Chandrayan-1 moon mission

[SSridhar]

An international mission with India as captain - T.S.Subramanian

Although 60 spacecraft have been sent since 1959 to study the moon, this is the first time that as many as 11 scientific instruments are being carried on a spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1 — five from the Indian Space Research Organisation, two from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, three from the European Space Agency and one from Bulgaria.

M. Annadurai, Project Director, called the spacecraft “an international mission with India as the captain.” “We are carrying a spectrum of instruments that people have not sent to study the moon earlier.”

Addressing a press conference at Sriharikota on Wednesday after the PSLV-C11 successfully put Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said the scientific instruments on board were “unique for the spectrum of their coverage.” These were “the most comprehensive set of instruments to fly on board a spacecraft to the moon in recent history.” The instruments would provide a map of the entire surface of the moon — its hills, valleys and craters, and look for minerals such as thorium, uranium, silicon and magnesium.

“We will also try to see whether there is any trace of water ice on the moon,” Mr. Nair said.

The data sent by these instruments would also reveal whether helium-3, which would be the fuel of the future, was available in abundance on the moon.

“A search for the presence of water ice will be made in multiple ways by Chandrayaan-1,” said Mr. Annadurai. Imaging instruments on board the spacecraft could detect the presence of water ice. The signals observed by the X-ray payloads would be useful in identifying the presence of water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the moon.

The MIP has three instruments — a video camera that will take pictures of the lunar surface as the MIP descends towards the moon; a mass spectrometer that will “sniff” and analyse the constituents of the thin atmosphere present above the moon; and an altimeter that will measure every second the altitude of the MIP from the moon during its fall. When the MIP crashes on the moon, it will kick up dust. The video camera will take pictures of this dust. The video images of the lunar surface and the dust will help in determining where the lander/rover in the Chandrayaan-2 mission can land on the moon.

T.K. Alex, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, which built Chandrayaan-1, said: “The spacecraft is in right orbit. It is in good health. The outlook is excellent.”

[SSridhar]

The manoeuvres

The moon is nearly four lakh km away from earth. The manoeuvres for propelling Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit will be done in stages. The spacecraft will be initially put in low, elliptical orbit.

Its altitude will be increased precisely in stages. “Finding the direction in which the spacecraft is pointing is important. Finding the direction and position of the spacecraft in its orbit are the important challenges in accomplishing this mission,” he explained.

The direction of Chandrayaan-1 is found by using star-trackers and gyroscopes, both of which have been developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) laboratories.

The star-tracker images the sky and gets the direction in which the spacecraft is travelling from ten stars. The positions of the bright stars in the sky are kept in the memory of Chandrayaan-1’s computer by a technique called pattern-imaging.

The computer automatically identifies the star-cluster and establishes the direction in which the spacecraft is travelling. Chandrayaan-1’s position in orbit is found by a technique called “satellite tracking,” which is done by a chain of tracking stations spread all over the globe.

“The most important part is that Chandrayaan-1 should reach the moon at the precise time and required velocity when the moon is exactly at the desired place,” explained Dr. Alex.

Once the spacecraft reaches the moon’s vicinity, the former’s velocity is reduced by giving commands to it and it is put in an orbit of 100 km by 5,000 km around the moon. The altitude is reduced to a circular orbit of 100 km around the moon.

[SSridhar]

Why ISRO changed the orbit transfer strategy

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had earlier planned two earth-bound orbits for the spacecraft before it moved towards the moon. Much like in the case of the earth orbits, two lunar orbits were planned for before the spacecraft reached the final lunar orbit destination — circular orbit of about 100 km from the moon’s surface.

But ISRO had revised the orbit-transfer strategy. In the revised strategy, there will be five earth-bound orbits. The first orbit will have an apogee (farthest point from the earth) of 23,000 km and perigee of 255 km.

Increasing apogees

The second orbit will have an apogee of about 1,60,000 km and the third orbit will have an apogee of about 2,60,000 km. The fourth earth-bound orbit will have an apogee of about 3,87,000 km. It will take about 11 days to complete the fourth earth-bound orbit. During the fifth earth-bound orbit, which will have an apogee of about 3,84,000 km, the spacecraft will approach the moon’s North pole at a safe distance of a few hundred kilometres.

To calibrate the systems

“Basically, we wanted to calibrate our systems, such as the ground tracking system. When we get out of earth’s influence [gravity], there will be an influence of other planets, sun and moon’s gravity. We have theoretical knowledge of this influence. But getting actual data will be more useful to calibrate our systems,” said Dr. Madhavan Nair, Chairman of ISRO.

“The fourth and fifth orbits go up to the final point before it [the spacecraft] comes back. So this will help us to calibrate the systems better,” he said.

“[The earth-bound orbits] will tell us how far our assumptions and models are correct,” Dr. Nair said.

To avoid errors

The earlier orbit-transfer strategy involving just two earth-bound orbits would have also provided the essential data. “When we do it [in fewer and smaller orbits] in a short period, we have to evaluate all the parameters in a shorter time. So some errors can arise,” said Dr. Nair, explaining why the orbit-transfer strategy was changed.

