Chandrayan-1 moon mission

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 09 Nov 2008 05:04

Asked why the operation happened about half an hour earlier than the originally expected time of 17:30 hrs, Mr. Annadurai said the actual solar radiation pressure on the satellite — something which is only an estimate based on modelling — required that the torque to be applied on the satellite using the on-board momentum wheels to achieve the correct orientation was less than anticipated. Since the correct orientation could be achieved a little before 17:00 hrs itself and the position of the spacecraft was also correctly above the north-pole, the firing was carried out earlier, he said.

Mr. Annadurai added that the Doppler signals from the spacecraft also showed that the orbit achieved was exactly as planned with the orbit inclination being almost exactly 90 degrees (to the equator). This pole-to-pole orbit was being continuously monitored both from Byalalu, where ISRO had set up its 32 m deep space antenna, and from Canberra. “We had built in redundancy for monitoring the orbit. Both have confirmed that the orbit achieved is as desired,” Mr. Annadurai said. When asked about if there was any concern at any point of time, he said “No concern, but only anxiety because we were doing it for the first time.”

He further said that the next deboost manoeuvre that will take the spacecraft from the present Lunar Orbit of Insertion (LOI) to the first lower orbit LO-1, which will have a perilune of 125 km, will be carried out after two and a half revolutions in the present orbit.
“Most critical”

“This was the most critical manoeuvre which was successfully achieved to make it one of the best missions of ISRO,” said Dr. V. Adimurthi, the associate director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, who is closely involved in the project.

“The inclination achieved is almost exact and the trajectory correction manoeuvre required after insertion was minimal,” he said. “This was due to the fact the original lunar transfer trajectory itself was near perfect,” he added. “Now keeping the spacecraft in the lunar orbit is routine stuff.”

“We are extremely happy,” said S. K. Shiva Kumar, director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command (ISTRAC) center in Peenya, Bangalore. “It was a flawless operation. We have been able to achieve everything we wanted to do,” he added.
Rumours scotched

The achievement also quells the various rumours that were floating since Friday in internet blogs and websites like www.N2YO.com, which claimed that Chandrayaan was losing altitude and the orbit had gone astray. The point is that all these unofficial websites that claim to track satellites make use of the ‘Two Line Element (TLE)’ data set put out by the NASA/North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) for each satellite. Now this data set is derived using a model that is strictly valid only for earth-bound satellites and not for deep space probes such as Chandrayaan. Once the spacecraft escapes the Earth’s gravity, the Keplerian orbit parameters derived from an Earth-bound model are no longer valid. Using the NORAD TLE data set in such situations invariably leads to wrong conclusions, a space expert points out.

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 09 Nov 2008 05:05

Entire ISRO team deserves a Bharat Ratna.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 09 Nov 2008 05:06

Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument ( LLRI - ISRO )

Scientific Objective

To provide ranging data for determining accurate altitude of the spacecraft above the lunar surface, determine the global topographical field of the Moon obtain an improved model for the lunar gravity field and supplement the data from terrain mapping camera and hyper-spectral imager payloads Topography is one of the principal measurements required to quantitatively describe any planetary body. When combined with gravity, topography allows the distribution of subsurface density anomalies to be mapped, albeit nonuniquely, yielding information on both the shape and the internal structure of a planet. Such information is fundamental to our understanding of planetary thermal history. The altimetric map of the Moon prepared using the laser ranging instrument carried onboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft will help in studying the morphology of large basins and other lunar features, study stress, strain and flexural properties of the lithosphere and when coupled with gravity studies would provide the density distribution of the crust.

Payload Configuration Details

Laser ranging instruments can be operated in either a profiling or scanning mode using pulses of light to illuminate the terrain. A coherent pulse of light at 1064 nm wavelength and pulse width of 10 ns is transmitted to the lunar surface. Some fraction of this light is scattered back in the direction of transmitter where optical receivers collect it and focus in onto a photoelectric detector. The scattering and absorption at distant points can be deduced by analyzing the electric signal from the detector. This payload weighs less than 10kg.

LLRI payload is developed by ISRO

http://www.chandrayaan-i.com/chandrayaa ... /llri.html

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 09 Nov 2008 05:26

Sorry the image is too small.

A TV grab of the Moon sent by Chandrayaan-1 on November 4. from link

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 09 Nov 2008 06:42

Raj · Post by **Raj** » 09 Nov 2008 07:04

That is a good graphical explanation of lunar orbital insertion.

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 09 Nov 2008 13:10

Indian satellite captured by Moon

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7718015.stm

It will also drop the Indian flag on the surface of the Moon.

Does the MIP contain an actual flag? How will it manage to hoist it on the moon surface?

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 09 Nov 2008 13:27

NASA's next LRO (Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter) will work with Chandrayaan at tandom to confirm water (coordinated bistatic imaging). One transmitting and the other recieving. This is an interesting paper on the Mini SAR..

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lcross ... f/9013.pdf

Anabhaya · Post by **Anabhaya** » 09 Nov 2008 14:02

anishns wrote:Does the MIP contain an actual flag? How will it manage to hoist it on the moon surface?

The tricolor is simply painted on the MIP. That's about it I believe.

RavinM · Post by **RavinM** » 09 Nov 2008 14:56

wow! on the moon pic , what's on the background, looks like some terrain?

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 09 Nov 2008 15:16

rachel wrote:
Umm, stupid question here: will Chandrayaan return to Earth after two years, splash down in the ocean, and be recovered? Or will it just orbit for two years, taking pics and beaming them back.. and then crash into the moon? Sorry for the dumb question, I just dont know?

FOLLOW UP question: what do the Japanese and Chinese probes intend to do? Same question.. will they orbit and come back??? and for how long?

Rachel, as u said.... they ARE Dumb and Stupid questions.

Why would one bring back the craft? At what cost? unless it has some physical grab ( say a stone or soil ) onboard.

