India's Chandrayaan Blasts Off To The Moon!

Sriharikota - India’s first unmanned flight to the moon blasted off from Sriharikota, off the Andhra Pradesh coast, early morning on Wednesday.

A 44-metre-tall and 316-tonne rocket called the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C11) carried the 1,380-kg lunar orbiter Chandrayaan 1 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at around 0620 hrs IST.

On way to the Moon finally! So far it's been a text book launch. Hopefully Chandrayaan will slip into Moon orbit as planned in the next two weeks.

The Satellite

Chandrayaan-1, a 1.5 m cube weighing 1380 kg, is India’s first unmanned mission to the Moon. It will spend two years performing various experiments including high resolution mapping of the lunar surface in visible light, near infrared, low energy and high energy X-rays.

In addition, the spacecraft will also evaluate the Moon’s mineral resources and the distribution of elements such as silicon, iron and titanium.

Chandrayaan-1 has a scientific package containing 12 instruments - two NASA, three European and seven Indian. This includes a 30 kg Moon Impact Probe (MIP) which will be released from orbit to penetrate the lunar surface.

NASA is providing the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR), which will be able to detect water ice up to a depth of several metres.

Here’s an excellent brief of India’s Moon Program. Target: 2020 for the first Indian on the Moon!
YouTube Link

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The spacecraft has reached the highly elliptical Initial Orbit (IO), with the perigee 250 km and apogee about 23,000 km and also has deployed its solar panels successfully.

All systems are go!

Cheers! 

Here's some more gen...

The Payloads

There are 11 payloads (scientific instruments) through which Chandrayaan-1 intends to achieve its scientific objectives.

They include five instruments designed and developed in India, three instruments from European Space Agency (one of which is developed jointly with India and the other with Indian contribution), one from Bulgaria and two from the United States.

The Indian payloads of Chandrayaan-1

Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), a CCD camera that maps the topography of the moon, which helps in better understanding of the lunar evolution process.

Hyperspectral Imager (HySI), another CCD camera, is designed for mapping of the minerals on the lunar surface as well as for understanding the mineralogical composition of Moon’s interior.

Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) provides necessary data for accurately determining the height of lunar surface features.

High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) is designed to help explore the possibility of identifying Polar Regions covered by thick water-ice deposits as well as in identifying regions of high Uranium and Thorium concentrations.

Moon Impact Probe (MIP) demonstrates the technologies required for landing a probe at the desired location on the moon. It is also intended to qualify some of the technologies related to future soft landing missions.

The six international payloads of Chandrayaan-1

Imaging X ray Spectrometer (C1XS), an ESA payload and jointly developed by Rutherford Appleton Laboratory of England and ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, intends is to carry out high quality mapping of the moon using X-ray fluorescence technique for finding the presnce of Magnesium, Aluminium, Silicon, Iron and Titanium distributed over the surface of the Moon.

Smart Near Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2), another ESA payload, developed by Max Plank Institute of Germany, aims to study the lunar surface to explore the mineral resources and the formation of its surface features.

Sub kiloelectronvolt Atom Reflecting Analyser (SAR), the third payload from ESA, is built by Swedish Institute of Space Physics and Space Physics Laboratory of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Tiruvananthapuram. The aim of this instrument is to study the surface composition of the moon and the magnetic anomalies associated with the surface of the moon.

Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM), a payload developed by Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, aims to characterise the radiation environment in a region of space surrounding the moon.

Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) is one of the two scientific instruments from the USA and is from Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory and Naval Air Warfare Centre, USA through NASA. MiniSAR is mainly intended for detecting water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles up to a depth of a few meters.

Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) is an imaging spectrometer from Brown University and Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the US through NASA, is intended to assess and map lunar mineral resources at high spatial and spectral resolution.

SOURCE: ISRO Payload

Quite a payload, what?

Cheers! 

Update: 23 Oct 08

The first orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was performed at 09:00 hrs Indian Standard Time (IST) this morning (October 23, 2008) when the spacecraft’s 440 Newton Liquid Engine was fired for about 18 minutes by commanding the spacecraft from Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Peenya, Bangalore.

With this engine firing, Chandrayaan-1’s apogee has been raised to 37,900 km, while its perigee has been raised a little, to 305 km. In this orbit, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft takes about 11 hours to go round the Earth once.

SOURCE: ISRO

Cheers! 