In the revised strategy, there will be two lunar orbits before the spacecraft reaches the final circular orbit of about 100 km from the moon’s surface.

But will the revised strategy, which will involve longer period in space before it reaches its final destination, lead to more fuel consumption and hence affect the total mission duration? “The fuel consumption will be the same and the mission life will also be the same,” he stressed.

[vina]

From the Nation's linked story...

Who gives a rat's ass of what brain dead Pakis think? . While those cretins can wank around imagining how great they are, check out how things work in India. Paklurks.. read this and fall dead from envy


Indian Express
Amroha girl chose jeans, not burqa, joined ISRO
Neha Sinha Posted online: Oct 23, 2008 at 0108 hrs
Amroha, October 22 : Among the scores of families of ISRO scientists who woke up early on Wednesday, prayed and waited for the successful lift-off of Chandrayaan I, was one in Chaugori Mohalla, a tiny, traditional Muslim neighbourhood in UP’s Amroha.

Khushboo Mirza is just one of the 12 engineers of the Check-Out Division of Chandrayaan I which carried out the thermal, vacuum and assembling checks on each component of the satellite. But the story of the 23-year-old is inspiration for a village which once looked at her journey in shock and disbelief.

When her father died when she was seven, her mother, Farhat, broke norms to run the family’s petrol pump to keep her children in school. Her brother, Khushtar, a 2005 BTech from Jamia Millia Islamia, shelved his career ambitions to take charge later. To get out of the claustrophobic bylanes of Amroha, Khushboo applied for B Tech at Aligarh Muslim University. A volleyball player, she qualified through the sports quota. When she graduated, she landed a lucrative job with Adobe but gave it up to join ISRO two years ago.

With traditional censures from the sleepy village getting louder, Farhat accompanied her daughter to ISRO training programmes across the country. And in an area where the women wear burqas, she let her daughter don a pair of jeans. “In the absence of her father, and given that she had to travel so much, a lot of people said a lot of unkind things. But I told my daughter to work hard and let her be. She wanted to wear jeans, not a burqa, and I let her,” Farhat says.

“I wanted to make my contribution to Indian science,” Khushboo told The Indian Express from Sriharikota, Chandrayaan’s launch site. “I think I have made a start.”

“When Khushboo was born, there was no water in the pipes. We had to get water for the delivery from a well which is since closed,” recalls a relative. Now, the family has installed a generator so that Khushboo’s younger sister, Mahak, a student of engineering at Moradabad Institute of Technology, can surf the internet unhindered.

This morning, the village started its day watching Chandrayaan’s launch. Residents now describe the area, which still has a water problem and an erratic power supply, as “Khushboo Mirza’s village.”

Mohammad Atif, a class VIII student who Khushboo coaches in her free time, spent the entire day at Khushboo’s house. He says he “wants to be just like her.”

“She has accomplished the dreams of her father and brother who could not practise engineering,” says Farhat. For her brother Khushtar, her success means something else too. “For all those who paint all Muslim youth with the same brush (of terrorism and fundamentalism), this is a positive message,” he says.
[/quote]

[vina]

..... Assisted shrilly and loudly by the Energizer Bunny propagandoos:

..Saar, however that bunny is a Duracell, not Energizer !

[vina]

I think the hindustan times guy has it right in answering the Propah Gandoos and Pure Fools on "oh India so poor onree".. why this and not feed the poor.

He puts it in perspective. $80m is less than a tenth of what Sony Television paid for the IPL telecast rights! . Think of it and get a perspective and scale of things in India. This moon mission costs a tenth of what Indians (in fact far less, given the margins Sony TV should make) spend in ads just to watch a 3 hr or so cricket match!.

[svinayak]

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDI ... aLUNAR.pdf



The head of India's space agency says it can quickly catch China, its rival for Asian leadership.

"Compared to China, we are better off in many areas," Nair said in an interview with India's Outlook magazine this week, citing India's advanced communication satellites and launch abilities.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... ed_content

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1224638 ... =sphere_wd

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/08 ... probe.html

http://www.space.com/common/media/video ... handrayaan

[rahulm]

Orbit raising operations being carried out satisfactorily.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/23imoon1.htm

[SSridhar]

Indian Express
Amroha girl chose jeans, not burqa, joined ISRO

Fantastic Kushboo Mirza ! Way to go.

[Lalmohan]

space exploration has long been stymied due to funding issues. the commercialisation of space has been long awaited - and now ISRO is actually doing it, albeit in small steps. there is very good logic to having Indian space capabilities 'open' and commercial - few countries can now afford the big mijjile slapping antics - China does it to match the US/(USSR) super power games. everyone else (including europeans and the japanese) are looking for more cost effective means - and that means commercial benefit.

the stock jholawalla arguements are nonsense, the media trots them out because it is the stock thing to do and is more 'controvertial' than boring old 'someone did something sensible this morning' - that does not sell newspapers. as i said, just like apollo, chandrayan and other programmes will really boost india's scientific/engineering base and be beneficial to our economy. if we can cooperate and partner with other space faring nations, SO MUCH THE BETTER

btw - Arun, the 'atmospheric effect' on the launch video - are you sure? it looked more like stage one burn out with final puff. i would have expected the rocket to have gone supersonic very quickly after take off - shock waves would have come much earlier? i haven't seen the flight parameters, so maybe i am mistaken

[Murugan]

Harbans, et al:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n081 ... ndrayaan1/
...