Bringing back is highly costly.... maybe MORE than sending it. It has to climb from Lunar surface , escape its gravitational field, direct itself to Earth and worst part of all: survive the atmospheric drag , heat and land without a bump.. oh what a task.

Sorry Rachel for a blunt reply. ( remember me?

)

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 09 Nov 2008 15:21

RavinM wrote:wow! on the moon pic , what's on the background, looks like some terrain?

Same quastion haunted me.

If someone here knows for sure please post the clarification.

rakall · Post by **rakall** » 09 Nov 2008 15:42

Regarding the recent reports in some chinese internet sites regarding the Chandrayaan losing altitude etc etc... A Headlines today reporter posed the question to Dr.M. Annadurai and he said " I cant really comments on it.. but it reminds me of an ad in the TV whose caption is 'neighbours envy'.."

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 09 Nov 2008 16:19

^ ^ ^
Reflection off TV Glass

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 09 Nov 2008 16:26

The problem is that the Media and therefore people in general (And this is Because of the media - blame the media for spreading the darkness around) are so scientifically challanged that they end up asking Stoopid / No0b questions instead of using their grey matters once in a while.

Blame DDM for illeducating society in general. On chandrayaan full marks to ISRO to spoonfeed the media with data, aims and objectives and graphics at appropriate intervals. Chandrayaan mission is one of the best managed mission on the media front. However any slack in the routine restimulation of DDM from ISRO and you will see them drifting away to pastures they are more comfortable with "Spending on science instead of Garibi Hatao".

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 09 Nov 2008 17:38

CY is supposed to map the entire moon surface during its lifetime of 2 years. Does this imply that the plane of the final lunar polar orbit will, over the period of time, be rotated "longitudinally" by 360 degrees?

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 09 Nov 2008 17:42

“Everything went exactly as planned, and on dot”
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/09/stor ... 790800.htm

Chandrayaan-1 frees itself from the Earth’s gravity and is captured by the Moon’s

NEW DELHI; The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved a milestone on Saturday when Chandrayaan-1 was successfully inserted into the lunar orbit following a complex manoeuvre (see The Hindu, November that enabled it to free itself from Earth’s gravity and be captured by the Moon.

In this operation, once the spacecraft was at a distance of about 500 km from the Moon, the satellite orientation was turned around so that it faced in the direction opposite to the original orbit direction. The on-board retro rockets were then fired to slow down the spacecraft for it to be captured by the Moon’s gravity. The firing was carried out at 16:51 hrs IST, which lasted for 817 seconds, according to the ISRO press release. This, according to M. Annadurai, the Chandrayaan-1 project director, succeeded in applying a braking velocity of 366.8 m/s.

“Everything went exactly as planned, and on dot,” remarked Mr. Annadurai, who sounded happy and fully satisfied with the operation. While the exact orbit determination will take a couple of hours, the ISRO release gave the nominal orbit parameters as 504 km perilune (the nearest point from the Moon’s surface) and 7502 km apolune (the farthest point). According to Mr. Annadurai, the spacecraft’s period of revolution in this orbit is about 10.5 hrs.

Asked why the operation happened about half an hour earlier than the originally expected time of 17:30 hrs, Mr. Annadurai said the actual solar radiation pressure on the satellite — something which is only an estimate based on modelling — required that the torque to be applied on the satellite using the on-board momentum wheels to achieve the correct orientation was less than anticipated. Since the correct orientation could be achieved a little before 17:00 hrs itself and the position of the spacecraft was also correctly above the north-pole, the firing was carried out earlier, he said.

Mr. Annadurai added that the Doppler signals from the spacecraft also showed that the orbit achieved was exactly as planned with the orbit inclination being almost exactly 90 degrees (to the equator). This pole-to-pole orbit was being continuously monitored both from Byalalu, where ISRO had set up its 32 m deep space antenna, and from Canberra. “We had built in redundancy for monitoring the orbit. Both have confirmed that the orbit achieved is as desired,” Mr. Annadurai said. When asked about if there was any concern at any point of time, he said “No concern, but only anxiety because we were doing it for the first time.”

He further said that the next deboost manoeuvre that will take the spacecraft from the present Lunar Orbit of Insertion (LOI) to the first lower orbit LO-1, which will have a perilune of 125 km, will be carried out after two and a half revolutions in the present orbit.
“Most critical”

“This was the most critical manoeuvre which was successfully achieved to make it one of the best missions of ISRO,” said Dr. V. Adimurthi, the associate director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, who is closely involved in the project.

“The inclination achieved is almost exact and the trajectory correction manoeuvre required after insertion was minimal,” he said. “This was due to the fact the original lunar transfer trajectory itself was near perfect,” he added. “Now keeping the spacecraft in the lunar orbit is routine stuff.”

“We are extremely happy,” said S. K. Shiva Kumar, director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command (ISTRAC) center in Peenya, Bangalore. “It was a flawless operation. We have been able to achieve everything we wanted to do,” he added.

Rumours scotched

The achievement also quells the various rumours that were floating since Friday in internet blogs and websites like http://www.XXXX.com, which claimed that Chandrayaan was losing altitude and the orbit had gone astray. The point is that all these unofficial websites that claim to track satellites make use of the ‘Two Line Element (TLE)’ data set put out by the NASA/North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) for each satellite. Now this data set is derived using a model that is strictly valid only for earth-bound satellites and not for deep space probes such as Chandrayaan. Once the spacecraft escapes the Earth’s gravity, the Keplerian orbit parameters derived from an Earth-bound model are no longer valid. Using the NORAD TLE data set in such situations invariably leads to wrong conclusions, a space expert points out.

India successfully puts spacecraft into lunar orbit
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-42897.html

Bangalore, Nov 8: India Saturday successfully put its first unmanned spacecraft Chandrayaan-I into lunar orbit - a major step towards placing it in its designated slot 100 km from the moon, a top Indian space agency official said.

