Indian Space Program Discussion

prashantk · Post by **prashantk** » 08 Sep 2010 17:59

Dr. Homi Sethana passes away

http://frontierindia.net/dr-homi-nusser ... asses-away

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 08 Sep 2010 18:28

L 110 stage ground test successful! From the ISRO website:

Successful Static Testing of L 110 Liquid Core Stage of GSLV - Mk III

Indian Space Research Organisation successfully conducted the second static testing of its liquid core stage (L110) of Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk -III) for 200 seconds at its Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) test facility at Mahendragiri on September 8, 2010 at 15:50 hrs.

L110 is one of the heaviest earth storable liquid stages ever developed by ISRO. L110 stage had two high pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration. Nearly 500 health parameters were monitored during the test and the initial data acquired indicates its normal performance. Today`s successful test of L110 for its full flight duration of 200 seconds, is a major mile stone in the earth storable liquid rocket programme of ISRO and a significant step forward in the development of GSLV-Mk III launch vehicle.

It may be recalled that GSLV-Mk III, which is currently under advanced stage of development uses two solid strap on boosters (S200), L-110 liquid stage and a cryogenic upper stage C-25.

Nihat · Post by **Nihat** » 08 Sep 2010 20:01

Apologies if posted before

ISRO to launch two more satellites by December

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 502654.cms

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 08 Sep 2010 20:04

by Staff Writers
Bangalore, India (SPX) Sep 08, 2010
Chandrayaan-2, the proposed second Indian mission to moon, would undertake "extremely good" experiments and try out new technologies but accommodating foreign payloads on board does not appear to be a possibility at this stage.

The first edition of the moon odyssey had six foreign payloads and five Indian ones on board but heavy orbiter (satellite) and lander weight this time has put constraints on the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in terms of carry-load of instruments.

"One of the problems was weight consideration. Weight limitation is overall boundary within which we have to work", Prof UR Rao, who chaired the national committee of experts drawn from ISRO centres, academic institutions and R and D laboratories which finalised the payloads to be flown on board Chandrayaan-2 (orbiter and rover), told PTI.

With a heavy orbiter and lander, the weight of the payloads cannot exceed 40 kg.

Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft weighs about 2,650 kg at lift-off of which the orbiter weight is about 1,400 kg and lander's about 1,250 kg.

The mission, which will have an orbiter, a lander and a rover, is planned to be launched onboard Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, in 2013.

While the lander would be provided by Russia, the orbiter and the rover are being built by ISRO.

Prof Rao, chairman, Advisory Committee on Space Sciences (ADCOS) and former Chairman of ISRO, said there were informal discussions with players from the US and Europe on flying their payloads, even though ISRO had not issued "availability of opportunity" for foreign instruments.

"Right now, the weight problem is very serious", he said indicating that foreign payloads may not be included at all. "We just don't have the weight. We cannot select payloads which cannot go".

But Rao said one or two additional Indian payloads might be included.

"Obviously, we will give preference to Indian payloads now. We have to provide as much opportunities as possible to Indian scientists". {Such a view is quite overdue}

But he said the Russians would conduct experiments with their lander.

Rao said Chandrayaan-2 would carry out experiments based on the discoveries of its predecessor. "It will conduct extremely good experiments, try out very new ideas and new technologies."

Chandrayaan-2 Will Try Out New Ideas And Technologies

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 08 Sep 2010 20:12

Data From Chandrayaan Moon Mission To Go Public

"People will have free access to the huge data obtained from our first moon mission on a web portal that will be launched by this year-end," a senior scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here.

"The data has been split into two seasons, with the first dealing from November 2008 to February 2009 and the second from March to August 2009. The first season data will be archived by year-end and the second by mid-2011," said ISRO's space application
centre director B Gopala Krishna.

A total of 26 gigabytes of data and images will be uploaded after archiving the first season.

The archives will include chemical and mineral mapping, high resolution three-dimensional mapping and topographical features.

The state-run ISRO launched the 514 kg mooncraft onboard the polar satellite launch vehicle on October 22, 2008 from its spaceport Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km northeast of Chennai.

The Rs 3.9-billion Chandrayaan was the first mooncraft to have confirmed the presence of water on the moon.

"Though the dedicated portal will have a catalogue of the data, specific information will be made available for students and scholars pursuing research in space exploration," Krishna said.

