The remote sensing satellite will weigh 1304 kg (590 kg initial orbit mass and 504 kg dry mass) and carry high resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infrared, soft and hard X-ray frequencies. Over a two-year 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 water ice.
The ISRO has identified Mylswamy Annadurai as Project Chief.
ISRO is aiming to launch Chandrayaan on September 19,2008. They estimate the cost to be INR 3.8 billion (US$ 83 million).
The mission includes five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other international space agencies such as NASA and ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency .
Mission Objectives
- To carry out high resolution mapping of topographic features in 3D, distribution of various minerals and elemental chemical species including radioactive nuclides covering the entire lunar surface using a set of remote sensing payloads. The new set of data would help in unraveling mysteries about the origin and evolution of solar system in general and that of the moon in particular.
- Realize the mission 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.
Specific Areas of Study
- High resolution mineralogical and chemical imaging of permanently shadowed north and south polar regions
- Search for surface or sub-surface water-ice on the moon, specially at lunar pole
- Identification of chemical end members of lunar high land rocks
- 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
- To map the height variation of the lunar surface features along the satellite track
- Observation of X-ray spectrum greater than 10 keV and stereographic coverage of most of the moon's surface with 5m resolution, to provide new insights in understanding the moon's origin and evolution
Payloads
The scientific payload has a total mass of 90 kg and contains six Indian instruments and six foreign instruments.
- 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.
- Among foreign payloads, 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. The instrument will transmit right polarized radiation with a frequency of 2.5 GHz and will monitor the scattered left and right polarized radiation. The Fresnel reflectivity and the cicular polarization ratio (CPR) are the key parameters deduced from this measurments. Ice shows the Coherent Backscatter Opposition Effect which results in an enhancement of refelections and CPR. With the data the water content of the moon polar region can estimated.
- Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM-7) from Bulgaria is to map the radiation environment around the moon.
NASA Lunar Base
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. Bussey told SPACE.com, "India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, to be lofted in early 2008, has a good shot at further identifying possible water ice-laden spots with a U.S.-provided low-power imaging radar, Bussey advised--one of two U.S. 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 2008."
Chandrayaan-II
| Chandrayaan-II | |
| Organization | Indian Space Research Organization |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Orbiter, Rover |
| Satellite of | Moon |
| Launch date | 2011/2012 |
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 2010 or 2011, 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 situ chemical analysis and send the data to the mother-spacecraft Chandrayaan-II, which will be orbiting above. Chandrayaan-II will transmit the data to the ground. "We are trying to conceive an experiment in which the system will land on the lunar surface, move around and pick up samples, do their chemical analysis and transmit the data back to the ground."
On 2007-11-12 representatives of the Russian Federal Space Agency and ISRO signed an agreement for the two agencies to work together on the Chandrayaan-II project.
Chandrayaan-II will consist of the spacecraft itself and a landing platform with the moon rover. The platform with the rover will detach from the orbiter after the spacecraft reaches its orbit above the moon, and land on lunar soil. Then the rover will roll out of the platform. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-I, said: "Chandrayaan-II will carry a semi-hard or soft-landing system. A motorised rover will be released on the moon's surface from the lander. The location for the lander will be identified using Chandrayaan-I data."
The rover will weigh between 30 kg and 100 kg, depending on whether it is to do a semi-hard landing or soft landing. The rover will have an operating life-span of a month. It will run predominantly on solar power.
If ISRO wants to operate the rover for two or three months, its engineers will configure the vehicle and its instruments including a battery back-up to go into a low-power mode, with the rover waking up when sunlight streams through. When the sunlight comes, the solar-powered battery cells will be re-charged and the equipment will be switched on one by one for the rover to function for another two weeks. "The batteries will be re-charged every two weeks," said Mr. Annadurai.
1 comment:
do we need to spent 3.8 billion on chandrayan when our priority should be for resaerching on neuclear energy from THORIUM which is avilable in india?
also find solutions for the safty of people living near urnium mines commissioned and proposed?
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