The spacecraft was placed in an elliptical orbit - at 7,500 km aposelene (farthest from moon) and 500 km periselene (nearest to moon) through complex manoeuvres, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS here.

“The liquid apogee motor (LAM) onboard was fired for 805 seconds (13.4 minutes) between 5 p.m. and 5.15 p.m. to put the spacecraft into the elliptical orbit around the moon," Satish told IANS.

In this orbit, the spacecraft takes 10 hours to complete one revolution around the moon.

Over the next two-three days, Chandrayaan will be progressively lowered to an orbit that will be 500 km aposelene and 100 km periselene.

“The spacecraft will be gently pushed to its designated slot in the lunar orbit and positioned at a distance 100 km from the surface of the moon,” Satish said.

The complex manoeuvres were executed by ISRO’s telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) on the outskirts of Bangalore and monitored by its deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40 km from India’s tech hub.

“The health of the spacecraft is good and its vital functions are operating normally,” Satish added.

The terrain mapping camera onboard will continue to take pictures of the moon’s surface even as it revolves around its polar orbit.

Chandrayaan carries 11 scientific instruments, including six foreign payloads - two from the US, three from the European Space Agency (ESA) and one from Bulgaria. The remaining five are indigenously designed and developed by various centres of the state-run ISRO.

The spacecraft was blasted off Oct 22 onboard the 316-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota spaceport, about 80 km north of Chennai.

Indian spacecraft enters lunar orbit, makes history
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-42910.html

Bangalore, Nov 8: India Saturday made history by firing its first unmanned spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit, breaking away from the earth's gravitational field for a rendezvous with the moon.

"The complex lunar orbit insertion manoeuvre was conducted perfectly. We have created space history by doing it for the first time. It shows our planning was precise and all calculations were on dot," a beaming Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair told reporters here after the successful operation.

With this successful manoeuvre, India becomes the fifth country to send a spacecraft to the moon after the US, former Soviet Union, Japan and China. The European Space Agency (ESA), a consortium of 17 nations, also sent a spacecraft to the moon.

Chandrayaan was put into an elliptical lunar orbit when its liquid engine onboard was fired at 4.51 p.m. IST for about 817 seconds (13.6 minutes) from the space agency's telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) on the outskirts of Bangalore.

"The liquid engine was fired when the spacecraft was cruising at about 500 km from the moon to reduce its velocity and enable lunar gravity to capture it into an orbit around the moon," ISRO said in a statement later.

The Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu, about 40 km from this tech hub of India, supported the crucial task of transmitting commands and monitoring the vital event with two dish antennas of 18 metre and 32 metre in diameter.

"All operations to insert the spacecraft into the lunar orbit have been completed. The ground stations have also proved that all systems are working normal. It will take five days to stabilise the operations and the moon impact probe (MIP) onboard Chandrayaan will be released to hit the lunar surface Nov 15, when the Indian tri-colour will also be lowered," Nair said.

The spacecraft is spinning in an elliptical orbit, passing over the polar regions of the moon. The nearest orbit (periselene) is 504 km from the moon's surface, while the farthest (aposelene) is at 7,502 km. It takes 11 hours to go around the moon once in this orbit.

"The performance of all the systems onboard is normal. Over the next two-three days, the height of the spacecraft's orbit will be reduced in steps to achieve a final polar orbit of about 100 km height from the moon's surface," the statement noted.

The terrain mapping camera (TMC) onboard will continue to take pictures of the moon from the spacecraft. The remaining nine instruments onboard will be switched on by the month-end in tune with the normal phase of the moon.

The TMC was operated twice to take pictures first of the earth and then moon.

In the past 18 days, the liquid engine motor onboard was fired five times at opportune moments to increase the apogee height, first to 37,900 km, then to 74,715 km, 164,600 km, 267,000 km and finally 380,000 km.

Chandrayaan carries 11 scientific instruments, including six foreign payloads -- two from the US, three from the European Space Agency (ESA) and one from Bulgaria. The remaining five are indigenously designed and developed by various centres of the state-run ISRO.

The spacecraft was blasted off Oct 22 onboard the 316-tonne polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C11) from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota spaceport, about 80 km north of the Tamil Nadu capital Chennai.

Chandrayaan-1 creates history by entering lunar orbit
http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Homepage/Home ... ry/wew.htm
Sunday 09 November, 2008

India on Saturday made history by firing its first unmanned spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit, breaking away from the earth's gravitational field for a rendezvous with the moon.

"The complex lunar orbit insertion manoeuvre was conducted perfectly. We have created space history by doing it for the first time. It shows our planning was precise and all calculations were on dot," a beaming Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair told reporters in Bangalore after the successful operation.

With this successful manoeuvre, India becomes the fifth country to send a spacecraft to the moon after the US, former Soviet Union, Japan and China.

he European Space Agency (ESA), a consortium of 17 nations, also sent a spacecraft to the moon.

Chandrayaan was put into an elliptical lunar orbit when its liquid engine onboard was fired at 4.51 p.m. IST for about 817 seconds (13.6 minutes) from the space agency's telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) on the outskirts of Bangalore.

"The liquid engine was fired when the spacecraft was cruising at about 500 km from the moon to reduce its velocity and enable lunar gravity to capture it into an orbit around the moon," ISRO said in a statement later.

The Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu, about 40 km from this tech hub of India, supported the crucial task of transmitting commands and monitoring the vital event with two dish antennas of 18 metre and 32 metre in diameter.

"All operations to insert the spacecraft into the lunar orbit have been completed. The ground stations have also proved that all systems are working normal. It will take five days to stabilise the operations and the moon impact probe (MIP) onboard Chandrayaan will be released to hit the lunar surface Nov 15, when the Indian tri-colour will also be lowered," Nair said.

