Chandrayaan Mission - India's First Lunar Exploration

Chandrayaan mission is India's "First Lunar Exploration". Chandrayaan I is an unmanned spacecraft and has been launched by a modified version of PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) called as PSLV C11. Chandrayaan I was launched successfully on October 22, 2008. "Chandrayaan Mission – India’s First Lunar Exploration" was undertaken by ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization.

Chandrayaan was launched from a spaceport around eighty kilometers north of Chennai, India, known as Sriharikotai. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C11), the rocket that is 44-m tall and weighs 316 ton, placed Chandrayaan into its scheduled orbit at 6.30 AM on October 22, 2008.

Chandrayaan I, the remote sensing satellite, weighs 1308 kg. This unmanned spacecraft is carrying a high-resolution remote sensing equipment for the visibility of near infrared, soft and hard x-ray frequencies. Chandrayaan Mission includes not only a lunar orbiter but also an impactor. The speed of the unmanned spacecraft Chandrayaan would reduce as it gets near to the moon. The reason is to enable the gravity of the moon to capture the spacecraft into its elliptical orbit.

Chandrayaan would drop the MIP (Moon Impact Probe) at an earliest possible opportunity, on the surface of the Moon. MIP would land on the Moon’s soil carrying India’s tri-color flag and other scientific equipments. The spacecraft would activate its cameras and other instruments on board.

Interesting Facts of Chandrayaan Mission

• The first and the foremost fact is, Chandrayaan would orbit the Moon for next two years.
• The unmanned spacecraft is carrying the experimental payloads of India, European Space Agency (ESA), the United States and that of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). Total number of payloads is eleven – five Indian, three of ESA, two of the US and one of BAS.
• The weight of PSLV C11 is 22 tons more than the earlier models of PSLV. Six strap-on motors of PSLV C11 are bigger by 3.5 meters compared to its initial models.
• The solid propellant carried by the rocket is 12 tons compared to the usual nine tones.
• The rocket is padded with additional thermal insulation and the structure of the vehicle is altered to carry bigger strap-on motors.
• The entire project is estimated to cost eighty-three million US dollars.

Chandrayaan Mission - Objectives

The main object is to carry out scientific studies and to conduct high-resolution mapping of topographic features in 3D, distribution of various minerals and chemical species such radioactive nuclides that cover the surface of the Moon. This is done using a set of remote sensing payloads. The Chandrayaan mission would help to understand the evolution of the Solar System. This mission would also help to understand the composition and mineralogy of the Moon.

Another objective is to harness several science payloads, lunar craft and the launch vehicle with ground support system. The ground system includes DSN (Deep Space Network), integration and testing, communication and data reception for scientific utilization.

The reports say, Chandrayaan is orbiting the earth on its GTO (Geo-stationary Transfer Orbit). Tentatively on November 8, 2008 Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) would be fired from GTO to take Chandrayaan to its lunar orbit which 387,000 Km from the earth.

To sum up, India’s first lunar exploration has placed this nation on the same podium as that of the USA, European Space Agency, China, Japan and the former USSR. G.Madhavan Nair, the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Agency, described the Chandrayaan mission as "Historic". India has started its journey to the Moon. The first leap is successful, with the launch of the spacecraft into the moon's orbit.