Chandrayan-1 moon mission

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 12 Nov 2008 19:10

Two of those 11 payloads – Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) and Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM) – have already been successfully switched ON. TMC has successfully taken the pictures of Earth and moon.

The next major event of Chandrayaan-1 mission planned in the coming days is the release of Moon Impact Probe (MIP) from the spacecraft and its eventual hitting of the moon’s surface.

From the ISRO site, now it will become even more interesting as they switch one system on after another. IIRC they plan to do so after release of the MIP. Now when do they intend to do that? Is there any specific point they want to release it? Questions still pending answers..

Anyways big time Congratulations to ISRO and associated orgainizations for making this happen!

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 12 Nov 2008 19:15

harbans wrote: Now when do they intend to do that? Is there any specific point they want to release it?

It is my understanding that MIP will be relased such that it will land at the approximate site chosen for the rover in CY-II.

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 12 Nov 2008 19:43

neeraj wrote:http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/Nov12_2008.htm
Final orbit reached.

Congratulations ISRO!! You have given us Indians a new sense of identity and optimism

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 12 Nov 2008 19:52

SSridhar wrote: It is my understanding that MIP will be relased such that it will land at the approximate site chosen for the rover in CY-II.

What is the location of the proposed site for rover in CY-II?

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 12 Nov 2008 20:02

ISRO will study the final orbit for a couple of days before releasing the MIP on Nov 14 or 15.

According to this report:

Crash Land plan
Once Chandrayaan-1 reaches a lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 kilometres, ISRO will issue commands to re-orient and eject the MIP, which has an onboard motor that will fire for two seconds to slow the MIP's descent velocity to 75 metres per second. During its descent to the lunar surface, the MIP will activate its video-camera which will capture images of the lunar surface that will be instrumental in ISRO's decision to pick a suitable landing site for Chandrayaan-2's rover.

The MIP's altimeter will measure its altitude from the Moon's surface every second, while a third instrument, the mass spectrometer, will sense the moon's atmospheric constituents as it free falls to the lunar surface. All data would be transmitted to Chandrayaan-1 till the MIP crash-lands on the moon, which in turn would be beamed back to earth.

prashanth · Post by **prashanth** » 12 Nov 2008 20:55

Finally, we Indians have done it. Congratulations and thanks ISRO. May all the honest and talented people join such organizations to do good to India. Surely this feat will attract bright young minds.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 12 Nov 2008 21:04

MIP release on Friday

ISRO said the next major event of Chandrayaan-1 is the release of Moon Impact Probe (MIP) from the spacecraft and its eventual hitting of the Moon's surface. This is expected to happen on Friday and scientists hope to get the first signals in about 20 minutes after the MIP hits the lunar surface.

prao · Post by **prao** » 12 Nov 2008 21:10

SSSalvi wrote:All the info we have says that the camera is pushbroom type so must acquire image using the forward motion of yaan for line by line image acquisition.

But then we can't get the image so geometrically correct in a non circular unplanned orbit without oriantation of attitude, which is unlikely.

ISRO must explain whether they have changed to a 2 dimensional CCD array .. It will be an achievement if they have. Anyway they must have realised from hi-res satellites ( Cartosats ) that pushbroom and 'step and stare' techniques have problems.

Incidentally , how is it that the Earth photo is clearer than Moon photo from almost the same distance? Just the angular size difference of both the objects from equal distance can't be attributed for out of focus image.

SSSalvi,

Q: Why would it be an achievement if ISRO switched to a 2-D CCD array? Could you elaborate please?

As pointed out by someone else the distances to the Earth and the Moon were different (70k km vs 311k km) but I'm not sure if that was a big factor - given the 5 m resolution for the optics. Also would the focal plane of the images be different for objects at 70k and 311k? My intuitive guess would be no. The main factor was probably the fact the the Earth was much brighter than the Moon and consequently resolution was sacrificed for light sensitivity when imaging the Moon (see earlier link to paper on the TMC that says that the tradeoff is made in the polar regions of the Moon). Then the technique used to image the Moon with the TMC might have had something to do with it. Since we don't yet authoritatively know how that was done we can't answer that ... Would some ISRO types enlighten us please?