The spacecraft is spinning in an elliptical orbit, passing over the polar regions of the moon. The nearest orbit (periselene) is 504 km from the moon's surface, while the farthest (aposelene) is at 7,502 km. It takes 11 hours to go around the moon once in this orbit.

"The performance of all the systems onboard is normal. Over the next two-three days, the height of the spacecraft's orbit will be reduced in steps to achieve a final polar orbit of about 100 km height from the moon's surface," the statement noted.

The terrain mapping camera (TMC) onboard will continue to take pictures of the moon from the spacecraft. The remaining nine instruments onboard will be switched on by the month-end in tune with the normal phase of the moon.

The TMC was operated twice to take pictures first of the earth and then moon.

In the past 18 days, the liquid engine motor onboard was fired five times at opportune moments to increase the apogee height, first to 37,900 km, then to 74,715 km, 164,600 km, 267,000 km and finally 380,000 km.

Chandrayaan carries 11 scientific instruments, including six foreign payloads - two from the US, three from the European Space Agency (ESA) and one from Bulgaria. The remaining five are indigenously designed and developed by various centres of the state-run ISRO.

The spacecraft was blasted off 22nd Oct onboard the 316-tonne polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C11) from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota spaceport, about 80 km north of the Tamil Nadu capital Chennai.

Chandrayaan's journey to lunar orbit

Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned mission to moon, has travelled more than 380,000 km in 12 days after its launch from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh 22nd Oct to enter the lunar orbit Saturday.

Soon after the launch at 6.22 a.m. on 22nd Oct, the spacecraft carrying 11 scientific payloads was put in an orbit of 22,860 km apogee (farthest point to the earth) and 225 km perigee (nearest point to the earth).

This is how Chandrayaan reached the lunar orbit:

23rd Oct, first orbit raising exercise: apogee 37,900 km, perigee 305 km, 11 hours to go around the earth.

25th Oct: apogee 74,715 km, perigee 336 km. 25 and a half hours to orbit the earth.

26th Oct: apogee 164,600 km, perigee 348 km. Enters Deep Space. Takes 73 hours to go around the earth.

29th Oct: apogee 267,000 km, perigee 465 km. Six days to orbit the earth.

29th Oct: The terrain mapping camera successfully tested. First pictures of northern coast of Australia from a height of 9,000 km and of southern coast from a height of 70,000 km. ISRO says "excellent imagery".

4th Nov: Moves 380,000 km from earth, just around 4,000 km from moon.

8th Nov: Chandrayaan-1 successfully enters lunar orbit at around 5.15 p.m. and India becomes joins select club of six to send a spacecraft to the moon. The others are the US, former Soviet Union, Japan and China and the European Space Agency (ESA), a consortium of 17 countries.

PM congratulates space scientists

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday congratulated space scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for placing the country's maiden lunar mission in an orbit around the moon.

The Prime Minister sent the congratulatory message to ISRO scientists from Muscat, where he is on a two-day official visit.

India's maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-I was placed in the lunar orbit in the first attempt this evening.

The mission which was fired into outer space on 22nd October has traversed 3,86,000 km and is in an elliptical orbit of 7502 km x 500 km around the moon.(BJ/9.11)

India’s Moon mission a big success
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/09/stor ... 640100.htm

Spacecraft was meticulously manoeuvred

The spacecraft is now circling the Moon over its polar regions

A fantastic achievement, says Madhavan Nair

CHENNAI: Chandrayaan-1 has kept its rendezvous with the Moon. In a meticulously planned operation, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday accomplished the most crucial and critical manoeuvre of safely inserting Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit.

This is the first time that an Indian-built spacecraft has broken away from the Earth’s gravitational field and reached the Moon. The spacecraft is now circling the Moon over its polar regions with a periselene (nearest point from the moon’s surface) of 504 km and an aposelene (farthest point) of 7,502 km.

The ISRO flawlessly executed this highly complex manoeuvre by radioing commands from the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC), Bangalore, to the engine on board Chandrayaan-1, which fired for 817 seconds from 4.51 p.m.

ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair called it “a fantastic achievement” and “a great moment for the country.” He described the manoeuvre as “the most crucial moment in the whole mission … We have done it so precisely that as far as I know nobody else has got this kind of precision… Our precision proves that in competence, our scientists and technologists are quite ahead of the global standards. With this, we have achieved more than 90 per cent of the main objectives of the mission.”

M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said: “Today we graduated into a real lunar mission. Everybody is thrilled. This is the first significant milestone in putting Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit.”

Mr. Annadurai said there were more steps to perform in the mission: progressively reducing Chandrayaan-1’s orbit to the final circular orbit of 100 km above the moon on November 15. “The first indications from the spacecraft show that everything has gone on the dot.”

The historic event took place after Chandrayaan-1 reached the vicinity of the Moon and commands were radioed to it for reducing its velocity by rotating the spacecraft in the opposite direction. In space parlance, it is called retro-firing. When Chandrayaan-1’s velocity was reduced by 366.8 metres a second, it was captured by the Moon’s gravity and safely ensconced in the lunar orbit.

S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, Bangalore, where the SCC, the nerve-centre of the operations is located, called it “a wonderful feeling.”

Commands were being given to Chandrayaan-1 from the 32-metre and 18-metre antennas, and “their tracking of the spacecraft is excellent.” The signals received from the spacecraft were good too, Mr. Shivakumar said.

S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, applauded “the precision with which Chandrayaan-1 was inserted into the lunar orbit.” Had the slightest mistake been made, Chandrayaan-1 “would have skipped and gone away.”

Full text of ISRO press release
http://www.hindu.com/nic/0061/release11.htm

“Chandrayaan has followed its schedule down to last millisecond”
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/09/stor ... 710800.htm
Divya Gandhi

I was pleased that command network too got accolades: ISTRAC Director

Bangalore: Chandrayaan-1 had followed its schedule “down to the last millisecond,” said S.K. Shivakumar, Director of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC). He was speaking after the lunar craft was successfully inserted into the Moon’s orbit on Saturday evening.

