrayaan-I. IIT Kanpur is also designing a robot called SmartNav for Chandrayaan-II. The robot will walk on the surface of the moon doing experiments and collecting data. Note that no country has till today sent a two legged robot to any place outside earth!


Read more here and here

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.

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

This are the two wallpapers of chandrayaan that i have made with my limited skills in photoshop. Hope you like it. I will be making more as and when i get time and inspiration.



Click on the image to download the wallpapers of chandrayaan.

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?

Weather you find water on moon or in mars. India is heading for the moon. And its mission is not to find water but to make an atlas of the moon. When is the launch, last report that we had is on September and some scientist who didn't wanted to be named said its on 19th of September. So here is one image that i have made for the date!!



So if all goes well this date, with the launch of chandrayaan-1 will mark the biggest step in Indian space program!! Here's wishing all ISRO scientist a grand success!!

Indian and Russian are going to revive the joint manned mission project. Rakesh sharma, India's first astronaut, rode to the SALYUT 7 space station 24 years ago and now after the chandrayaan mission in mid-september, India's indigenous manned mission will go into top gear.


Both countries have formed a joint working committee to work out details. The panel is headed by Dr P S Sastry, director of the Advanced Technology Office and Launch Vehicle Programmes of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).


The salient aspect of the new mission will be its flexibility about the crew.

“We won’t restrict it to just Air Force pilots. It will be a nationwide search. And cosmonauts who satisfy basic parameters will be shortlisted,” sources said.

The idea is to select 200 prospective candidates for a second level of screening after the preliminary survey. “We will prepare a list of 20 people. The best two will fly on Soyuz in three years to spend some time on the International Space Station,” sources said.

After the initial training in India, the crew will go to Russia to train with other members of the project. The revival of the joint mission gives ISRO a chance to install infrastructure needed for its own programme.

“The selection process will help us to prepare our own policy for the crew for the Indian mission. We will be able to learn and write a new text with the help of Russians who are experienced in manned missions,” sources said.

A detailed report of the Rs 10,000 crore project has been submitted to the government and the design of the space craft is complete. India plans to conduct three more experimental flights of its Space Recovery Experiment capsule to perfect re-entry techniques.