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 12 Nov 2008 21:31

There is a time delay integral tutorial for pushbroom imagers here that may be relevent to the TMC functioning..

In addition, with only a single pixel to collect photons for that very short amount of time, there's two serious limits on the sensitivity: dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio of the image. Zipping past the ground in a few tens of microseconds can leave the image starved for light, especially in low illumination situations. The solution? Put a second row of pixels below the first. Now you have a 1,024 x 2 array. When the spacecraft travels one pixel height's worth, rather than dumping the accumulated charge into a register, you dump it "down the column" into another row of pixels where it accumulates more charge. When the accumulated charge is now read out, there's twice as much charge as you'd have gotten from the single-pixel-high array.

You do have to make sure that you've got the time interval matched correctly to the spacecraft velocity. Otherwise the sum of the charge in a particular column's readout will be from two different spots along the ground track, and you'll get smearing in that direction.

Now, the magic occurs! Add more rows to your heart's content. At each moment in time, each row contains the integrated charge of all the previous rows looking at one single line on the ground. (Hence, time-delay integration.) And the charge moves from row to row at the same rate that the image moves across the array.

Add 100 rows. Voila! Your signal is increased by 100 without having to increase the diameter of your telescope by a factor of 10.

The more rows you add, the more you have to be careful to get the timing correct, but the timing is basically just dependent on the spacecraft velocity (which is known and unchanging) and altitude (which changes, but is known for any image).

http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001547/

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 12 Nov 2008 21:42

Victor wrote:ISRO will study the final orbit for a couple of days before releasing the MIP on Nov 14 or 15.
According to this report:
Crash Land plan
Once Chandrayaan-1 reaches a lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 kilometres, ISRO will issue commands to re-orient and eject the MIP, which has an onboard motor that will fire for two seconds to slow the MIP's descent velocity to 75 metres per second. During its descent to the lunar surface, the MIP will activate its video-camera which will capture images of the lunar surface that will be instrumental in ISRO's decision to pick a suitable landing site for Chandrayaan-2's rover.
...

Thanks, Victor!! Also, according to the very same report you gave the link to,

... The Chandrayaan-1 mission will focus on exploration of the South Pole, with the moon impact probe hitting the rim of the Shackleton crater of the moon at the South Pole...

The rim of the Shackleton crater is a location on the lunar surface that has been identified by US space agency NASA as the spot to establish a possible lunar outpost sometime around 2020.

The location at the rim of the Shackleton crater has strategic advantages. That specific place on the lunar surface has sunlight available around 90 per cent of the time, translating directly into abundant solar energy for power generation. Secondly, it is close to the Malapert Mountain, a 5-km high mountain that has a direct view of both the lunar South Pole and the earth, an ideal location for a radio relay station. Moreover, the sunlit areas of the pole and its surroundings make for moderate temperatures.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 12 Nov 2008 21:45

I am quite frankly perplexed by ISRO releasing that moon image without a proper explanation.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Nov 2008 21:45

May be my thoughts are based on the ddm aspects of reality, but how is it possible that MIP having a "painted" Indian flag to survive the re-surface-entry burn.

Since its a free fall, and no parachute, is there a heat shield for the instruments like the spectrometer, radar,video camer, and other sensors?

All these sensor data needs to be relayed back real time, and just before the impact and loss of these valuables.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 12 Nov 2008 21:57

SaiK wrote:May be my thoughts are based on the ddm aspects of reality, but how is it possible that MIP having a "painted" Indian flag to survive the re-surface-entry burn.

Since its a free fall, and no parachute, is there a heat shield for the instruments like the spectrometer, radar,video camer, and other sensors?

All these sensor data needs to be relayed back real time, and just before the impact and loss of these valuables.

SaiK-saar,

The Lunar atmosphere is negligible to the extent of claiming that Moon has no atmosphere. Whatever atmosphere it has is from gas release from its rocks and captured particles from solar wind. The *entire* moon has an atmosphere of around 10,000 Kg (for comparison, at sea level, the earth's atmosphere is 1.3kg per cubic meter, so entire Moon's atmosphere can be fit inside a cube 10 meters on each side).