Indian space scientists are currently reviewing the voluminous data, including about 70,000 images relayed to DSN by the 10 scientific instruments Chandrayaan carried to the lunar orbit, about 100 km from the moon's surface and over 400,000 km from the earth.

"Our scientists from various planetary groups are beginning to peer review the data from 10 of the 11 payloads. The same will be made accessible to the public as the lock-in period for the principal investigators of the mission to analyse will end by December," Krishna said.

chiragAS · Post by **chiragAS** » 09 Sep 2010 01:15

shukla wrote:Boeing offers Isro tech help for 2016 manned space trip

TOI i guess is now fully funded by Boeing.

even its economic times pages have ad links saying how all defence and space articles being sponsored by Boeing.

and
What the F*&k they mean by help???
we will be paying through our nose..

Praying like C-17s with a help from "DC" they don't shove us with an expensive what they call as "Tech Help" to ISRO

Heck after Chandrayaan they took every damn credit for discovery of water to themselves. As if there instrument flew to moon itself. imagine what all credit they will take with this one. (may be oh they helped india to become space power

)

if this newspaper was a chinese daily, then all its reporter would have been shot dead

I hope GOI doesn't forget all the respect we have is because of our indigenous work. buying offself stuff will just kill our space program

rgsrini · Post by **rgsrini** » 09 Sep 2010 02:10

ChiragAS wrote:TOI i guess is now fully funded by Boeing

I don't think so. Their motto is to publish any crap for anyone with money. They are an equal opportunity publisher.

Times of India is the pioneer for "Paid news" in India and Times group has a division called Medianet which solicits clients for paid news.
Here is their website. http://www.timesmedianet.com/oms/userfiles/index.aspx

Check out the section "Get Press coverage on TOI publications"

If you check the "Background" under this section you can see that they
1. OMS functions like an image management agency for clients.
2. Understands their unique needs.
3. Translates them into editorial concepts.
4. We Provide space in print media (TOI Group Publications)

Under their services section you will notice the following.

We are looking towards moving beyond the current format of advertising, which is currently used extensively by organizations to improve brand awareness. OMS collects material from the respective clients and presents it in such a form that it attracts public attention and thus this activity results in a brand building for the client.

If you pay attention to their slogan, then you will clearly understand what will they publish. "Business News. From those who make news. UNCENSORED". Uncensored in upper case, mind you, meaning they will publish anything you write up as long as you pay them enough.

Samay · Post by **Samay** » 09 Sep 2010 02:14

They simply want to outsource all the cheap work to isro ,while constricting our own technological growth in such projects which are actually used to generate a bulk of rnd in the name of the national mission .
Its same as it is happening with drdo. Isro should take a lesson from drdo's case and should try to make these projects to 100% indigenous levels. ISRO should not involve them in a national mission .

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 09 Sep 2010 05:05

ISRO successfully conducts static testing of new age rocket

GSLV-Mk III, which is currently under advanced stage of development, uses two solid strap-on boosters (S200), L110 liquid stage and a cryogenic upper stage C-25

Six months after a failed test, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted the second static testing of its liquid core stage (L110) of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk -III), according to a press release.

The test lasted 200 seconds at ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) test facility at Mahendragiri today (September 8, 2010) at 15:50 hrs.
L110 is one of the heaviest earth storable liquid stages ever developed by ISRO. L110 stage had two high pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration. Nearly 500 health parameters were monitored during the test and the initial data acquired indicates its normal performance.

arun · Post by **arun** » 09 Sep 2010 07:04

ISRO Press Release on the static testing of the L-110 stage of the GSLV Mk III:

Successful Static Testing of L 110 Liquid Core Stage of GSLV - Mk III

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 09 Sep 2010 09:32

Kailash wrote:
Samay wrote:If we take Boeing's help then what is the point of having an indigenous space program when we use their technology for this so called national objective ?
Help should not be bought in the name of consultancy. They need cheap transport to the ISS, let them teach us for free and we would take their men and material at a cheaper rate than what is possible by a US built space craft.

Well, we bought Boeing airliners for commercial air travel, so buying a space capsule - assuming that it gets all the clearances - isn't so different. Sure, spaceflight has a lot of national prestige at stake right now, but even intercontinental flying was prestigious once too. The first few space missions will attract all the attention and have all the prestige, just as happened in other countries. But after awhile, they will become routine and not so in-the-spotlight. If we buy some US high-tech, we might be able to leapfrog the Chinese, and we'd get some national pride out of that. The Russians are already building the Luna-glob lander for Chandrayaan-2, and we don't seem to feel bothered by that. As a matter of fact, we seem to have sought out their Soyuz capsule technology from them for an Indian-made capsule. If we can do that, then I don't see the harm in taking American technology if they're okay with offering it to us.
If we could do some manufacture-under-license for capsules, then that would be great - then we could even supply them back.

