Chandrayaan - 1

Chandrayaan -1

configuration) Organization

Indian Space Research Organization

Mission type

Orbiter

Satellite of 

Moon

Launch date

22 October 2008 from Sriharikota, India

Launch vehicle

PSLV-C11

Mission duration

2 years

NSSDC ID

2008-052A

Home page

Chandrayaan-1

Mass

523 kg (1,153 lb)

Orbital Elements Eccentricity

near circular

Inclination

polar

Apoapsis

initial 7,500 km (4,660 mi), final 100 km (62 mi)

Periapsis

initial 500 km (311 mi), final 100 km (62 mi)

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Introduction

Chandrayaan-1, journey to moon is an unmanned lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), India's national space agency. It is also India's first mission to the moon. The mission includes a lunar orbiter and an impactor. The spacecraft was launched by a modified version of the PSLV Xl on 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. "Chandrayaan" roughly translates to "lunarsojourn" in many Indian languages.

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 The remote sensing satellite weighs 1,380 kilograms (3,042 lb) (590 kilograms (1,301 lb) initial orbit mass and 504 kilograms (1,111 lb) dry mass) and carries high resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infrared, soft and a nd hard X-ray frequencies. Over a twoyear period, it is intended to survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional topography. The polar regions are of special interest, as they might contain ice.

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 The spacecraft was successfully launched on 22 October 2008 at 06:23 IST (00:52 UTC).  The estimated cost for the project is Rs.3.86 billion (US$ 80 million).

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 The mission includes five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other international space agencies including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which are being

Objectives  The stated scientific objectives of the mission are: 

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 To design, develop and launch and orbit a spacecraft around the Moon using Indian made launch vehicle. Conduct scientific experiments using instruments on-board the spacecraft which will yield the following results:

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 To prepare a three-dimensional atlas (with high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10 m) of both near and far side of the moon.

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 To conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of mineral and chemical elements such as Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium as well as high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium with high spatial resolution.

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 To Impact a sub-satellite ( Moon Impact Probe -MIP ) on the surface on the Moon as a fore-runner to future soft landing missions.

Specifications 

After full integration, the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft (left) is seen being loaded into the  Thermovac Chamber (right)

Mass 

1380 kg at launch, 675 kg at lunar orbit, and 523 kg after releasing the impactor.

Dimensions   

Cuboid in shape of approximately 1.5 m Communications X band, 0.7 m diameter parabolic antenna for payload data transmission. The Telemetry,  Tracking & Command (TTC) communication operates in S band frequency.

Power 

 The spacecraft is mainly powered by its solar array, which includes one solar panel covering a total area of 2.15 x 1.8 m generating 700 W of  power, which is stored in a 36 A·h Lithium-ion battery.The spacecraft uses a bipropellant integrated propulsion system to reach lunar orbit as well as orbit and altitude maintenance while orbiting the Moon.

Specific areas of study 

High-resolution mineralogical and chemical imaging of permanently shadowed north and south polar regions.

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Search for surface or sub-surface waterice on the Moon, specially at lunar poles.

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Identification of chemical end members of  lunar high land rocks.

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Chemical stratigraphy of lunar crust by remote sensing of central upland of large lunar craters, South Pole Aitken Region (SPAR) etc., where interior material may be expected.

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 To map the height variation of the lunar surface features along the satellite track.

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Observation of X-ray spectrum greater than 10 keV and stereographic coverage of most of the Moon's surface with 5m resolution

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 To provide new insights in understanding the Moon's origin and evolution.

Areas of study

Payloads

1.Payloads (Indian) 

 The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) is a CCD camera with 5 m resolution and a 40 km swath in the panchromatic band and will be used to produce a highresolution map of the Moon. The aim of this instrument is to completely map the topography of the moon. The camera works in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum and captures black and white stereo images. When used in conjunction with data from Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), it can help in better understanding of the lunar gravitational field as well. TMC is built by ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC) of Ahmedabad TMC was successfully tested on 29 October 2008 through a set of commands issued from ISTRAC.

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 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.

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 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, and will monitor the solar flux. This payload is a collaboration between Rutherford Appleton laboratory, U.K, ESA and ISRO.

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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

2.Payloads (Foreign ) 

SARA, The Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyser from the ESA will map composition using low energy neutral atoms sputtered from the surface.

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M3, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper from Brown University and JPL (funded by NASA) is an imaging spectrometer designed to map the surface mineral composition.

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SIR-2, A near infrared spectrometer 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.

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MINSAR, designed, built and tested for NASA by a large team that includes the Naval Air Warfare Center, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman; it is the active SAR system to search for lunar polar ice. The instrument will transmit right polarised radiation with a frequency of 2.5 GHz and will monitor the scattered left and right polarised radiation. The Fresnel reflectivity and the circular polarisation ratio (CPR) are the key parameters deduced from these measurements. Ice shows the Coherent Backscatter Opposition Effect which results in an enhancement of reflections and CPR, so that water content of the Moon polar region can be estimated.