Parachutes wont work on the moon, there will be no re-entry burn. In the Apollo mission, only the command module had heat shields (it had to re-enter earth), the lunar module did not (technically a very thin heat shield to protect from direct rays of the sun, which are very bright due to lack of atmosphere in the moon and hence no atmosphere scattering)

The Triranga will reach the surface safe !

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Nov 2008 21:59

lakshmic, thanks.

btw, somebody was asking for an animation.

here it is:

http://www.isro.org/pslv-c11/images/Cha ... nFlash.swf

vdutta · Post by **vdutta** » 12 Nov 2008 22:03

i guess since thre is no atmosphere the parachute wont matter and reentry issues are irrelevant.
and since the gravity of moon is so much lower than the earth's the velocity at which it will hit the moon will be lower too.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 12 Nov 2008 22:09

SaiK wrote:lakshmic, thanks.

btw, somebody was asking for an animation.

here it is:

http://www.isro.org/pslv-c11/images/Cha ... nFlash.swf

hey, thanks for the flash !

can it be downloaded ?

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 12 Nov 2008 22:12

The MIPs final speed of approach on the moon will be appr. equivalent to descending on Earth at 12m/s, according to the data.

vdutta · Post by **vdutta** » 12 Nov 2008 22:15

Rahul M wrote:
SaiK wrote:lakshmic, thanks.

btw, somebody was asking for an animation.

here it is:

http://www.isro.org/pslv-c11/images/Cha ... nFlash.swf
hey, thanks for the flash !

can it be downloaded ?

yes. i just did.
just go to file menu and click on save as. it will not download the whole page but the animation.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 12 Nov 2008 22:18

yes, me too ! thanks.

now I only need to know how to use it in a presentation.

btw, if I am viewing the presentation in a PC different from my own would it require this flash file ?

edit: figured it out.

prao · Post by **prao** » 12 Nov 2008 22:27

harbans wrote:There is a time delay integral tutorial for pushbroom imagers here that may be relevent to the TMC functioning..

In addition, with only a single pixel to collect photons for that very short amount of time, there's two serious limits on the sensitivity: dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio of the image. Zipping past the ground in a few tens of microseconds can leave the image starved for light, especially in low illumination situations. The solution? Put a second row of pixels below the first. Now you have a 1,024 x 2 array. When the spacecraft travels one pixel height's worth, rather than dumping the accumulated charge into a register, you dump it "down the column" into another row of pixels where it accumulates more charge. When the accumulated charge is now read out, there's twice as much charge as you'd have gotten from the single-pixel-high array.

You do have to make sure that you've got the time interval matched correctly to the spacecraft velocity. Otherwise the sum of the charge in a particular column's readout will be from two different spots along the ground track, and you'll get smearing in that direction.

Now, the magic occurs! Add more rows to your heart's content. At each moment in time, each row contains the integrated charge of all the previous rows looking at one single line on the ground. (Hence, time-delay integration.) And the charge moves from row to row at the same rate that the image moves across the array.

Add 100 rows. Voila! Your signal is increased by 100 without having to increase the diameter of your telescope by a factor of 10.

The more rows you add, the more you have to be careful to get the timing correct, but the timing is basically just dependent on the spacecraft velocity (which is known and unchanging) and altitude (which changes, but is known for any image).
http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001547/

I'm not sure this is relevant to CY1 TMC - it is interesting though. From the 2005 paper on the TMC mentioned earlier, it appears that the TMC has 3 rows of CCD sensors placed 25.2 deg apart - not for improving the light sensitivity but to allow generation of stereoscopic imagery. The rows are probably too far apart to successfully use the light amplification technique described here.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 12 Nov 2008 23:03

Congratulations ISRO on getting to the final orbit - safe and sound.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 12 Nov 2008 23:05

X-posting

Rahul M wrote: anyway, people didn't respond to my earlier request
viz.
Rahul M wrote:guys, HELP WANTED !
anyone has a graphic showing the stage separation of a rocket as it injects the sat ? the kind we see regularly in magazines like frontline when sats are launched.

not the one in BR page http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/SPACE/Images/fliprof.jpg
but a 3d one in colour that I remember having seen a number of times.
TIA.
but here goes another.
we all have seen the view of ISRO mission control during the launch of Chandrayaan-1 in the DD video.
unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a photo of the same in the media.
if anyone has come across such a pic, could you please help a fellow jingo ?
thanks.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=xDfE83sFPHE
p.s. the scene is visible in this vid for example at 1:04 but I don't have the skills for a screen grab !