The probe flew into space aboard a beefed-up Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, a 146-foot-tall rocket originally built to haul Earth observation satellites into orbit.

The PSLV flew east from the launch site, propelling the spacecraft to a velocity of more than 20,500 mph and reaching an initial orbit with a high point of 14,205 miles and a low point of 158 miles. The inclination was about 17.9 degrees, according to the Indian Space Research Organization.

...

Chandrayaan 1, India's first robotic mission to leave Earth orbit, will fire its own engine up to five times in the next two weeks to gradually reach a 250,000-mile-high orbit taking the spacecraft to the vicinity of the moon.

The probe will fire its engine again Nov. 8 to enter lunar orbit. The burn is scheduled to begin at about 1227 GMT (7:27 a.m. EST) to place Chandrayaan 1 in an oval-shaped parking orbit. That orbit will eventually be lowered to a circular path about 62 miles above the moon.

Plans call for Chandrayaan 1 to release a 64-pound impactor around Nov. 15 for a suicidal nosedive into the moon. The trip from orbit to the lunar surface will take about a half-hour, and the small craft will relay imagery, altitude information and spectral data back to Earth through the Chandrayaan mother ship.

Chandrayaan means "moon craft" in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India.
The $80 million mission is India's answer to a pair of lunar missions launched last year by Japan and China. Both countries' moon orbiters are still collecting imagery and scientific data.
But unlike the Japanese and Chinese missions, India invited large contributions from other nations to put instruments on Chandrayaan 1. Scientists from Europe and the United States answered the call.

More than half of the probe's 11 instruments come from outside India. The European Space Agency spent $8 million to fund three payloads, while NASA provided two more sensors. Bulgarian scientists also contributed a radiation monitor to the mission.

The payloads will be turned on and tested by the end of November before the spacecraft begins an operational mission lasting at least two years, officials said.

Scientists expect data from Chandrayaan 1 to help create the most detailed global chemical map of the moon showing mineral concentrations across the lunar surface. Researchers will also make a three-dimensional terrain map of the moon based on information yielded by the mission.

"We are going to look at the moon slightly differently than the people who are looking at it (now). We're looking at the moon very systematically," said Mylswamy Annadurai, Chandrayaan 1 project director at ISRO. "We're going to make a repository of the whole moon and its contents."

ESA's three instruments come from teams led by scientists in the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden.

"In an era of renewed interest for the moon on a worldwide scale, the ESA-ISRO collaboration on Chandrayaan 1 is a new opportunity for Europe to expand its competence in lunar science while tightening the long-standing relationship with India - an ever stronger space power," said David Southwood, ESA director of science and robotic exploration.

The ESA-funded X-ray and near-infrared imaging spectrometers, called C1XS and SIR 2, will detect mineral signatures in soil on and just below the lunar surface. Both instruments are based on similar sensors that flew aboard Europe's SMART 1 spacecraft, which was deliberately crashed into the moon in 2006.

"European scientists will have the fantastic opportunity to continue our work on the moon," said Detlef Koschny, ESA's Chandrayaan 1 project scientist.

Europe's instruments aboard Chandrayaan 1 will work closely with other countries' payloads to help fill in the blanks in what scientists know about the moon.

"The Apollo missions went down to the surface, but only in a limited number of spots, whereas Chandrayaan tries to do detailed imaging of the entire sphere of the moon," said Christian Erd, ESA's Chandrayaan 1 project manager.

SARA, the other ESA payload, will observe solar wind particles contacting the moon's surface to study its effects on the top layer of soil.

NASA provided a pair of instruments, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper and the MiniSAR radar, as part of the agency's effort to return to robotic exploration of the moon.

"The opportunity to fly NASA instruments on Chandrayaan 1 undoubtedly will lead to important scientific discoveries," said Michael Griffin, NASA administrator. "This exciting collaboration represents an important next step in what we hope to be a long and mutually beneficial relationship with India in future civil space exploration."

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper, nicknamed M3, is a visual and near-infrared imaging spectrometer designed to plot mineral resources at higher resolutions than any instrument before. M3 scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory hope the device will help them create mineral maps to find science-rich landing sites for future missions.

M3 will also look for direct evidence of pockets of water ice hidden inside craters near the lunar poles. Scientists believe there are frozen water deposits deep within the eternally dark craters due to high concentrations of hydrogen found there on previous missions.