“Traditionally it is the launch vehicle that gets the applause. This time I was pleased that the command network got accolades too,” Dr. Shivakumar said.

The manoeuvre was performed in 14 minutes and the lunar craft was captured by the Moon’s gravity at 5.04 p.m.

Jubilant mood

The following two hours saw the gathering of scientists in an undeniably jubilant mood, he added. Sending a constant stream of data from 45 km away was the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu, where two dish antennae —18 m and 32 m — have been tracking Chandrayaan’s every move since its launch on October 22.

The spacecraft is now orbiting at an elliptical orbit that passes over the polar regions of the Moon. The nearest point of this orbit (periselene) lies at a distance of about 500 km from the moon’s surface while the farthest point (aposelene) lies at about 7,500 km.

“In the next few days the height of Chandrayaan’s orbit will be brought down to 100 km above the Moon’s surface,” Dr. Shivakumar said.

On November 15, the Moon impact probe would be released onto the lunar terrain and on November 18 the other scientific experiments would be switched on.

Manmohan’s pat

In a statement issued in Muscat, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated ISRO scientists on the Chandrayaan-1 successfully entering the lunar orbit.

Mission successful: Chandrayaan-1 in lunar orbit
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news ... it/383095/

Bangalore, November 8: India's maiden moon mission -- Chandrayaan-I — on Saturday entered the tricky lunar orbit after scientists successfully carried out a most critical manoeuvre, 18 days after it was fired into outer space.

Space scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) carried out the lunar orbit insertion by firing the liquid engines on board the spacecraft for 817 seconds.

"The lunar orbit insertion (LOI) began at 4:50 p.m. and lasted for 817 seconds (14 minutes)," ISRO spokesperson S Satish said. The satellite has been placed in a 7,502 km X 500 km elliptical orbit around the moon, he said.

Heaving a sigh of relief, ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair said Saturday's operation was the ‘most critical moment’ in the mission.

"We have done it," a visibly happy Nair declared.

"For the last 20 minutes, almost all our hearts were at a standStill," Nair said from a ground centre near Bangalore.

The spacecraft, launched on October 22, had been placed in the Lunar Transfer Trajectory on November 4.

The mission, orbiting the earth at a distance of 3,86,000 km, was commandeered from ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Peenya on the outskirts of the city with aid from the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu.

Chandrayaan-I would now be lowered gradually and placed in a circular orbit at a distance of 100 km from the lunar surface.

The successful lunar orbit insertion (LOI) was an important milestone for the Rs 386 crore moon mission whose success depended on Saturday's hit or miss manoeuvre.

According to space experts, the challenging LOI was not without danger because it meant traversing through an area in which the gravitational forces of the earth and moon nearly cancel each other out.

Consequently, even a small deviation could send the spacecraft into a frash course towards the moon or earth—or on a path leading into deep space.

Experts recall that about 30 per cent of unmanned moon missions of the US and former Soviet Union failed during LOI phase.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,who is now in Muscat on an official visit, congratulated the Indian space scientists for the singular achievement.

"This (today's achievement) will be etched in the history of Indian space in golden letters", Nair said.

In the coming days, the height of Chandrayaan-1's orbit around the moon would be carefully reduced in steps to achieve a final polar orbit of about 100 kms height from the moon's surface.

The spacecraft, launched on October 22, had been placed in the Lunar Transfer Trajectory on November 4.

The mission, orbiting the earth at a distance of 3,86,000 km, was commandeered from ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Peenya on the outskirts of the city with aid from the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu.

Chandrayaan-I would now be lowered gradually and placed in a circular orbit at a distance of 100 km from the lunar surface.

The successful lunar orbit insertion (LOI) was an important milestone for the Rs 386 crore moon mission whose success depended on Saturday's manoeuvre.

According to space experts, the challenging LOI was not without danger because it meant traversing through an area in which the gravitational forces of the earth and moon nearly cancel each other out.

Consequently, even a small deviation could send the spacecraft into a fresh course towards the moon or earth—or on a path leading into deep space.

Experts recall that about 30 per cent of unmanned moon missions of the US and former Soviet Union failed during LOI phase.

The lunar orbit manoeuvre was performed from Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft Control Centre of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network here, while Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu on the city outskirts supported the crucial task of transmitting commands and continuously monitoring this vital event with two dish antennas, one measuring 18 metres and the other 32 metres.

Expressing happiness that the accuracy that ISRO got in regard to Saturday's lunar orbit is really remarkable, Nair said nobody (space agency) would have secured such a precise orbit in the first attempt.

The achievement goes to the credit of ISRO, which has demonstrated its knowledge base in carrying out long trajectories under the influence of multiple bodies. "We (India) now have a big leadership as far as space is concerned", he said.

ISRO said the performance of all the systems on board Chandrayaan-1 is normal.

Nair said the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) on board Chandrayaan-1 would be released to hit the lunar surface around November 15. "Thereafter, systems (on board Chandrayaan-1) would be switched on one-by-one".

ISRO officials said the primary objective of 29-kg MIP is to demonstrate the technologies required for landing a probe at the desired location on the moon. Through this probe, it is also intended to qualify some of technologies related to future soft-landing missions. This apart, scientific exploration of the moon at close distance is also intended using MIP.

Of the 11 payloads, five are from India, three from European Space Agency, two from the US and one from Bulgaria.

Chandrayaan sucessfully orbiting the moon
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/08i ... g-moon.htm
November 08, 2008 22:36 IST

India's first unmanned spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 entered the lunar orbit on Saturday after Indian Space Research Organisation scientists successfully carried out a highly complex and tricky manoeuvre crossing another historic milestone in the country's space programme.