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 13 Nov 2008 00:33

It would be nice if ISRO immediately releases the video from the MIP that will cover its journey from release to impact. Huge psyops as it would look similar to the Apollo 11 moon landing videos

and show the braking effect from the rocket motor firing just before impact.

Praveen · Post by **Praveen** » 13 Nov 2008 03:25

Rahul M wrote:X-posting

Rahul M wrote: anyway, people didn't respond to my earlier request
viz. but here goes another.
we all have seen the view of ISRO mission control during the launch of Chandrayaan-1 in the DD video.
unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a photo of the same in the media.
if anyone has come across such a pic, could you please help a fellow jingo ?
thanks.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=xDfE83sFPHE
p.s. the scene is visible in this vid for example at 1:04 but I don't have the skills for a screen grab !

RahulM, I don't see stage separation in the video link at 1:04. I can grab it for you if you have the video.

Added later:
Maybe the below one might help. Its from c9 though.
http://bp3.blogger.com/_hCkZaNlFBCU/SBV ... V+C9_5.jpg
This one has lot of stage seperation 3d images.http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/launch2.html
Lot more images with goog image searchhttp://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q ... ages&gbv=2

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 13 Nov 2008 04:58

Rahul M wrote:http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=xDfE83sFPHE
p.s. the scene is visible in this vid for example at 1:04 but I don't have the skills for a screen grab !

Rahul M,

I just see a row of scientists at 1:04

Not sure if you want that to be grabbed.

Anyway, to do a screen grab or screen shot.
Simply press "CTRL+ALT+PrtScrn" buttons on your keyboard at the same time and it will capture a snapshot of the active window.

Once, that is done...fire open a window of Microsoft Paint and "CTRL + V" buttons in the ms-paint window to display the snapshot. Then you can save as JPEG or BMP.

Regards,
Anish

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 13 Nov 2008 11:56

thanks a lot guys, actually I got hold of a SW that lets me do that, my previous screengrab SW wasn't capturing youtube frames. it's called screen grab pro.

Praveen wrote:
Rahul M wrote: anyway, people didn't respond to my earlier request
viz. but here goes another.
we all have seen the view of ISRO mission control during the launch of Chandrayaan-1 in the DD video.
unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a photo of the same in the media.
if anyone has come across such a pic, could you please help a fellow jingo ?
thanks.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=xDfE83sFPHE
p.s. the scene is visible in this vid for example at 1:04 but I don't have the skills for a screen grab !
RahulM, I don't see stage separation in the video link at 1:04. I can grab it for you if you have the video.

Added later:
Maybe the below one might help. Its from c9 though.
http://bp3.blogger.com/_hCkZaNlFBCU/SBV ... V+C9_5.jpg
This one has lot of stage seperation 3d images.http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/launch2.html
Lot more images with goog image searchhttp://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q ... ages&gbv=2

Praveen, thanks a lot for the C9 pic.

I was looking for PSLV stage-separation graphics similar to this http://web.ift.uib.no/Romfysikk/RESEARC ... rayaan.jpg
which I'm sure I've seen over the years in many magazines.

Rahul M,

I just see a row of scientists at 1:04
Not sure if you want that to be grabbed.

anish, since the pic of the actual mission control is unavailable, this image of the observation room(if one can call it that) is the next best thing.

regards.

p.s. if anyone can get a pic of the MC please let me know.
as of now there is only this copyrighted image : http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xt/255555 ... &g=afp&s=1

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 13 Nov 2008 12:12

^^^

Rahul Sirjee,

Here you go!
The resolution is not that great because it's a screen shot from a fullscreen youtube video.
However, you can make out Shri. Madhavan Nair, seated 3rd in the bottom row.

Hope that is what you wanted

Regards,
Anish

P.S. I can remove/crop the NASA logo from the top right of the frame if you'd like...

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 13 Nov 2008 12:18

thanks anish !