The MiniSAR payload was developed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The instrument will bounce radar beams off the lunar surface to look for signs of water ice packed inside the walls of deep craters near the moon's poles.
The combination of data from the M3 and MiniSAR instruments will allow researchers to determine how many craters could harbor the frozen water, NASA officials said.

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.spaceflightnow.com/news/n081 ... ndrayaan1/

[Arun_S]

Swamy ji thank you for the orbital and escape details. Wow! I used to think that escape from Earths gravity is performed much earlier than that. Couple of swings around Earth orbit, and fire boosters whoosh..on the way to Moon. Is this the way other orbiters went? Or the Apollo missions?

I feel really happy for Scientific endeavours in India. Lot of young kids now will fire up, wanting to become Scientists and Engineers rather than trash JNU passouts.

Harbans: I forgot to mention that this point you bring out was the SOLE purpose of this Chandrayan mission.

Go back 7 years when this discussion was evolving. Self confidence and resurgence of Indian populace specially the future Karta Dharta" the youth was pivitol for a changing India. That is the reason President APJ Kalam was solidly behind this project. In spite of the JNU Jhollawalla's singing 'India is poor and money is better spent in poverty alleviation'.

Back then I gave an interview in an Australian Radio station program on "Indian Space Program and Chandryan" that also had Prof.K Kasturirangan (then chairman of ISRO), where I eloquently spoke about Chandrayan as well as Indian space program, its uniquely people focused effort, yet the scientific value Chandrayan will bring to the world at large. And responded to the argument of spending money on space program; in that instead of wasting money to give fish to the needy, it is about teaching people to catch fish that will serve lifetime need. That Australian radio was known to be a evangelical radio station, but some one had to take a stand for India, and the BR Admin team chose me to represent Indian posture.

I have that Radio broadcast recoding somewhere in my computer.

I have uploaded the radio recording:"Voice International" reporting on Indian Space development as part of their program "Flip Side" dated 23-Apr-2004,
Click on the download button and type in the bot blocker challenge string.

An Australian radio station "Voice International" reporting on Indian Space development as part of their program "Flip Side" dated 23-Apr-2004, interviewed BR-Space admin. The program also has interview excerpts from Prof Kumar and ISRO chairmen Dr Kasturirangan.

Unfortunately the website for the radio station has gone bust and the transcript is not available. So have to make do with the audio recording.

[SSSalvi]

Giving a view of 1st orbit ( i.e. one of the first planned orbits out of several maneuvers .. the spacecraft will remain in each orbit for several revoltions till it is forcibally transferred to next orbit ... this is NOT the revolution number 1 which is counted from launch ).
1st graphic is a view from above equator while the 2nd graphic shows same orbit as seen from above the pole.

The orbit is continuously rotating along equator .. called in technical parlance a precession. This is shown in 3rd graphic. ( again viewed from above the North pole )

A pinch of salt : we don't know whether the satellite is still in the same orbit or in the next planned stage of orbit at this moment. The graphics are based on the orbit information available as of yesterday.

Essential parameters for the orbit :

Inclination : 17.9306 deg
Apogee : 22818Kms
Perigee: 227kms

[Arun_S]

And responded to the argument of spending money on space program; in that instead of wasting money to give fish to the needy, it is about teaching people to catch fish that will serve lifetime need.

Thats a really good and pithy way of putting the argument against the Jholawalas. I am sure Arun Ji the trust BRF reposed in you was adequately addressed in that. I'll keep that quote handy for use in other forums if you don't mind..

And i do see you have been doing a fab job here on BRF educating the younger and less informed people on many aspects of technology, Defense or otherwise. My regards for that, and some of your posted articles are really good quality stuff. I've learnt and educated some folks on them. But keep that a secret..

Ahh... . . I found the transcript on my disk, with the "fish message":


Radio Voice International's Flipside: Indian Space Fri 23 Apr 2004

With India’s scientists preparing to launch a mission to the moon by 2008, India’s space program has come a long way since its beginnings in 1962.

The first Indian experimental satellite was launched in 1975 and has been followed by a series of communications and weather satellites and launch vehicles that have put the country in the forefront of space research.

Arun Sharma is an engineer who has spent many years tracking India’s developing space program, and says the most significant progress made in recent years.

• Arun's voice: Really there is a great amount of maturity which has come in the last decade, particularly in the last four years if we look at it.
  

Professor Michael Kumar is the Dean of Karunya Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu, has been involved in research for the Indian space program.

Professor Kumar says despite its relatively recent beginnings, India is technologically competitive.

• Kumar's voice: We started late, that I think all of us know. But our program in terms of research, development and adoption is very good actually. Compared to other countries, because we are late starters, we have an advantage one way because we can use their technology, but we have developed our own technology because there is always a problem in terms of importing and getting the latest technology.

And more than just recreating previous technology, Mr Sharma says India is looking to contribute to the world’s space knowledge.

• Arun's voice: India has recently in fact stepped up into increasing the envelope for its launch business by for the first time announcing the mission to the moon. So that would be a very interesting and exciting possibility allowing a greater amount of contribution into the global knowledge. This particular mission would not be a replication of other missions done by other countries - it’s a very carefully crafted mission which would allow the discovery of things that have not been done before.