ISRO scientists at the Mission Control Centre near Bengaluru [Images] fired the spacecraft's liquid engine at 1651 hours for a
duration of 817 seconds in a hit or miss Lunar Orbit Insertion operation in the maiden moon mission, 18 days
after it was launched from Sriharikota spaceport.

"For the first time in the history of India, an Indian-made satellite is circulating the Moon [Images]", a jubilant ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI shortly after the home-grown satellite broke away from the Earth's gravitational field for the first time and reached the moon. India becomes the sixth country to put a satellite in lunar orbit.

The engine was fired when the spacecraft passed at a distance of about 500 km from the moon to reduce its velocity
to enable lunar gravity to capture it into an intended orbit around the moon.

The spacecraft is now orbiting the moon in an elliptical orbit that passes over the polar regions of the moon. The nearest point of this orbit (perilune) lies at a distance of about 504 kms from the moon's surface, while the farthest poin(apolune) lies at about 7,502 km.

A relieved Nair said today's operation was the "most crucial moment" in the mission."We have done it," he declared.
"For the last 20 minutes, almost all our hearts were at a standstill," Nair said immediately after the the challenging manoeuvre was carried out.

"Nobody else in the world perhaps would have got such a precise lunar orbit as India did in the first attempt," Nair said.

Chandrayaan-1 successfully enters Moon orbit
Pallava Bagla
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/mo ... 0080071832

Saturday, November 08, 2008 5:25 PM (New Delhi)

India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 successfully entered moon orbit on Saturday. With this development, India's moon mission has been declared successful.

When India's first mission to the moon took off nearly a fortnight ago, there was both joy and anxiety. There was joy because the mission put India in an exclusive club of countries.

Though scientists rejoiced as the Chandrayaan blasted off, they knew they had a tougher job at hand, to put the satellite in moon's orbit. That happened on Saturday evening and the mission was declared a success.

Indian scientists were worried because the last part of Chandrayaan's journey was dangerous, as it had to go through an area in which the gravitational forces of the earth and moon nearly cancel each other out. Even a small deviation could have sent the spacecraft into a crash course towards the earth or on a path leading into deep space, but everything went according to plan.

When the spacecraft was about 500 km short of the moon, it was to be slowed down. The moon's gravity would then pull the craft into its orbit. Later, it would be stabilised in a 100 km circular orbit.

PTI adds:

The successful lunar orbit insertion (LOI) was an important milestone for the Rs 386 crore moon mission whose success depended on today's hit or miss manoeuvre.

According to space experts, the challenging LOI was not without danger because it meant traversing through an area in which the gravitational forces of the earth and moon nearly cancel each other out.

Consequently, even a small deviation could send the spacecraft into a frash course towards the moon or earth--or on a path leading into deep space.

Experts recall that about 30 per cent of unamnned moon missions of the US and former Soviet Union failed during LOI phase.

It (Chandrayaan-1 entering the lunar orbit) will go down in the history of Indian space in golden letters, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

India now has a "big leadership position" as far as space is concerned, he added.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 09 Nov 2008 17:44

rakall wrote:Regarding the recent reports in some chinese internet sites regarding the Chandrayaan losing altitude etc etc... A Headlines today reporter posed the question to Dr.M. Annadurai and he said " I cant really comments on it.. but it reminds me of an ad in the TV whose caption is 'neighbours envy'.."

Rumours scotched
The achievement also quells the various rumours that were floating since Friday in internet blogs and websites like http://www.xxxx.com, which claimed that Chandrayaan was losing altitude and the orbit had gone astray. The point is that all these unofficial websites that claim to track satellites make use of the ‘Two Line Element (TLE)’ data set put out by the NASA/North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) for each satellite. Now this data set is derived using a model that is strictly valid only for earth-bound satellites and not for deep space probes such as Chandrayaan. Once the spacecraft escapes the Earth’s gravity, the Keplerian orbit parameters derived from an Earth-bound model are no longer valid. Using the NORAD TLE data set in such situations invariably leads to wrong conclusions, a space expert points out.

symontk · Post by **symontk** » 09 Nov 2008 18:25

sumishi wrote:CY is supposed to map the entire moon surface during its lifetime of 2 years. Does this imply that the plane of the final lunar polar orbit will, over the period of time, be rotated "longitudinally" by 360 degrees?

I didnt quite understand the question. If you really know how satellites in the polar orbits around earth works, then it works the same in Moon also.

As the Moon rotates in its axis, the polar satellite will map the Moon's surface as any earth's polar orbiting satellite would do.

Leave all that, I am waiting for MIP to land on Moon, to make India the first Asian country to do so

Arunkumar · Post by **Arunkumar** » 09 Nov 2008 18:25

SSSalvi wrote:
RavinM wrote:wow! on the moon pic , what's on the background, looks like some terrain?
Same quastion haunted me.

If someone here knows for sure please post the clarification.

It is not a official ISRO release. Somone probably took the snap of the TV in ISTRAC(assumption) on his cell and released it for breaking news kind of thing.

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 09 Nov 2008 18:38

symontk wrote: ...
As the Moon rotates in its axis, the polar satellite will map the Moon's surface as any earth's polar orbiting satellite would do.
...

O frak! How foolish of me! The moon's slow rotation just skipped my mind!

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 09 Nov 2008 21:25

Phew! Aglow in moonshine

The next firing of the thrust engine is scheduled for tomorrow night, Annadurai said.

Isro engineers said the thrust engine fuel expended so far is well within set limits. The spacecraft had taken off with about 800kg of fuel. “We have enough fuel aboard for each of the rest of the manoeuvres and the two-year science mission,” Alex said.

After Chandrayaan-1 reaches its final 100km orbit, an instrument called the moon impact payload will be hurled toward the moon’s surface for a 20-minute descent and a hard, destructive fall.

Arun_S · Post by **Arun_S** » 09 Nov 2008 22:29

Wonderful.