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RADOM-7, Radiation Dose Monitor Experiment from the Bulgarian Academy of 

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 The scientists considered instrumental to the success of the t he Chandrayaan-1 Chandrayaan-1 project are G. Madhavan Nair – Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation  T. K. Alex – Director, ISAC (ISRO Satellite Sa tellite Centre) Mylswamy Annadurai – Project director S. K. Shivkumar – Director - Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network. George Koshi –Mission Director Srinivasa Hegde – Mission Director M Y S Prasad – Associate Director of the Sriharikota Complex and Range Operations Director  J N Goswami – Director of the Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory and Principal Scientific Investigator of  Chandrayaan-1 Narendra Bhandari – Head, ISRO`s Planetary Sciences and Exploration program.

Chandrayaan II 

 The ISRO is also planning a second version of Chandrayaan named Chandrayaan II. According to ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, "The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hopes to land a motorised rover on the Moon in 2009 or 2010, as a part of its second Chandrayaan mission. The rover will be designed to move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, do in site chemical analysis and send the data to the mother-spacecraft Chandrayaan II, which will be orbiting above. Chandrayaan II will transmit the data to Earth.“

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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 Lunar outpost that NASA has recently announced. Bussey told SPACE.com, "India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter has a good shot at further identifying possible water ice-laden spots with a US-provided low-power imaging radar." Bussey advised — one of two US experiments on the Indian Moon probe. "The idea is that we find regions of interest with Chandrayaan-1 radar. We would investigate those using all the capabilities of the radar on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter", Bussey added, "a Moon probe to be launched late in

u pos

eac ons an Statements 

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Indian President Pratibha Patil, Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansarisent congratulatory messages to the space scientists for the successful launch. Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh sent congratulatory messages to the space scientists for the successful launch. and L. K. Advani, the leader of opposition congratulated the ISRO scientists on launch.  The Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi, visited the ISRO centre in Ahmedabad and congratulated the Indian scientists on their achievement.  The Chief Minister of Karnataka B. S. Yeddyurappa, visited the ISRO Indian Deep Space Network in Byalalu and congratulated the Madhavan Nair and his team on their achievement. NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin congratulated Indian scientists: "Congratulations to our Indian colleagues on the successful launch of the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which is carrying two NASA instruments. India's first lunar mission missi on will provide important insight."

Recent Update 

 The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) was successfully operated on 29 October 2008 through a set of o f commands issued from ISTRAC.

p c ure was use o launch Chandrayaan-1.

Rocketing Evolution

Space flight 

Chandrayaan-1 was launched on 22 October 2008 at 6.22 am IST from Satish Dhawan Space Centre using ISRO's 44.4 metre tall four-stage fo ur-stage PSLV launch rocket. Chandrayaan will take 15 days to reach the lunar orbit. ISRO's telemetry, tracking and command network (ISTRAC) at Peenya in Bangalore, will be tracking and controlling Chandrayaan-1 Chandrayaan-1 over the next two years of its life span.

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Since its launch, Chandrayaan has performed several engine burns, moving it into the designated geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) around earth and has successfully communicated with base center. Chandrayaan-1 completed four orbits around the Earth, on 23 October: “The health of  the spacecraft is normal and (it is) doing fine. Spinning in elliptical orbit once in every 6 hours and 30 minutes, it has completed four orbits and is in the fifth orbit.”

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The first orbit-raising maneuver of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft w as performed at 09:00 hrs IST on 23 October 2008 when the spacecraft’s 440 Newton Liquid Engine E ngine 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.

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 The second orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was carried out on 25 October 2008 at 05:48 IST 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, thus completing 20

pace g (continued) 

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 The third orbit-raising manoeuvre was initiated on 26 October 2008 at 07:08 IST. The Liquid Apogee Motor was fired for about nine and a half  minutes. With this, Chandrayaan-1 entered a much higher elliptical orbit around the Earth. The apogee of this orbit lies at 164,600 km, instead of  199,277 km apogee as originally announced by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), while the perigee is at 348 km. In this orbit, Chandrayaan-1 takes about 73 hours to go round the Earth once.  The fourth orbit-raising manoeuvre was carried out on October 29, 2008 at 07:38 IST. The spacecraft's liquid engine was fired for about three minutes, raising it to a more elliptical orbit whose apogee lies at 267,000 km while the perigee lies at 465 km. This makes its present orbit extends more than half the way to moon. In this orbit, the spacecraft takes about six days to go round the Earth once.

Mapping Camera Tested 

 The Terrain Mapping camera (TMC) on board Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was successfully operated on October 29, 2008 through a series of  commands issued from the Spacecraft Control Centre of ISRO Telemetry,  Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore. Analysis of the first imagery received by the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu and later processed by Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) confirms excellent performance of the camera.The first imagery (image 1) taken at 8:00 am IST from a height of 9,000 km shows the Northern coast of  Australia while the other (image 2) taken at 12:30 pm from a height of  70,000 km shows Australia’s Southern Coast.

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 TMC is one of the eleven scientific instruments (payloads) of Chandrayaan1. The camera can take black and white pictures of an object by recording the visible light reflected from it. The instrument has a resolution of about 5 metres.

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Besides TMC, the other four Indian payloads of Chandrayaan-1 are the Hyper spectral Imager (HySI), Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) and the Moon Impact Probe (MIP). The other six payloads of Chandrayaan-1 are from abroad.

Image-1 

 The first image taken at 8:00 am IST from a height of 9,000 km shows the Northern coast of Australia.

Image-2 

 The second image taken at 12:30 pm from a height of  70,000 km shows Australia’s Southern Coast.

By Sahil IX-A