Science is an important part of India’s development goals for 2020 and Prof. Kumar says such contributions are important as India negotiates its standing in the community of nations.

Sometimes the world opinion has space program as one of their yard sticks for development, so definitely we don’t want to lose points on that scale.

And though critics argue that a developing country such as India should be spending money on reducing poverty, unemployment and AIDS, Mr Sharma argues that space research has significantly improved life in India.

• Arun's voice: If you look at the way the Indian space investment has been done in the last 20 years, the initial 10 satellites were primarily focused on earth resource development. And they have been used quite extensively in terms of crop planning, in terms of disaster planning, so the focus has been quite early on related to the larger community.

Technology and the space program also have a role to play as an investment in building up the country’s people.

• Arun's voice: India is still a rural economy and for the well being and improvement of more than one billion people, the Indian government and the people themselves are also very cautiously investing their resources to see how, as a country and people, all the people could be brought up. So it’s important that the satellite services and the space program that has always been inwardly focused, continues to address the root cause problem on human capital. People say it’s a poor country, but again, the easiest way to address poverty is not by giving fish to the people but telling the people how to catch the fish.

As India seeks to show the world it can develop advanced technologies to solve the human and social problems of its own, as well as the world, its space program takes an important place.

And in the word’s of the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, K Kasturirangan, it’s not whether India can afford it, it’s whether it can afford to ignore it.

• Kasturirangan's voice: It’s basically the image building exercise, I will say that, the space program is basically image building and I do agree that some of this money may be wasted. but India has to stand in the world you can compare yourself for example if you want to buy a good suit, you can always save and go for a cheaper one but then when you have a good suit only are you recognised.

[Arun_S]

btw - Arun, the 'atmospheric effect' on the launch video - are you sure? it looked more like stage one burn out with final puff. i would have expected the rocket to have gone supersonic very quickly after take off - shock waves would have come much earlier? i haven't seen the flight parameters, so maybe i am mistaken

Well that is the way I see it.

BTW before the stage-1 burns out the 6 PMOS-XL strap ons will be jettisoned in pairs or quads. There is no evidence of two or more seprating bodies doing it. And the video clip looks like one single shoot with no interruption(slicing), the timing is just right when the PSLV reaches sonic barrier. Even I thought that the craft will have crossed sonic barrier much sooner, but the ISRO recording dispelled that assumption.

But then I am human.

[dada]

Now everytime a pakistani looks at the moon during Eid etc , it will remind him that the Indian Tricolour Flag has already been posted on the moon ! For the hardcore pakis , more heartburns to follow ........

[uddu]

The people worldwide have a positive outlook about India's space program except for some ignorance about Indian weapons program. But there are some oppurtunist politicians.

[Arun_S]

Uddu, not completely true. There are people like Rahul Bedi who see that as 'pubic' hair competition. See below.

India eyes larger slice of satellite launch sector

by Staff Writers
New Delhi (AFP) Oct 23, 2008
India's first moon mission not only makes it a serious player in space exploration but also holds the prospect of a bigger slice of the lucrative satellite launch market, analysts say.

The country staged a flawless launch Wednesday of its first unmanned lunar orbiting spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 -- the Sanskrit word for Moon Craft -- with an Indian-built rocket from its southeastern coast.

"The launch has considerable political significance as it's an assertion of India's credibility in the area of space exploration," said New Delhi-based strategic analyst Uday Bhaskar.

If all goes to plan, the 1.5-tonne satellite should be flying over the pockmarked lunar surface November 11. It's being sent on a two-year mission to map in-depth the moon's topography and its mineral and chemical properties.

The launch, greeted with chest-thumping patriotism, "demonstrated the nation's growing technological potential," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

India sees the space journey as further boosting its diplomatic weight in the wake of the recent deal on civilian atomic cooperation with the United States that ended its nuclear pariah status.

The main exploration goal of the thrifty lunar mission -- it cost just 79 million dollars, less than half that of similar expeditions by other countries -- is to assess and map lunar mineral resources, Indian officials say.

India aims to launch the first Indian into space by 2014 and maybe to put a man on the moon by 2020.

Indian Space Research Organisation head G. Madhavan Nair has said the current mission will "unravel the mystery of the moon." But some analysts argue that enhanced global status was a far stronger motive.

"It's a moustache kind of thing -- and moustache matters," said Jane's Defence Weekly analyst Rahul Bedi, referring to India's national pride.

Asian nations have recently been at the forefront of space exploration -- a field that was previously dominated by the United States, Russia and the European Space Agency.

China, whose space programme is far more advanced than India's, was the first Asian nation five years ago to put its astronauts into space and last month staged a much publicised space walk.

"They (the Indians) are not going to add very much to what is already known," Bedi said.

But the mission represents "a technological evolution of the whole space programme in India. At the same time, India is very competitive in launching satellites and it further cements that reputation," Bedi said.