I'm still in the market for

anyone has a graphic showing the stage separation of a rocket as it injects the sat ? the kind we see regularly in magazines like frontline when sats are launched.

not the one in BR page http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/SPACE/Images/fliprof.jpg
but a 3d one in colour that I remember having seen a number of times.
..............
I was looking for PSLV stage-separation graphics similar to this http://web.ift.uib.no/Romfysikk/RESEARC ... rayaan.jpg
which I'm sure I've seen over the years in many magazines.

and

p.s. if anyone can get a pic of the MC please let me know.
as of now there is only this copyrighted image : http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xt/255555 ... &g=afp&s=1

thanks.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 13 Nov 2008 12:47

http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2324/stori ... 909000.htm

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 13 Nov 2008 13:26

Interview with Nair-sir.

Apologies if already posted.

http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20081121252301000.htm

Nitesh · Post by **Nitesh** » 13 Nov 2008 14:03

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news ... on/385273/

India all set to mark entry on moon
Posted: Nov 13, 2008 at 1320 hrs IST

Bangalore, November 13: The Indian flag is all set to mark its presence on the lunar surface for the first time on Friday as a moon probe with the tri-colour painted on it will detach from Chandrayaan-1 and descend onto the earth's natural satellite.

"The Moon Impact Probe is expected to be detached (from Chandrayaan-1) at around 10 pm on Friday," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spokesperson S Satish said.

Miniature Indian flags are painted on four sides of MIP. "It will signify the entry of India on Moon," Satish said.

"During its 20-minute descend to the moon's surface, MIP will take pictures and transmit these back to the ground," he said.

MIP is one of the 11 scientific instruments (payloads) onboard Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned spacecraft mission to moon launched on October 22.

The spacecraft on Thursday reached its final orbital home, about 100 kms over the moon surface after ISRO scientists successfully carried out the last critical orbit lowering operation.

Developed by ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of Thiruvananthapuram, the primary objective of MIP is to demonstrate the technologies required for landing a probe at the desired location on the moon.

The probe will help qualify some of the technologies related to future soft landing missions. This apart, scientific exploration of the moon at close distance is also intended using MIP.

The 29-kg MIP consists of a C-band Radar Altimeter for continuous measurement of altitude of the probe, a video imaging system for acquiring images of the surface of moon from the descending probe and a mass spectrometer for measuring the constituents of extremely thin lunar atmosphere during its 20-minute descent to the lunar surface.

ISRO officials are confident that the MIP would withstand the impact once it hits the lunar surface. "Most probably it will not disintegrate," an ISRO official said.

From the operational circular orbit of about 100 km height passing over the polar regions of the moon, it is intended to conduct chemical, mineralogical and photo geological mapping of the moon with Chandrayaan-1's 11 scientific instruments (payloads).

Two of those 11 payloads - Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) and Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM) - have already been successfully switched on. TMC has successfully taken the pictures of Earth and the moon.

After the release of MIP tomorrow, the other scientific instruments would be turned on sequentially leading to the normal phase of the two-year mission.

prashanth · Post by **prashanth** » 13 Nov 2008 17:08

The Moon Impact Probe is expected to be detached (from Chandrayaan-1) at around 10 pm on Friday

Keep your telescopes ready. you may get a nice view or none at all. 10 pm.
Since the CY-1 is in sun sync polar orbit it may be difficult for MIP to transmit bright video since it will always be travelling between darkness and light. All the more because moon lacks atmosphere and there is no twilight on moon. Perhaps ISRO may slightly alter the orbit of MIP for this purpose.
JMT.Corrections awaited if any.

Nitesh · Post by **Nitesh** » 13 Nov 2008 17:52

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/mo ... 0080072465

NASA applauds Chandrayaan's success
Pallava Bagla
Thursday, November 13, 2008 1:49 PM (Bylalu, Karnataka)

It has been a dream run for India's maiden moon mission as it is now in its designated home base, 100 km above the moon. By doing this, India has in way outpaced even the American Space Agency NASA, which repeatedly failed in its first few attempts.

No wonder, NASA is now all praise for India. Its representative in India Dr Alok Chatterjee has been keeping a continuous vigil on the health of the Chandrayaan satellite since NASA is flying two instruments on the Indian mission.

NDTV's Science Editor Pallava Bagla caught up with him in an exclusive interview.