Consider that the Americans might also like to see us deflate the Chinese egos and take wind out of their sails by beating them past certain milestones.

Say, anybody have any idea of the mass of the CST-100 capsule? Perhaps the specs are secret, because I can't seem to find them by googling. All I know is that it can carry upto 7 astronauts at a time, which is quite a bit. That will cover most of the major Indian ethnic groups within the first couple of flights, to spread the pride around.

When the Soviets leased a Charlie-class to us as INS Chakra, we got to gallavant all around the ocean while tripping all the US sonar networks. So with a US-supplied capsule we can tweak the Chinese noses while joyriding around orbital space.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 09 Sep 2010 10:13

^^^ Agree what can be used and is just an engineering issue should be procured if possible, and keep innovating at the cutting edge or where discovery claims can be made. Better to have payloads on pathfinder missions being all Indian to stake claim to the discoveries, unlike the fiasco with the water on the moon credits. But already well proven and claimed technologies by others should be borrowed or bought at a small price.

Willy · Post by **Willy** » 09 Sep 2010 10:56

A russian capsule would be cheaper.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » 09 Sep 2010 11:05

Bade wrote:^^^ Agree what can be used and is just an engineering issue should be procured if possible, and keep innovating at the cutting edge or where discovery claims can be made. Better to have payloads on pathfinder missions being all Indian to stake claim to the discoveries, unlike the fiasco with the water on the moon credits. But already well proven and claimed technologies by others should be borrowed or bought at a small price.

That's the rub right? The small price

The Americans will make ISRO pay through their noses and then trumpet that without their massive help ISRO would not have been able to do a thing - definitely leaving a very bad taste in the mouth.

Also all the heavy lifting needed to get SD clearance for any two-bit thing sold to ISRO will have to be done by us and will have to be paid for by us as well.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 09 Sep 2010 11:12

^^Agreed.

Its become conventional wisdom that the unkil type TFTAs only loosen sanction-strings when us tghird world types are within reach of developing competing technologies ourselves. Not otherwise.

Might as well go all the way and rely on our own capabilities even if it takes somewhat longer and is somewhat pricier.
/ JMTPs and all that, this defence tech thing is not my area at all.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 09 Sep 2010 12:11

The Hindu:

GSLV-MkIII liquid stage clears test

Our Bureau

Bangalore, Sept. 8

Indian Space Research Organisation on Wednesday said its heavy-lift launcher programme GSLV-MkIII moved further ahead after a successful static testing of the liquid core stage.

An earlier test in March had to be aborted 50 seconds earlier after a leak was noticed.

ISRO said it was satisfied with its performance. The launcher, under development for some years now, is slated to be ready for a first flight in 2012.

“Today's successful test of (the liquid second stage) L110 for its full flight duration of 200 seconds is a major milestone in the Earth storable liquid rocket programme and a significant step forward in the development of GSLV-MkIII launch vehicle,” a release said.

L110 was tested at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre test facility at Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, at 3.50 p.m.

The MkIII programme, taken up at a cost of nearly Rs 2,500 crore, is meant to double the GSLV's satellite lifting capacity to four tonnes. It uses two solid fuel based strap-on boosters (S200), which cleared the test in January this year; the L-110 liquid stage and the crucial cryogenic upper stage C-25.

ISRO said L110 is one of the heaviest Earth storable liquid stages ever developed by ISRO.

It has two high-pressure Vikas engines. Nearly 500 health parameters were monitored during the test and initial data indicate normal performance.

Willy · Post by **Willy** » 09 Sep 2010 14:22

Anyone have any idea when the next launch of the GSLV with the Indian cryo stage is scheduled? They need to validate the cryo stage before they attempt the MK III launch.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 09 Sep 2010 15:21

Willy, there was a news item a few days back that there will be GSLV and a PSLV launch before end of this year. Sorry, I have no link.

nrshah · Post by **nrshah** » 09 Sep 2010 15:27

SSridhar wrote:Willy, there was a news item a few days back that there will be GSLV and a PSLV launch before end of this year. Sorry, I have no link.