Initially set up to carry out scientific research, the space research organisation now also earns money from commercial launches with the global market worth an estimated 2.5 billion dollars a year.

Earlier this year, India launched an Israeli spy satellite into space.

At least 16 Indian satellites circle earth, giving support to telephone operators, broadcast outlets, weather forecasters and providing remote education and healthcare.

"If it can prove the cost-effectiveness of its launches, India could be a niche supplier of small launches," noted New Delhi analyst Bhaskar.

India, whose space programme has an annual budget of one billion dollars -- less than a tenth of NASA's -- is ranked as the second most globally competitive behind China by consultancy Futron's space competitiveness index.

But the big question, said Bedi, is whether a country like India needs to spend so heavily on a space missions when it is still struggling to feed millions of impoverished citizens.

Still, he acknowledged, the technology developed by space missions "can have offshoots that can benefit everyone."

[Kakarat]

Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft’s Orbit Raised
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.

[Shankar]

congratulations if somewhat late to all in ISRO for a stupendous mission - the world is saluting you guys now - proud to be an Indian

of all the tv programes yesterday I like the NDTV most and the focus on non IIT engineers leading the technological race and most IIT engineers are busy selling soap and credit cards or making US rich

[pradeepe]

Arun was looking for a link. Delete as needed please. Its a momentous occasion...dont intend to sully it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/world ... amoon.html

The mission is not without domestic critics. Bharat Karnad, a strategic affairs analyst who frequently finds fault with the Congress Party-led coalition government, called the mission a “grandiloquent” effort designed to catch up with a far more advanced Chinese space program. “It is kind of a prestige project the government has gotten into,” Mr. Karnad said. “This is misuse of resources that this country can ill afford at this point.”

quotes are original.

[vsudhir]

shankar

of all the tv programes yesterday I like the NDTV most and the focus on non IIT engineers leading the technological race and most IIT engineers are busy selling soap and credit cards or making US rich

That was uncalled for.

Still, would be awesome if the engg and science colleges of the chandrayaan team (and heck, the agni3 teams also) recognised their alumi's contributions to India's scitech frontier by having picture profiles and honorary plaques putup in their colleges. Would give youngesters at these colleges a chance to emulate these folks. And would also be an excellent recruitment advert for ISRO and DRDO!

[uddu]

Uddu, not completely true. There are people like Rahul Bedi who see that as 'pubic' hair competition. See below.

That's the D Media giving company to Praful.

From this video we can get an understanding of the people in the western world thinks about the launch. I found it positive.
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=t2CbAHp_YXk

Overall even the Indian Media seem to have matured. There is no chest thumping from their part about the launch and found great detail in the presentation about what the mission is about and even if someone criticized it then they also presented the other parts and all in a balanced manner.

[Shankar]

That was uncalled for.

Still, would be awesome if the engg and science colleges of the chandrayaan team (and heck, the agni3 teams also) recognised their alumi's contributions to India's scitech frontier by having picture profiles and honorary plaques putup in their colleges. Would give youngesters at these colleges a chance to emulate these folks. And would also be an excellent recruitment advert for ISRO and DRDO!

sorry if I have hurt your sentiments -but this is an issue I take up with my friends and mentors in ISRO/DAE/IGCAR/IAF whenever get a chance to meet them. You will not believe in 12 years of my interaction with ISRO(lpsc/vscc/sac/srk) have not come across a single IIT grad but they say some are there, same with BARC/IGCAR/NEC/DRDO /NAL

everywhere when I meet an engineer who i admire for dedication to work much above call of duty they are from regional engineering colleges and other small engineering colleges . So asked point blank to director of ------- he said "IITianas are after money so we do not get them or take them .

That about sums up the position

I have nothing against IIT in fact did about year and half of post grad work in one before joining the cryogenic industry still feel the lack of enthu IITians in joining these organisations where the shape of tomorrows India is being crafted

exceptions are there but that just proves the point -ask Vishnu at NDTV why he stressed the pont in yesterdays programe

[manoba]

India launches nuclear space mission

[anupmisra]

India launches nuclear space mission

In the entire interview, there no mention of "nuclear space mission". The author of this youtube video chose to call it just that out of ignorance.

[ramana]

Shankar, The window/counter for whines is closed in this thread.

Thanks, ramana

[svinayak]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2CbAHp_YXk

Should a developing country like India spend money on space exploration? Does India's first space mission change its international image? Do you see India's space program as a security threat?

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

ANCHOR: India just launched its first unmanned moon mission. The Chandrayaan-1 moon vehicle, built by the
Indian Space Research Organisation, has blasted off from an Indian space centre right after dawn this morning.

STORY: 
Speaking at the post launch conference, the Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman says the launch was perfect.

[G. Madhavan Nair, ISRO Chairman]:
"In fact yesterday evening we had lost almost ten hours in the countdown, we lost almost all the hope of making a launch today morning, but thanks to dedicated efforts of the team membersthe precession with which
they carried out the activitiesand thank the rain gods, the clouds kept away, the lightning clouds did not appear overhead so all this put together we just made for the 6:22 launch this morning."