October 23, 2008

The first orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was performed at 09:00 hrs Indian Standard Time (IST) this morning (October 23, 2008) when the spacecraft’s 440 Newton Liquid Engine was fired for about 18 minutes by commanding the spacecraft from Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Peenya, Bangalore.? With this engine firing, Chandrayaan-1’s apogee has been raised to 37,900 km, while its perigee has been raised a little, to 305 km. In this orbit, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft takes about 11 hours to go round the Earth once.

Chandrayaan-1, India’s first spacecraft to Moon, was successfully launched by PSLV-C11 yesterday (October 22, 2008) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. The launch vehicle placed Chandrayaan-1 in an elliptical orbit with a perigee (closest point to the earth) of 255 km and apogee (farthest point to earth) of 22,860 km. In this initial orbit, Chandrayaan-1 orbited the Earth once in about six and a half hours. Following its successful launch, the SCC acquired the first signals and conducted preliminary operations on Chandrayaan-1. The Deep Space Network (DSN) at Bylalu tracked the spacecraft in this orbit and received signals in S and X band and has sent commands to the spacecraft.

All systems onboard the spacecraft are functioning normally. Further orbit raising maneuvers are planned in the coming few days. 

http://www.isro.gov.in/pressrelease/Oct23_2008.htm

Originally posted by bubbapug1985
Whats the big deal? The US did all of this over 40 years ago, they are still way behind.

So what has NASA to show for it except for screwed up pics with resolutions that suck!! (At least the ones they've shown to the public!) and a few kilos of Moon rock?

What will they learn differently from going to the moon that the US didnt?
Why waste time with the moon.

The US/NASA/Naval int still don't know everything about the Moon yet. Heck, we've been on Earth for 20000 years and still know zilch about it! We know probably just about 1% of what the Moon is all about. :P

Now let's see what India's Chandrayaan is going to do that have NOT been done by any country so far:

3D terrain mapping that will map the ENTIRE topography of the moon, which helps in better understanding of the lunar evolution process.

Mapping of the minerals on the lunar surface as well as for understanding the mineralogical composition of the Moon’s interior by the Hyperspectral Imager (HySI).

Obtaining data for accurately determining the height of lunar surface features with the help of the Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI).

Exploring the possibility of identifying Polar Regions covered by thick water-ice deposits as well as in identifying regions of high Uranium and Thorium concentrations with the High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX).

High quality mapping of the moon using X-ray fluorescence technique for finding the presence of Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Iron and Titanium distributed over the surface of the Moon with the Imaging X ray Spectrometer (C1XS).

Study of the lunar surface to explore the mineral resources and the formation of its surface features with the Smart Near Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2).

Study the surface composition of the moon and the magnetic anomalies associated with the surface of the moon using the Sub kiloelectronvolt Atom Reflecting Analyser (SAR).

Characterization of the radiation environment in a region of space surrounding the moon by the Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM).

Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) for detecting water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles up to a depth of a few meters.

To assess and map lunar mineral resources at high spatial and spectral resolution with the help of an imaging spectrometer called the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3).

And don’t forget the presence of Helium 3 / 4 that the Moon Impact Probe will evaluate, which is an important facet of the mission.

So, do you now see what no other nation, including the U.S, has done in any detail so far? Chandrayaan will!

Cheers! 

Originally posted by sentinel2107
MikeS!! When is the next orbital "enlargement" of Chandrayaan due? Any ideas?

Yep! As I had mentioned earlier, on 23rd Oct the first orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was performed at 09:00 hrs Indian Standard Time (IST) when the spacecraft’s 440 Newton Liquid Engine was fired for about 18 minutes by commanding the spacecraft from Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Peenya, Bangalore.

With this, Chandrayaan-1’s apogee was raised to 37,900 km, while its perigee has been raised to 305 km.

The next firing is being done today, 24th Oct when the LAM (Lunar Apogee Motor) would be fired to take the spacecraft to an apogee of 73,000 km and a perigee of 300 km. Pretty elliptical, what? :o

The two huge antennas at the Indian Deep Space Network near Bangalore have commenced receiving signals from it.

Cheers! 

UPDATE: 25th OCT 05:48h

The second orbit-raising manoeuvre has been carried out at 05:48 hrs IST, 25th Oct. The spacecraft’s Newton Liquid Engine was fired for about 16 minutes from the Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore. The apogee has now been further raised to 74,715 km, while its perigee has been raised to 336 km.

The Indian Deep Space Network is tracking the spacecraft, and receiving signals in S and X bands.

