“I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream.”
-Neil Armstrong
INTRODUCTION
The curiosity on the MOON, that aroused in our mind paved the way towards scientific study of the Moon, driven by human desire and quest for knowledge. If we just look back to the past its clear that there were successful manned and unmanned missions to moon. In July 20,1969 man successfully set foot on moon surfaces.
Chandrayaan I, is an unmanned lunar mission by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The mission includes a lunar orbiter as well as an impactor. The spacecraft will be launched by a modified version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The satellite will weigh upto 1304 Kg at launch and 590 Kg at Lunar orbit. ISRO has announced that the mission will take place in June or July of 2008.
MOON – AN OVERVIEW
The average distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,399 kilometres (238,854 miles), which is about 30 times the diameter of the Earth. The Moon is about one-third the size of the Earth and has a diameter of 3,474 kilometres (2,159 miles). It is the fifth largest moon in the Solar System behind Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, and Io. The Moon makes one complete orbit about the Earth every 27.3 days, and the periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth-Moon-Sun system are responsible for the lunar phases that repeat every 29.5 days. The gravitational attraction of the Moon is responsible for the tides on Earth.
OBJECTIVES
The scientific objectives are-
The Spacecraft for this mission is Cuboid in shape, Weighs 1304 kg at launch and 590 kg at lunar orbit. It accommodates eleven science payloads .The power is generated through a canted single-sided solar array that provides 700W of peak power. During eclipse spacecraft will be powered by Lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries. The spacecraft employs a X-band, parabolic antenna for payload data transmission. It uses a bipropellant integrated propulsion system to reach lunar orbit as well as orbit and attitude maintenance while orbiting the moon. The Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TTC) communication system within the spacecraft is of S-band frequency and 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 satellite house keeping and other auxiliary data, the storing capacity of SSR-2 is 8Gb and M3 (Moon Mineralogy Mapper) payload has an independent SSR with 10Gb capacity.
GROUND STATION
Ground Station for Chandrayaan-1 comprises three major elements
Deep Space Station (DSN),
Spacecraft Control Center (SCC)
Indian Space Science Data Center (ISSDC).
PAYLOAD
Apart from the above indigenous payloads/experiments, ISRO solicited proposals through an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) from International and Indian Scientific Community for participating in the mission by providing suitable scientific payloads complementing the Chandrayaan-1 objectives The AO payloads on-board Chandrayaan-1 are:
LAUNCH VEHICLE
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) built its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in the early 90s. The first Indian moon mission is proposed to be a lunar polar orbiter at an altitude of about 100 km from the lunar surface. Considering the maturity of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) demonstrated through PSLV-C4/KALPANA-1 mission, PSLV is chosen for the first lunar mission. The upgraded version of PSLV viz., PSLV-XL which has a liftoff weight of 316 tonnes, will be used to inject 1304 kg mass spacecraft at 240 x 24,000 km orbit and the corresponding spacecraft mass is 590kg when the target lunar orbit of 100 km is achieved.
CONCLUSION
According to Ben Bussey, senior staff scientist at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, Chandrayaan's imagery will be used to decide the future Moon Base that NASA has recently announced. ISRO is also planning a second version of Chandrayaan named: Chandrayaan-II in 2010-2011. Russian Federal Space Agency will work along with ISRO on this mission. Chandrayaan-II will consist of the spacecraft itself and a landing platform with the moon rover. The rover will weigh between 30 kg and 100 kg, depending on whether it is to do a semi-hard landing or soft landing. It will run predominantly on solar power.
For further reading log on to- http://www.isro.org/chandrayaan
BLOG MAINTAINED BY- HARIKRISHNAN R.EMBRANTHIRI
-Neil Armstrong
INTRODUCTION
The curiosity on the MOON, that aroused in our mind paved the way towards scientific study of the Moon, driven by human desire and quest for knowledge. If we just look back to the past its clear that there were successful manned and unmanned missions to moon. In July 20,1969 man successfully set foot on moon surfaces.
Chandrayaan I, is an unmanned lunar mission by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The mission includes a lunar orbiter as well as an impactor. The spacecraft will be launched by a modified version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The satellite will weigh upto 1304 Kg at launch and 590 Kg at Lunar orbit. ISRO has announced that the mission will take place in June or July of 2008.
MOON – AN OVERVIEW
The average distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,399 kilometres (238,854 miles), which is about 30 times the diameter of the Earth. The Moon is about one-third the size of the Earth and has a diameter of 3,474 kilometres (2,159 miles). It is the fifth largest moon in the Solar System behind Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, and Io. The Moon makes one complete orbit about the Earth every 27.3 days, and the periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth-Moon-Sun system are responsible for the lunar phases that repeat every 29.5 days. The gravitational attraction of the Moon is responsible for the tides on Earth.