ISRO scientists visited temples to seek the blessings of Hindu gods before the launch. After some expressed relief that rain had held off until the rocket was in space.
Scientists celebrate as the rocket shoots up into space.

India doesnt want to fall behind in an Asian race to space that could have technological and military implications. There is disquiet in the West that China has military ambitions in space, with developments such as anti-satellite missiles.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, currently on a two-day visit to Japan, hails the space scientists for their effort.

[Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh]:
"I congratulate all the scientists associated with this mission for the successful completion of the first step. When completed, the mission will put India in the very small group of six countries which have thus far sent space mission to the moon. Our scientific community has once again done the country proud and the entire nation salutes them."

Barring any technical failure, the spacecraft will reach the lunar orbit and spend two years scanning the moon for any evidence of water and precious metals.

A gadget called the Moon Impactor Probe will kick up some dust on the moon, and the dust will be analysed, primarily to try to find Helium 3 for nuclear power.

India's project cost $79 million, much less than the Chinese and Japanese probes in 2007. ISRO says the moon mission will pave the way for India to claim a bigger chunk of the global space business.

[Mort Walker]

I've been busy lately, but a belated yet HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ISRO!

YOU'VE MADE ALL INDIANS PROUD AND THERE WERE TEARS IN MY EYES AS I WATCHED THE LAUNCH ON TV!

From a strategic POV what this means, and its beneficial that there are observers from the western countries like the UK, EU and US, that India has a PROVEN HIGHLY ACCURATE guidance system for its strategic missile arsenal. There will be no more second guessing with som many satellite launches and now with the launch of Chandrayaan-1. A payload of over 1 tonne can be delivered anywhere.

In 12 years time, my children and I will watch as Indian antriksh-nauts land on the moon.

[arun]

ISRO Release on First Orbit Raising :

Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft’s Orbit Raised

[ChandraS]

I am late to the party... My heartiest congratulations to ISRO and affiliated orgs & industry partners for the successful launch of Chandrayan. It is indeed a great moment to see Indian capabilities being showcased at the cutting and bleeding edge of science & technology.

The media coverage has also been balanced and pretty much positive, with a few exceptions from the usual suspects. An interesting anecdote - Driving home from work yesterday, NPR had a report on Chandrayan launch. The reporter talked about the 'Shawn-draw-yawn' mission launch and the two sides of the bread-butter vs space-tech argument. The first response was from a person very proud and supportive of the money spent on space research. The next one was the usual whiner of '70% of India lives on less than $1 a day' variety. The first person spoke in totally desi-accented english while the second had a clipped 'Oxbridge' accent

[Vivek K]

Congrats to ISRO - the pride of India!

[Tamang]

A bunch of guys shot this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgnGQMNSjkk

Another - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYCEbQuDVA

Amazing! I wish I were there too.

BTW, the official live launch telecast wasn't upto the mark IMO, rocket's sound was almost muted. I am surprised there were no helicopter cameras around, that would have been awesome.

[arun]

X Post.

Tariq Alhomayed , Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al-Awsat contrasts India and Pakistan.

News of India’s Chandryaan mission on the one hand contrasted with Pakistan’s placing a begging bowl in front of the IMF on the other :

Caught Between the Moon and the “Begging Bowl”

Thursday 23 October 2008

By Tariq Alhomayed

Let us look at two statements released by the neighboring countries of India and Pakistan. On one hand we have India, the population of which exceeds one billion, saying, “We are going to the moon for the first time. China has gone earlier, but today we are trying to catch them.” In Pakistan, on the other hand, which has a population of 172 million, a finance official stated that the country is seeking to borrow four billion dollars to avoid defaulting on its debt.

What a sad paradox between a country that is celebrating its mission to the moon and another that is moaning about the pressure of debts and the fear of bankruptcy.

Pakistan, which celebrated reaching its last agreement with the International Monetary Fund [IMF] three years ago when former president General Pervez Musharraf said, “We have broken the begging bowl,” and whose incumbent president [Asif Ali Zardari] once said that his country would rather tighten its belt than turn to the IMF for help, today finds itself in desperate need of financial aid since there are warnings that its economy is deteriorating sharply. This is indicative of a grave and imminent danger as Pakistan is a nuclear country that is threatened by an ocean of religious extremism.

This is the danger of the Pakistani situation and it is within the rights of countries to be hesitant about offering Pakistan aid today in view of the stifling economic crisis that has afflicted the world. But at the same time, there is still the danger that Pakistan could fall into the hands of extremists and subsequently, threaten vital parts of the world because Pakistan is a nuclear power. If Pakistan came under the control of extremists, this would be an international crisis.

If Afghanistan, with its mountains and caves, was able to strike the world a hefty blow, imagine what nuclear Pakistan could do. The Pakistanis, primarily, must take this matter into consideration; their country needs them to take a stand.