All systems on board the spacecraft are functioning normally. Further orbit raising maneuvers to take Chandrayaan-1 to still higher orbits are planned in the next few days.

Cheers! 

October 25, 2008 

The second orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was carried out at 05:48 hrs IST this morning (October 25, 2008) when the spacecraft’s 440 Newton Liquid Engine was fired for about 16 minutes by commanding the spacecraft from Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Peenya, Bangalore.? With this engine firing, Chandrayaan-1’s apogee has been further raised to 74,715 km, while its perigee has been raised to 336 km. In this orbit, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft takes about twenty-five and a half hours to go round the Earth once. This is the first time an Indian spacecraft has gone beyond the 36,000 km high geostationary orbit and reached an altitude more than twice that height.

It may be recalled that Chandrayaan-1, India’s first spacecraft to Moon, was successfully launched by PSLV-C11 on October 22, 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. The launch vehicle placed Chandrayaan-1 in an elliptical orbit with a perigee (closest point to earth) of 255 km and apogee (farthest point to earth) of 22,860 km. The first orbit-raising manoeuvre was performed on October 23, 2008 by firing the spacecraft’s liquid engine for 18 minutes resulting in the increase of the spacecraft orbit’s apogee to 37,900 km and the perigee to 305 km. The Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Bylalu is tracking the spacecraft in the present orbit, receiving signals in S and X bands and is sending commands to the spacecraft.

All systems onboard the spacecraft are functioning normally. Further orbit raising maneuvers to take Chandrayaan-1 to still higher orbits are planned in the next few days. 

http://www.isro.gov.in/pressrelease/Oct25_2008a.htm
 

October 26, 2008 

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has entered deep space after crossing the 150,000 km (one and a half lakh km) distance mark from the Earth. ?This happened after the successful completion of the spacecraft’s third orbit raising manoeuvre today (October 26, 2008) morning.

During this manoeuvre which was initiated at 07:08 IST, the spacecraft’s 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about nine and a half minutes. With this, Chandrayaan-1 entered a much higher elliptical orbit around the Earth. The apogee (farthest point to Earth) of this orbit lies at 164,600 km while the perigee (nearest point to Earth) is at 348 km. In this orbit, Chandrayaan-1 takes about 73 hours to go round the Earth once.

The antennas of the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu are playing a crucial role in tracking and communicating with Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in such a high orbit. The spacecraft performance is normal. More orbit raising manoeuvres are planned in the coming few days to take Chandrayaan-1 towards the Moon. 

http://www.isro.gov.in/pressrelease/Oct26_2008.htm

October, 2008 
 
 

The launch of Chandrayaan-1 takes place from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh state. Sriharikota is situated at a distance of about 80 km to the North of Chennai.

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft begins its journey from earth onboard India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) and first will reach a highly elliptical Initial Orbit (IO). In the Initial Orbit, the perigee (nearest point to earth) is about 250 km and apogee (farthest point from the earth) is about 23,000 km.

After circling the Earth in its Initial Orbit for a while, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is taken into two more elliptical orbits whose apogees lie still higher at 37,000 km and 73,000 km respectively. This is done at opportune moments by firing the spacecraft's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) when the spacecraft is near perigee.

Subsequently, LAM is fired again to take Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft to an extremely high elliptical orbit whose apogee lies at about 387,000 km.

In this orbit, the spacecraft makes one complete revolution around the Earth in about 11 days. During its second revolution around the Earth in this orbit, the spacecraft will approach the Moon's North pole at a safe distance of about a few hundred kilometers since the Moon would have arrived there in its journey round the Earth.

Once the Chandrayaan-1 reaches the vicinity of the Moon, the spacecraft is oriented in a particular way and its LAM is again fired. This slows down the spacecraft sufficiently to enable the gravity of the moon to capture it into an elliptical orbit.

Following this, the height of the spacecraft's orbit around the moon is reduced in steps. After a careful and detailed observation of perturbations in its intermediate orbits around the moon, the height of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's orbit will be finally lowered to its intended 100 km height from the lunar surface.

Later, the Moon Impact Probe will be ejected from Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft at the earliest opportunity to hit the lunar surface in a chosen area. Following this, cameras and other scientific instruments are turned ON and thoroughly tested. This leads to the operational phase of the mission. This phase lasts about two years during which Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft explores the lunar surface with its array of instruments that includes cameras, spectrometers and SAR.

http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv%2Dc11/brochure/page9.htm