ISRO and ISAC has made India proud. Not to mention command control and other functions that are equally critical but under-recognized.

Jai Bharat.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 09 Nov 2008 22:34

Go ISRO ... now on forward for inter-planetary missions. We need to go beyond the solar system. Many more wonders await the nation and its young scientists to unravel.

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 09 Nov 2008 22:36

From http://www.n2yo.com/

vavinash · Post by **vavinash** » 09 Nov 2008 22:36

Mars mission next!!!! Right after CY-2.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 09 Nov 2008 22:58

Muppalla wrote:Entire ISRO team deserves a Bharat Ratna.

Amen to that... Bharat Ratna for ISRO

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 09 Nov 2008 23:35

Focusing on the Moon to aim at setting up an Indian moon-base is a pragmatic approach, since "spacefaring" scientific/technological/industrial spin-offs from the base (initially bootstrapping from earth-based technologies which are then innovated for lunar/NEO purposes) will help in the eventual push into the solar system. The most important spin-offs might be in electromagnetic propulsion, materials science, mining, life-support systems and "space healthcare."

Probably the next generation will see through this fulfillment.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 09 Nov 2008 23:45

Anabhaya wrote:
anishns wrote:Does the MIP contain an actual flag? How will it manage to hoist it on the moon surface?
The tricolor is simply painted on the MIP. That's about it I believe.

paint wouldn't survive the heat.. it could be packaged in some protection sheeths. again, it depends on the objective of the mission. we could unfurl a giant football size desh ka flag, that can be installed in moon such that it can be viewed from here, with a telescope.

cholaraja · Post by **cholaraja** » 09 Nov 2008 23:47

congratulations ISRO, how long to get to final orbit? can't wait

manoba · Post by **manoba** » 09 Nov 2008 23:51

I was about to ask the next manoeuvre of Chandrayaan's orbit lowering...

Chandrayaan gets further closer to moon

Bangalore: India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 was pushed further towards the moon's surface in the first orbit-lowering manoeuvre late Sunday, a top space agency official said.

"The first orbit lowering operation was carried out successfully at 20.03 hrs IST by firing the liquid engine onboard the spacecraft for 57 seconds. All systems are functioning satisfactorily," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Director S. Sathish said here.

vavinash · Post by **vavinash** » 10 Nov 2008 01:02

SaiK wrote:
Anabhaya wrote: The tricolor is simply painted on the MIP. That's about it I believe.
paint wouldn't survive the heat.. it could be packaged in some protection sheeths. again, it depends on the objective of the mission. we could unfurl a giant football size desh ka flag, that can be installed in moon such that it can be viewed from here, with a telescope.

Does the moon have enough atmosphere to generate that much heat? I would assume reentry and exit would be easier than earth which has a fairly dense atmosphere.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 10 Nov 2008 01:13

Chandrayaan: orbital height reduced

Chandrayaan: orbital height reduced

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: After successfully accomplishing the most crucial and tricky manoeuvre of safely inserting Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit on Saturday, the Indian Space Research Organisation on Sunday executed the first manoeuvre of reducing the orbital height of the spacecraft around the moon. While on Saturday, Chandrayaan-1 reached the lunar orbit with an aposelene (farthest point from the moon) of 7,502 km and a periselene (nearest point from the moon) of 504 km, the periselene was reduced to 200 km on Sunday. The aposelene continues at 7,500 km. The periselene was reduced by giving commands to the engine on board Chandrayaan-1 to fire for about a minute from 8.03 p.m.

More manoeuvres

Three more manoeuvres of reducing both the aposelene and periselene will be done in the coming days. This includes the manoeuvre of putting Chandrayaan-1 in the final circular orbit of 100 km above the moon on November 15. After this is done, ISRO will command the spacecraft to eject its Moon Impact Probe on the same day.

The Moon Impact Probe, with the Indian flag painted on its sides, will crash-land on the moon.

Then the remaining 10 scientific instruments will be switched on, one after another.

The Terrain Mapping Camera, an Indian scientific instrument, has already been switched on. It has taken clear pictures of the earth and the moon.

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 10 Nov 2008 01:57

Sun and Moon, Rise and Set Time Results
Data for November 09, 2008
At Latitude 12:58.00N and Longitude 77:38.00E
In Time Zone: 5.5

Moon Rise: 13:32 Yesterday
Moon Set: 1:46
Moon Rise: 14:11
Moon Transit: 20:23
Moon Set: 2:38 Tomorrow
Moon Declination: -2.4
Full Moon: Thursday November 13, 2008 at 11:25

Approximate location for Bangaluru. Time of Moonrise for the 9th of Nov. CY inserted into lunar orbit when the moon was in tracking range of ISTRAC Bylalu. My word! ISRO had to work this out too, so that at crucial stages of CY's maneuvering they can see and track it.
Is ISRO able to control CY (for orbital changes) from other ISTRAC centers / deep space networks of other countries?
Would CY have commands stored in its memory which it would carry out even when it is over the horizion from Bangaluru?

cholaraja · Post by **cholaraja** » 10 Nov 2008 03:04

any timings for enthusiasts waiting with a telescope to spot chandrayan white it is traversing across the moon as seen from earth?
this should be published by the experts here so that the ametures who have acess to telescopes can spot the little bird, is this possible?
this would be much more interesting and would help create the next calpana chawlas and rakesh sharmas. we need them pretty soon with chandrayan x!
i think this should be put on a news release by the ISRO so that the mongols on the north east and the moors to the west can see it for real. ISRO should also list the outlets where simple telescopes can be purchased so as to press home the point, which is to create the next space heros for india and not so much impressing the neighbours. remember gita, do you own duty and not worry about what others think.