Some time ago, we took part in a meeting with a European official attended by Pakistani media figures. The discussion tackled the political conflict in Pakistan and there was virtually a unanimous agreement that Pakistan faces no danger because of democracy.

In Pakistan today, we are witnessing the direct opposite of that; there is a fundamental difference between lively democratic debate and the battle to gain political or personal influence. What we are seeing in Lebanon could be considered a fiercer example of that; it is where partisan or individual interests are given more importance than the wider interests i.e. the interests of the country.

As long as democratic debate continues or spreads in democratic societies, it will never affect the state institutions that represent the real foundations of the state and we have seen how institutions can be dragged into political conflict in Pakistan.

The solution to saving Pakistan must come from Pakistan itself by defining the dangers and the priorities and by taking a decisive stand in the war against terror and the internal political conflict. Pakistan’s problem is that it is a critical and nuclear state but within the country, problems are hindering its real progression.

Therefore, neglecting Pakistan would be disastrous and to rescue it amid these economic circumstances would require a miracle. Pakistan’s situation forces one to think what if Iran − a country that is threatened today by the decrease in oil prices − was to become a nuclear power as well. Should its neighbors rush to save it so that its weapons would not fall into the hands of its extremists?

Asharq Al-Awsat

[manoba]

A best way to celebrate a poor nation's (well, now it's a developping nation) achievement.

India: to conquer the space?

(Anglo-saxonic people... please use the translate feature)

[hnair]

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDI ... aLUNAR.pdf



The head of India's space agency says it can quickly catch China, its rival for Asian leadership.

"Compared to China, we are better off in many areas," Nair said in an interview with India's Outlook magazine this week, citing India's advanced communication satellites and launch abilities.

That picture is one of the best. Shows a lot of things - openness of Indian program, rapid seepage of technology amongst the public and last but not the least, a lot of ordinary Indians actually gave a damn by waking up early on a rainy morning to witness this. There was no need for any communist party bosses to round up the "masses", bathe them and make them wave politely with flags for the foreign cameras.

Shankar, I personally know a few IIT-ians working (some held top positions and some have retired) at VSSC, IISU and LPSC Valiamala. Earlier days used to see a lot less, because of the bideshi drain that used to happen. I think it will change for the better with the current bright situation in India and also specialist schools like IIST etc.

vsudhir, Madhavan Nair-saar is an alumni of CET (always felt good to say that ). He was and is a legend amongst us. During my college days, when he was relatively less senior in the ISRO hierarchy, I even had the good fortune of going to his house to invite him(and a really hilarious incident at his house, thanks to my friend) for a talk to our college. This was many centuries ago when he was with VSSC. And as the above quote of his about China sums up, he is from sturdy old school Trivandrum stock: dont give a frick to any foreigner's views and talks uncomfortably blunt

[Singha]

awesome pic. looks like one of those gorgon/gazelle interceptors streaking up. captures the mood beautifully.

[svinayak]

1. 5 Indian payloads
a. Terrain Mapping stereo Camera
b. Hyper Spectral Imaging camera
c. Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument
d. High Energy X-ray spectrometer
e. Moon Impact Probe

2. 4 European payloads
a. Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer UK
b. Sub KeV Atom Reflecting Analyser Sweden
c. Radiation Dose Monitor Experiment Bulgaria
d. Near Infra Red spectrometer Germany

3. 2 NASA payloads
a. Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar
b. Moon Mineralogy Mapper

[Arun_S]

btw - Arun, the 'atmospheric effect' on the launch video - are you sure? it looked more like stage one burn out with final puff. i would have expected the rocket to have gone supersonic very quickly after take off - shock waves would have come much earlier? i haven't seen the flight parameters, so maybe i am mistaken

Well that is the way I see it.

BTW before the stage-1 burns out the 6 PMOS-XL strap ons will be jettisoned in pairs or quads. There is no evidence of two or more seprating bodies doing it. And the video clip looks like one single shoot with no interruption(slicing), the timing is just right when the PSLV reaches sonic barrier. Even I thought that the craft will have crossed sonic barrier much sooner, but the ISRO recording dispelled that assumption.

But then I am human.

After rechecking the time sequence, that event occured 95 seconds from lift off and ties in with the seperation time of the air-lit strapons.
The ground lit PMOS-XL separate at 70 seconds( no cameras capture that due to cloud/orientation). The rest of the PMOS-XL are air lit at 25 second (when craft was in clouds) and jettisoned at 92 sec. OTOH Sonic barrier was breached at 68 secs at altitude of 25 Km.

[vishwakarmaa]

That about sums up the position

I have nothing against IIT in fact did about year and half of post grad work in one before joining the cryogenic industry still feel the lack of enthu IITians in joining these organisations where the shape of tomorrows India is being crafted

exceptions are there but that just proves the point -ask Vishnu at NDTV why he stressed the pont in yesterdays programe

I agree with you. It takes down-headed and noble people to do the ISRO's job.

IIT-ians are too arrogant for such highly-skilled work. Its not about money. Its about dedication and commitment.