OBJECTIVES
The scientific objectives are-
- To prepare a three dimensional atlas of 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 and high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium.
- Search for surface or sub-surface water-ice on the moon, specially at lunar pole
- To map the height variation of the lunar surface features along the satellite track.
- To realize the goal of harnessing the science payloads, lunar craft and the launch vehicle with suitable ground support system including DSN station, integration and testing, launching and achieving lunar orbit of ~100 km, in-orbit operation of experiments, communication/telecommand , telemetry data reception, quick look data and archival for scientific utilization by identified group of scientists.
The Spacecraft for this mission is Cuboid in shape, Weighs 1304 kg at launch and 590 kg at lunar orbit. It accommodates eleven science payloads .The power is generated through a canted single-sided solar array that provides 700W of peak power. During eclipse spacecraft will be powered by Lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries. The spacecraft employs a X-band, parabolic antenna for payload data transmission. It uses a bipropellant integrated propulsion system to reach lunar orbit as well as orbit and attitude maintenance while orbiting the moon. The Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TTC) communication system within the spacecraft is of S-band frequency and 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 satellite house keeping and other auxiliary data, the storing capacity of SSR-2 is 8Gb and M3 (Moon Mineralogy Mapper) payload has an independent SSR with 10Gb capacity.
GROUND STATION
Ground Station for Chandrayaan-1 comprises three major elements
Deep Space Station (DSN),
Spacecraft Control Center (SCC)
Indian Space Science Data Center (ISSDC).
PAYLOAD
- The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) has 5 m resolution and a 40 km swath in the panchromatic band and will be used to produce a high-resolution map of the Moon.
- The Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI) will perform mineralogical mapping in the 400-900 nm band with a spectral resolution of 15 nm and a spatial resolution of 80 m.
- The Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) will determine the surface topography.
- An X-ray fluorescence spectrometer C1XS covering 1- 10 keV with a ground resolution of 25 km and a Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) to detect solar flux in the 1–10 keV range. C1XS will be used to map the abundance of Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, and Fe at the surface,nd the XSM will monitor the solar flux. This payload is a collaboration between Rutherford Appleton laboratory, U.K, ESA and ISRO.
- A High Energy X-ray/gamma ray spectrometer (HEX) for 30- 200 keV measurements with ground resolution of 40 km, the HEX will measure U, Th, 210Pb, 222Rn degassing, and other radioactive elements
- Moon Impact probe(MIP) developed by ISRO is in turn a small satellite that will be carried by Chandrayaan-1 and will be ejected once it reaches 100 km orbit around moon, to impact on the moon. MIP carries three more instruments namely, a high resolution mass spectrometer, an S-Band altimeter and a video camera.
Apart from the above indigenous payloads/experiments, ISRO solicited proposals through an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) from International and Indian Scientific Community for participating in the mission by providing suitable scientific payloads complementing the Chandrayaan-1 objectives The AO payloads on-board Chandrayaan-1 are:
- The Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer (SARA) from ESA will map composition using low energy neutral atoms sputtered from the surface.
- The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) from Brown University and JPL (funded by NASA) is an imaging spectrometer designed to map the surface mineral composition.
- A near infrared spectrometer (SIR-2) from ESA, built at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Polish Academy of Science and University of Bergen, will also map the mineral composition using an infrared grating spectrometer. The instrument will be similar to that of the Smart-1 SIR.
- S-band miniSAR from the APL at the Johns Hopkins University (funded by NASA) is the active SAR system to map lunar polar ice.
- Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM-7) from Bulgaria is to map the radiation environment around the moon.
LAUNCH VEHICLE
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) built its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in the early 90s. The first Indian moon mission is proposed to be a lunar polar orbiter at an altitude of about 100 km from the lunar surface. Considering the maturity of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) demonstrated through PSLV-C4/KALPANA-1 mission, PSLV is chosen for the first lunar mission. The upgraded version of PSLV viz., PSLV-XL which has a liftoff weight of 316 tonnes, will be used to inject 1304 kg mass spacecraft at 240 x 24,000 km orbit and the corresponding spacecraft mass is 590kg when the target lunar orbit of 100 km is achieved.
CONCLUSION
According to Ben Bussey, senior staff scientist at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, Chandrayaan's imagery will be used to decide the future Moon Base that NASA has recently announced. ISRO is also planning a second version of Chandrayaan named: Chandrayaan-II in 2010-2011. Russian Federal Space Agency will work along with ISRO on this mission. Chandrayaan-II will consist of the spacecraft itself and a landing platform with the moon rover. The rover will weigh between 30 kg and 100 kg, depending on whether it is to do a semi-hard landing or soft landing. It will run predominantly on solar power.
For further reading log on to- http://www.isro.org/chandrayaan
BLOG MAINTAINED BY- HARIKRISHNAN R.EMBRANTHIRI