That is with Russian supplied cryo stage

Willy wrote:Anyone have any idea when the next launch of the GSLV with the Indian cryo stage is scheduled? They need to validate the cryo stage before they attempt the MK III launch.

Willy, not specified except that after the failure of first launch, ISRO said it will re launch within 1 year... That is around April 2011

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 09 Sep 2010 17:38

When can we expect GSLV-MkIII to launch? Sometime in 2012?

KrishG · Post by **KrishG** » 09 Sep 2010 17:56

Sanjay M wrote:When can we expect GSLV-MkIII to launch? Sometime in 2012?

I think the first launch will be postponed by another year from 2011-2012 to 2012-2013. There's a lot of work that needs to be done on the upper stage.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 10 Sep 2010 01:53

"SSridhar wrote:
Willy, there was a news item a few days back that there will be GSLV and a PSLV launch before end of this year. Sorry, I have no link.

That is with Russian supplied cryo stage"

There's a reputable website that says that the launch campaign for the GSLV with GSAT-5 or Insat 4D, is already on. Meaning the launch, going by this info, would take place at the end of Sept or beginning of October. Any truth to this at all?

pradeepe · Post by **pradeepe** » 10 Sep 2010 16:05

arun wrote:ISRO Press Release on the static testing of the L-110 stage of the GSLV Mk III:

Successful Static Testing of L 110 Liquid Core Stage of GSLV - Mk III

Not sure if a video of the test has been posted earlier.

Link

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 10 Sep 2010 19:14

pradeepe wrote: Not sure if a video of the test has been posted earlier.

Link

Great video and report! Thanks for sharing!

dinesha · Post by **dinesha** » 14 Sep 2010 21:27

ISRO gearing up to launch eight spacecraft annually
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_is ... ly_1437856

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to launch eight spacecraft annually to increase revenue and meet global technology demand, a top official of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) said today.

"Right now, we have four launches including GSLVs and PSLVs per year. The process is on to launch eight spacecraft a year to meet global demand," VSSC director PS Veeraraghavan told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Chennai.

On steps taken by ISRO to double the number of launches, he said, "We need to increase throughout in getting various subsystems from industries and then increase our own internal work."

On the commercial aspect, he said India currently earns about Rs1,000 crore through commercial satellite launches.

"Through Indian remote sensing satellite and through other satellite launches, we are getting revenue of Rs1,000 crore per year. This is growing at the rate of 20 to 30% every year," Veeraraghavan said.

Noting that India has become sixth in the world in space technology, he said ISRO proposed to launch a GSLV and PSLV rocket simultaneously this December within a one week span.

"Schedule launch is going to be in December. Currently, the rocket is getting assembled. PSLV will carry three satellites and GSLV will carry INSAT 5C," he said.
On Chandrayaan-2 mission, he said it would be launched by GLSV instead of PSLV. "We have already started the process and various payloads have been identified. In Chandrayaan-2 there would be a orbiter, lander and a rover," he said.

Veeraraghavan said ISRO is also developing GSLV Mk III to launch a four tonne satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit.

He also said that ISRO planned to set up its third launch pad for human space mission.

Veeraraghavan was here to receive 'PSOM-XL Motorcase', a device used in the launch of PSLV and Chandrayaan missions, from Chennai-based Ramakrishna Engineering Company.

shukla · Post by **shukla** » 15 Sep 2010 16:20

Business Standard reports..

Aerospace parts business the next growth driver

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 16 Sep 2010 08:12

I was thinking - for Human SpaceFlight program, why don't they come up with HUD/HMD (Heads Up Display / Helmet Mounted Display) built into the spacesuit for our astronauts to use?

The HUD/HMD could display vital parameters like oxygen and temperature gauge readings, time of EVA sortie, communications frequency, 3d-compass with inertial vectors, etc.

And of course a helmet-camera.

I already see that similar gadgets are available at consumer level for ordinary use:

http://www.sportvue.com/store/product.p ... 17&frame=1

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/gadgetrevi ... ws_helmets

http://www.vuzix.com/iwear/products_wra ... ifications

Consider that developing this technology could also have useful military applications. The American JSF doesn't use a conventional HUD on its canopy windshield, but instead uses a Helmet Mounted Display.

India might similarly benefit from developing and making use of such technology. It could come in very handy not just for military pilots, but even for astronauts on extended EVAs performing complex activities outside of their spacecraft. Perhaps even ground troops or police could benefit from having such systems inside of headgear.

India is a manpower-intensive country, with manpower being its key resource advantage. Developing human-enhancement technologies could provide an excellent multiplier effect for our defense and other activities, just as PCs and cellphones have done.

dinesha · Post by **dinesha** » 18 Sep 2010 21:08

Indigenous cryogenic stage for GSLV-III in 18 months: VSSC official
http://www.mynews.in/aggregator/news.php?nid=17624

Staff Reporter
Share · print · T+ John P. Zachariah, Associate Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), has said that India will be able to develop an indigenous cryogenic stage for launching satellites weighing over four tonnes in a year and a half.

Dr. Zachariah, who was here to inaugurate a show titled “Our solar system” by the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium on Saturday, told presspersons that the project was on in full swing, and the indigenous cryogenic stage would allow India to launch satellites on its own without depending on other countries. Only the technical expertise of Indian scientists and indigenous technologies would be used.

Dr. Zachariah said the research related to the launch of the Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III was nearing the final stages. The launch vehicle, designed in three stages with a height of 42.4 m and a lift-off weight of 630 tonnes, would be ready for operation by July 2011.

On the latest research in space technology, Dr. Zachariah said the VSSC had conducted initial experiments with an air-breathing propulsion mechanism, which equipped the satellites to use the air in the atmosphere for oxidisation. A trial experiment using the RX 560 rocket would be held in 2011 to check the efficiency of the system.

He said the VSSC would be able to double the number of launches in the coming years. The plan was to equip the centre with the capacity to launch at least six satellites a year.

He said the aptitude of the younger generation in space research was increasing in recent years. The activities of the VSSC would get a boost with the enrolment of researchers from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram.

neeraj · Post by **neeraj** » 18 Sep 2010 22:24

John P Zachariah, an outstanding Scientist, VSSC has made significant contributions towards development of Automatic Checkout Systems and Onboard Electronic systems, and towards integration and launch operations of ISRO's launch vehicles. Latest achievements in this regard include the Integration and Launch of PSLV-C11, of the Chandrayan Mission; PSLV C7 which launched the SRE and PSLV C9 which launched 10 Satellites in the same mission. Realisation and testing of the successful Moon Impact Probe (MIP) was also another significant contribution. Shri John P Zachariah is awarded the ISRO-ASI award 2006 for his significant contributions in the area of Rocket and Related Technologies.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 18 Sep 2010 23:53

A trial experiment using the RX 560 rocket would be held in 2011 to check the efficiency of the system.

The flight was supposed to be by year end. But what is time or concepts of fealty to stated schedules for Indians?

A word of advice:to maintain your own credibility cut the will launch in xxmonths crap.

RonyKJ · Post by **RonyKJ** » 19 Sep 2010 23:45

Dr. Zachariah said the research related to the launch of the Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III was nearing the final stages. The launch vehicle, designed in three stages with a height of 42.4 m and a lift-off weight of 630 tonnes, would be ready for operation by July 2011.

This is a lie. The design is still going on according to other official ISRO releases. Even if the design is complete, the engine has not been tested. After the engine is tested, the stage has to built and tested. Going by the time it took for smaller indigenous cryo engine (which is a copy of the Russian engine), it will not be at least a full year or much more before the engine or stage is even ground tested. And before any of that can happen, ISRO needs to successfully test its first indigenous engine.

Satellites do not breathe air. Since DDM is so uneducated, ISRO officials should stop giving interviews at every available opportunity and stick to press releases. The air-breathing rocket program started in 1985 and in 1990 tested a RH 200 rocket in flight. An RH 560 was also tested a few years ago. Each new ISRO manager keeps rehashing these developments to apparently get some credit.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 20 Sep 2010 06:52

Isro scientists had earlier this year announced their discovery of water and carbon dioxide molecules in the near-vacuum of the lunar atmosphere as reported in The Telegraph on March 22 and September 6.

The findings, based on measurements by an instrument called Chace on the moon impact probe hurled by Chandrayaan-1 towards the moon on November 14, 2008, were published in a peer-reviewed journal Planetary and Space Science.

But some lunar science researchers say the relative abundance of water and carbon dioxide is so large that calibration data to rule out other sources of these molecules becomes crucial.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100920/j ... 958151.jsp

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 21 Sep 2010 17:38

It's nice for ISRO to give interviews, but it's nice for the media to competently report what's said - or at least be taken to task for bad reporting.

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 22 Sep 2010 04:19

Keep it Simple Stupid

Keep-it-simple Isro runs into US moon challenge

New Delhi, Sept. 19: A decision by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to keep the operations of a science instrument on Chandrayaan-1 as simple as possible has raised doubts about its surprising discovery of carbon dioxide in the lunar atmosphere.

Senior US scientists have challenged the Chandrayaan-1 mission’s discovery of carbon dioxide in the lunar atmosphere, contending that crucial instrument calibration data to clinch the discovery is missing from the Indian study.

Isro scientists had earlier this year announced their discovery of water and carbon dioxide molecules in the near-vacuum of the lunar atmosphere as reported in The Telegraph on March 22 and September 6.

The findings, based on measurements by an instrument called Chace on the moon impact probe hurled by Chandrayaan-1 towards the moon on November 14, 2008, were published in a peer-reviewed journal Planetary and Space Science.

But some lunar science researchers say the relative abundance of water and carbon dioxide is so large that calibration data to rule out other sources of these molecules becomes crucial.

Calibration would have generated background data allowing scientists to characterise the instrument’s performance and rule out “outgassing” —the release of gases embedded within the material of the spacecraft or the instrument in the lunar environment.

“Since they didn’t do a reliable calibration test ahead of time to rule out outgassing contamination, their results are unfortunately not conclusive,” said Kurt Retherford, a senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, Texas, US, and a member of a team exploring the moon through the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a robotic spacecraft launched by Nasa in 2009.

Five orbits prior to its 44-minute long descent, Isro scientists turned on the Chace instrument, while the moon impact probe was still on Chandrayaan-1. But this single period was not enough to provide reliable calibration measurements.

“The extraordinary claims seem only tentatively supported by data,” Retherford told The Telegraph. “I would look forward to improved experiments in the Chandrayaan-2 mission.”

Isro sources said the decision not to undertake calibration was taken to keep Chace operations as simple as possible as it was part of the moon impact probe and drew its power from a battery and not from the main spacecraft power source.

Repeated calibration while the spacecraft was in orbit would have required additional power and more complex circuitry. “This was a first mission and we didn’t want to add more complexity than required,” said Rajagopal Sridharan, leader of the Isro team that reported the carbon dioxide discovery.

“Any space mission involves trade-offs — here, it was between what we wanted to do as scientists and what was possible, given the overall Chandrayaan-1 mission’s objectives,” Sridharan said.

The Isro team believes the abundance and the consistency of the measurements of carbon dioxide at different altitudes in the lunar atmosphere while the impact probe was falling towards the moon rule out outgassing.

“Our measurements cannot be explained through simple outgassing from spacecraft components,” said Syed Maqbool Ahmed, who was the project manager of the Chace payload, and has since moved to the University of Hyderabad.

The Chace study supports Apollo-era observations that had indicated carbon dioxide on the moon. But the Apollo observations had then been dismissed by US scientists as outgassing or contamination.

Sections of US scientists also question the abundance of carbon dioxide seen by Chace.

“The (Indian) work presents intriguing results,” said Randy Gladstone, another senior scientist involved in the LRO mission. The Isro results show the total pressure in the lunar atmosphere 100 times higher than expected. If the moon has as much water as indicated by Chace, the ultraviolet sunlight shining on it will produce enough hydrogen atoms per second — similar to a fairly active comet,” Gladstone told The Telegraph.

“For the moment, I will remain sceptical,” he added.

But other space scientists have hailed the finding. “The detection of carbon dioxide in the lunar atmosphere is very exciting,” said Bernard Foing, lead project scientist for a European Space Agency’s lunar orbiter SMART-1.

disha · Post by **disha** » 22 Sep 2010 06:44

Craig Alpert wrote:Keep it Simple Stupid
Keep-it-simple Isro runs into US moon challenge

Sirji, why the "stupid" moniker? First of all a poor SDRE tries something and hits jackpot (water on poles, which the TFTA mards missed). Second, they achieve a lot at a fraction of a budget. And now a mujahid from the U ESS of A casts doubt, we are ready to lynch ISRO. Wow! Let us see, when $1B (That is Re. 50 Billion or Re. 5000 crore) Mars Observer is lost enroute to Mars - it is not stupid. Heck, it is not even in the memory and somebody else has a "view" on data calibration being done and we run around as if they are the certifying authority?

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 23 Sep 2010 01:32

disha wrote:
Craig Alpert wrote:Keep it Simple Stupid
Keep-it-simple Isro runs into US moon challenge
Sirji, why the "stupid" moniker? First of all a poor SDRE tries something and hits jackpot (water on poles, which the TFTA mards missed). Second, they achieve a lot at a fraction of a budget. And now a mujahid from the U ESS of A casts doubt, we are ready to lynch ISRO. Wow! Let us see, when $1B (That is Re. 50 Billion or Re. 5000 crore) Mars Observer is lost enroute to Mars - it is not stupid. Heck, it is not even in the memory and somebody else has a "view" on data calibration being done and we run around as if they are the certifying authority?

figure of speech, back in grade school they teach us the KISS rule "keep it simple stupid" No Pun intendend!

dinesha · Post by **dinesha** » 23 Sep 2010 17:56

ISRO to replace two ageing satellites in December
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sci ... 33366.html

Chennai, Sep 23 (IANS) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to replace two of its ageing satellites with new ones by December, an official said Thursday.
The agency is planning to send in space two rockets for the purpose.

First to fly towards the heavens will be ISRO’s heavy rocket - the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) - sometime during the second week of December carrying a communication satellite GSAT 5 - intended to replace the ageing INSAT 2E.

“The INSAT 2E was launched in 1999 and is nearing the end of its life. The GSAT 5 with 36 transponders will be its replacement. Further, the new satellite is also expected to fill the void created by the partial failure of INSAT 4B,” ISRO’s director (publications and public relations) S. Satish told IANS.

Earlier this year, ISRO lost 50 percent of the INSAT-4B’s transponder capacity (12 transponders) owing to a power snag.

The GSLV rocket is being readied at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota around 80 km from here.

ISRO officials, not wanting to be identified, told IANS a small snag was detected in one of the GSLV rocket’s sub-systems. The component is being replaced after extensive testing.

Officials said the rocket’s first stage is ready and other stages are being readied and the satellite weighing around 2,300 kg is expected to arrive at the launch centre sometime next month.

“The rocket assembling activity at the second launch pad will continue till Oct 25. Between that date and November, no assembling work will be carried out as the period is prone to cyclones,” an official told IANS.

After the GSLV, it will be turn of ISRO’s lighter rocket, the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV), which will be carrying a remote sensing satellite - Resourcesat-2. Piggy-backing on it will be two small satellites made in Singapore and Russia.

Remote sensing satellites send back pictures and other data for use. India is a major player in vending such data in the global market.

“The Resourcesat-2 will be the replacement for Resourcesat-1 launched in 2003. For sometime both will work together,” Satish said.

JimmyJ · Post by **JimmyJ** » 23 Sep 2010 20:14

So what do they do with the old ones, allow it fall onto earth and in order to avoid a hydrazine test probably use an anti satellite missile

Then there is two targets

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 29 Sep 2010 08:12

NYT

Op-Ed Columnist
Their Moon Shot and Ours
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: September 25, 2010

China is doing moon shots. Yes, that’s plural. When I say “moon shots” I mean big, multibillion-dollar, 25-year-horizon, game-changing investments.

That article from Friedman is a sobering reminder that perhaps China is a lot more practical than we are. I've felt great pride at India's space program, thinking that it would be great if India could even send a man to the Moon. But practically speaking, the benefits of doing this would not be felt by the common man for more than a century from now.

China is investing in 'Moonshots' that advance conditions for people on the ground.
They are engaging in capital-intensive industrialization, pumping money into deep infrastructure projects that could lower the cost of living for people in a big way.

Maybe India needs to think more about these things too. After all, this kind of investment could be a good way to even keep the value of your currency down, by pumping money into development that won't give a payoff until 20 years down the road (but of course when it does pay off, it will pay off big). Call it a form of countercyclical hedging.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 29 Sep 2010 08:30

^

Sanjay M garu,

India's current budget is about $200B. This amount is reasonable to pursue all of Indian dreams, including taking few moon shots like PRC. The only issue is that we lack visionary leadership. This kind of budgets give ~$1.5B per parliament constituency (every 5 years) after putting aside $50B for defense. Imagine what can be done with such a budget.

The second drawback is lack of project ($B range) execution skills in governance/bureaucracy.