NDTV: Alok how do you think Chandrayaan is doing?

Dr Alok Chatterjee: Chandrayaan is doing excellent. It is beyond our hopes.

NDTV: How do you think ISRO got it right on the first occasion itself?

Dr Alok Chatterjee: Well I think, it is a dedicated team, and they had a very good plan in terms of desiging the satellite and desiging the right orbit, having the right people in the team, very experinced people, and also talking to NASA, in navigation as well as tracking and so forth, that combination helped very much, ISRO achive what they have achieved for this mission.

NDTV: NASA failed in the first attempt.

Dr Alok Chatterjee: I don't know about the fitrst attempt, but quite a few attempts, it has been difficult

NDTV: Are you excited?

Dr Alok Chatterjee: I am very very excited, I am here.

Chandrayaan has been a remarkable success and Dr Chatterjee looks forward to getting the first data from the moon mineralogy mapper.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Nov 2008 18:06

The Tiranga is not really what I had imagined

. It is painted on the MIP onlee. Go India.

Nitesh · Post by **Nitesh** » 13 Nov 2008 18:10

Hmm time needs to be checked here

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chan ... 709342.cms

Chandrayaan-II to be launched by 2012: ISRO
13 Nov 2008, 1649 hrs IST, PTI

CHENNAI: ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair on Thursday said India's second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-II, will be launched by 2012.

"Chandrayaan-II will be launched by 2012. We will have a lander that will drop a small robot on the moon, which will pick samples, analyse data and send the data back. Already the project has been formulated for Chandrayaan-II," he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar here.

He dismissed as speculation reports that the government had not sanctioned ISRO's proposal for a manned mission.

Justifying the relevance of manned moon mission, Nair said, "We cannot be lagging behind in terms of our capability to access space. China, the US and Japan are going ahead with huge plans for space."

Talking about Chandrayaan-I, the country's first unmanned moon mission, he said the Moon Impact Probe would land on the lunar surface tomorrow evening. However, "we cannot specify the time as of now," he said.

On the success of the moon mission, Nair said already 95 per cent of the mission had been completed and just five per cent of the work had to be over. The total success of the mission would be known only after the remaining work was completed, he said.

He said Chandrayaan-I would get extensive study map of the moon by which an idea of the minerals of the moon would be available. Mineral mapping and surface feature mapping would be of prime importance, he said.

He also said the ISRO was going ahead with the study of sending a spacecraft to Mars.

On the 'Solar mission' Aditya, he said a satellite was intended to study solar emissions. The design work had been completed and it would be launched within two years, he said.

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 13 Nov 2008 20:25

Another one of ISRO MC
But source is unknown....

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 13 Nov 2008 21:07

aapka moon me ghee sakkar !

this is the very image I was searching for ! thanks a lot.

marimuthu · Post by **marimuthu** » 13 Nov 2008 21:12

RahulM

I think you know it but FYI it is the control room for engine testing in LPSC,Mahendragiri,TN

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 13 Nov 2008 21:14

just looking for nice psy-ops images.

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 13 Nov 2008 21:23

Quick!!! Expert comments requested

Against following there is a post in other forum
( post 156 in http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/inde ... &start=150 )

Once Chandrayaan-1 reaches a lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 kilometres, ISRO will issue commands to re-orient and eject the MIP, which has an onboard motor that will fire for two seconds to slow the MIP's descent velocity to 75 metres per second. During its descent to the lunar surface, the MIP will activate its video-camera which will capture images of the lunar surface

The post says :

Two seconds, to 75m/sec?

Orbital velocity at the moon at 100km is about 1.6km/sec

Getting from 1600 to 75m/sec in 2 seconds is 762.5 m/s/s - or 77.7G.

Langauge barrier alert - I think they meant slow it BY 75m/sec (which, in 2 seconds, would be roughly 4 G, a small solid motor would do that fine).

Slow the orbit BY 75m/sec - from 1630m/sec to 1555m/sec - would result in an impact about 20 minutes later, at a velocity of around 1650m/sec - with a vertical element of approx 140m/sec (all simualted using Orbiter, the free space flight simulator)

I find it a little unlikely that the probe will, in any way, survive the process

RED font is mine.