I was so shocked by the bubble across the taikonots face, I mean cound he not hold his breath for a bit longer. I dread to think what happened to him/r now.

vavinash · Post by **vavinash** » 10 Nov 2008 03:17

Any posted the first images of moon from CY?

http://raakshaseeyam.blogspot.com/2008/ ... tures.html

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dSDqUplIzIw/S ... larged.png

Aditya_M · Post by **Aditya_M** » 10 Nov 2008 04:01

I don't think that is a correct image - no mainstream website has put them up yet. I would not trust something on a blog which is nowhere else. Granted, the DDM has the middle D for a reason, but blogs are worse!

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 10 Nov 2008 05:04

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm? ... e=s5i43476

Communicating with the Vindaloo 1 from the ISRO's Delhi-based call centre headquarters, mission control chief Mahat Macoat exhibited his customary annoying display of neck-gyrating while multi-tasking commands to the spacecraft and answering reporters' questions on the peculiar naming of the mission's crew.
"The Americans have their 'Astronauts', the Russians have their 'Cosmonauts', the French have their 'Frogonauts', so we decided to have our own speciality 'Currynauts' for the space exploration project."

http://www.internationalreporter.com/Ne ... ions-.html

The US is designing rovers that can be nuclear-powered. India is not looking at that kind of design said Sree kumar.

Chandrayaan-2 will have a proper rover, likely to be Russian-made, landing on the moon.

The astronauts have to handle another problem. There is a huge amount of dust that arises on the surface of the moon and enters space suits Sree kumar pointed out. It is very difficult to work in the dusty atmosphere.

The first impact probe from Chandrayaan-1 will crash on to the lunar surface, raising dust clouds which will be captured by instruments and analyzed to see what it is made of.

Lunar dust can be radioactive. The rovers that will finally have to be used on the moon will have to be like walking air-conditioned and dust-proof houses, letting astronauts on the moon work in a completely dust-free atmosphere.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 10 Nov 2008 05:15

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008 ... alcomments

Indian moon probe nears lunar orbit
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 4, 2008 | 2:04 PM ET Comments18Recommend31
CBC News

India's first unmanned lunar mission made a final manoeuvre on Tuesday morning, putting it on target to enter orbit around the moon on Saturday, India's space agency said.

The next announcement from India will be... Houston we have a problem, we see no signs of the US ever being there.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0811/07chandrayaan/

India's indigenous suite of science payloads include a terrain camera designed to take detailed black-and-white pictures of the whole lunar surface. The stereo camera will be able to spot features as small as about 16 feet, according to ISRO.

ISRO scientists also built two spectral imagers, one focusing on near-infrared and another in the X-ray range, to help produce precise global maps of the minerals and soil contents on the moon's surface.

A laser system was also bolted to the spacecraft to determine its altitude above the moon and chart lunar surface topography.

Indian engineers also constructed the moon impact probe.

"It has been the dream of Indian scientists to send a satellite around the moon and then collect more data about the surface features, minerals and so on," Nair said. "That dream is going to come true through this mission."

http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics ... ments.html

Chandrayaan-1 will have instruments that allow the remote sensing of visible, near infrared, soft and hard X-ray, and low-energy gamma ray wavelengths on the surface of the Moon. The total mass of the instruments is 55 kilograms. Some of the instruments will be supplied or supported by NASA and ESA, including some spare instruments from SMART-1.

The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) is a panchromatic stereo camera with a 5-meter resolution and a 40-kilometer swath width. It will be used to make a high-resolution atlas of the Moon's surface.

The HYper Spectral Image (HySI) is a camera that can make observations in the 400 to 900 nanometer band with a spectral resolution of 15 nanometers and a resolution of 80 meters on the ground. It will make mineralogical maps of Moon's surface.
More On This Topic

* Learn More About the Moon

Explore More

* The International Lunar Decade

The Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) will take elevation measurements of the Moon's surface with a resolution of 10 meters. It will be used to make a topographic map of the Moon's surface.

The High Energy X-ray/Gamma-ray Detector (HEX) will observe X-rays and Gamma rays from 10 to 200 kiloelectron volts. It will be used to measure and detect very heavy radioactive isotopes on the Moon such as 210Pb, 222Rn degassing, uranium, thorium, etc. It has a ground spatial resolution of 18 kilometers and is built with the help of ESA.

The Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer (CIXS-2) will observe X-rays and Gamma rays from 0.5 to 10 kiloelectron volts. It will be used to detect and measure light radioactive isotopes such as silicon, aluminum, magnesium, calcium, iron, and titanium. It is a copy of the same instrument on ESA's SMART-1, built by the UK with ESA.

The Solar X-Ray Monitor (SXM) will measure X-ray flux from the Sun in the range from 2 to 10 kiloelectron volts, using it to calibrate the CIXS-2 by taking solar radiation into account. It is also copy of the same instrument on SMART-1.

Miniature-Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini-SAR) will look for material with "unusual scattering properties" on the surface of the Moon that would imply the existence of ice, a resource that could be used to support possible future manned lunar bases. A similar device may be deployed on the NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, so the two devices could be used together for bistatic imaging. The mini-SAR is manufactured by NASA.

The Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) will observe particles from the Moon's surface that have been knocked off by solar wind and will also measure the Moon's magnetic field. It is built by Sweden with ESA.

The Near-Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2) will observe near-infrared light in wavelengths from 900 to 2.400 nanometers. This will determine the mineralogical makeup of the surface of the Moon. It is a copy of the same instrument on SMART-1, built by Germany with ESA.
The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) can be used to make observations in the 700 to 3,000 nanometer range with a resolution if 10 nanometers. In Targeted Mode, it has a ground resolution of 63 nanometers and 125-meter resolution in Global Mode. It is manufactured by NASA.

gnair · Post by **gnair** » 10 Nov 2008 05:33

Tributes to everyone at ISRO with this song from the Bee Gees.........."Rings Around the Moon"
For the tireless work and effort, that have gone into this mission, as well as the infrastructure build up and track record up to this stage. Mohan Chetta, ....won't forget all the stories you've told us all these years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeXPiASDSJY