Chandrayaan
Chandrayaan-1 Enters Lunar Orbit!
Chandrayaan-1 sends photos of mother earth
Chandrayaan-1 gets closer to moon
Obama sees Chandrayaan as a Challenge
Update: A successful launch that has made every Indian proud. Catch the glorious moment with the launch videos here
India’s Mission to the Moon- Chandrayaan- will be launced on 22nd October at 6:20am IST. The launch will be a proud moment for every Indian and will establish India’s status as a Space faring nation. To celebrate this ocassion, Lord of the Web will be tracking all the progress and news from India’s voyage to the moon and future space plans of India
Launch Details
The unmanned spacecraft using India’s indigenous rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), would be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) in Sriharikota, about 80 km from Chennai on Wednesday at 6.20 am. The PSLV rocket will loft Chandrayaan into an elliptical “transfer orbit” around Earth. The probe will later carry out a series of engine burns to set it on a lunar trajectory. The spacecraft, after five days, will start firing its engine to slow its velocity such that it is captured by the Moon’s gravity. Chandrayaan will slip into a near-circular orbit at an altitude of 1,000km and will eventually drop its altitude until it is orbiting just 100km above the lunar surface.
India’s mission is carrying a Moon Impactor Probe, which will detach from the spacecraft and land on the moon. The Moon Impactor Probe (MIP) will carry some instruments which will analyse the lunar surface and close-up pictures of the moon will also be taken. It will communicate with the moon orbiting satellite, which will in turn communicate witt India ground communications centre setup at about 30km from Bangalore.
More info on Chandrayaan-1: The mothership and moon impact probe
The Tricolor at the moon
India will drop its flag on the moon to establish its presence on the Moon. This will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia, and Japan to have its flag on the moon.
ISRO’s chariman ,G. Madhavan Nair had this to say, when asked about the significance of this act: “Today, as per the international charter, the moon belongs to the global community. Nobody can make special claim on the surface. But in due course, we don’t know how things will change. But our presence will be established through this mission.”
Searching for Helium-3
The mission would look for, amongst others, Helium-3-one of the fuels for nuclear fusion. A utilizable supply of Helium-3 can finally bring about the answer to the Energy crisis that is iminent upon us. The mission thus has economical as well as humanitarian values.
Kalam’s Thumbs-up
Dr.Abdul Kalam, former president has come out and said that the mission will be of immense economical value to India and thus silencing critics who ask whether such a mission is required in a country still reeling under poverty.
ISRO officials have time and again said that Chandrayaan is not a “me too” effort. “Despite many manned and unmanned missions undertaken in the last four-and-a-half decades, not everything about the moon is fully understood,” says Nair. “One of the main objectives of Chandrayaan-I would be to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the moon. Besides, it will also help increase the sophistication of our space systems like INSAT and IRS.”
Chandrayaan-2?
ISRO and Russia’s Roskosmos have agreed to team up on joint lunar research and exploration as part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. At various ISRO establishments, work is going on for projects that will be follow-up to Chandrayaan-1. The mission’s highlight will be a rover, built by the Russians, that will explore the moon. The rover will weigh between 30 kg and 100 kg and will have a one-month life span and operate predominantly on solar power. The rocket for the second mission will be the three-stage Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), due to the increased payload weight.
Chandrayaan-2, is expected between 2010 and 2012, and will have a budget of Rs 425 crore compared to Rs 386 crore for Chandrayaan-1.
Manned Missions?
Sources from ISRO say that after Chandrayaan-2, ISRO is planning a manned mission to the low earth orbit. The space programme could pave the way for a manned mission to the moon in 2020. ISRO is also working on an unmanned flight to Mars.
