Chandrayaan-1
Chandrayaan-1 (; from Sanskrit: Chandra, "Moon" and yāna, "craft, vehicle")[6] was the first Indian lunar probe under the Chandrayaan programme. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. The mission included an orbiter and an impactor. India launched the spacecraft using a PSLV-XL rocket on 22 October 2008 at 00:52 UTC from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.[7] The mission was a major boost to India's space program, as India researched and developed indigenous technology to explore the Moon.[8] The vehicle was inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008.
On 14 November 2008, the Moon Impact Probe separated from the Chandrayaan orbiter at 14:36 UTC and struck the south pole in a controlled manner. The probe hit near the crater Shackleton at 15:01 UTC.[9][10][11][12] The location of impact was named Jawahar Point.[13] With this mission, ISRO became the fifth national space agency to reach the lunar surface. Other nations whose national space agencies have done so prior were the former Soviet Union in 1959,[14] the United States in 1962,[15] Japan in 1993,[16] and ESA member states in 2006.[17][18][19]
With an estimated cost for the project was ₹386 crore (US$88.73 million), it was intended to survey the lunar surface over two years, to produce a complete map of the chemical composition at the surface and three-dimensional topography. The polar regions are of special interest as they might contain water ice.[20][21] Among its many achievements was the discovery of the widespread presence of water molecules in lunar soil.[22]
After almost a year, the orbiter started experiencing several technical issues including failure of the star tracker and poor thermal shielding; Chandrayaan-1 stopped communicating at about 20:00 UTC on 28 August 2009, shortly after which the ISRO officially declared that the mission was over. Chandrayaan-1 operated for 312 days as opposed to the intended two years; however, the mission achieved most of its scientific objectives, including detecting the presence of Lunar water.[5][23][24][25]
On 2 July 2016, NASA used ground-based radar systems to relocate Chandrayaan-1 in its lunar orbit, almost seven years after it shut down.[26][27] Repeated observations over the next three months allowed a precise determination of its orbit which varies between 150 and 270 km (93 and 168 mi) in altitude every two years.[28]
History[edit]
Former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, announced the Chandrayaan 1 project [29] The mission was a major boost to India's space program.[30] The idea of an Indian scientific mission to the Moon was first raised in 1999 during a meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences. The Astronautical Society of India (ASI) began planning the implementation of such an idea in 2000. Soon after, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) set up the National Lunar Mission Task Force. The Task Force concluded that ISRO had the technical expertise to carry out an Indian mission to the Moon. In April 2003, over 100 Indian scientists spanning fields from planetary and space sciences, Earth sciences, physics, chemistry, astronomy, astrophysics, engineering, and communication sciences discussed and approved the Task Force recommendation to launch an Indian probe to the Moon. Six months later, in November, the Vajpayee government formally approved the mission.[22][31]
End of the mission[edit]
The mission was launched on 22 October 2008 and expected to operate for two years. However, around 20:00 UTC on 28 August 2009 communication with the spacecraft was suddenly lost. The probe had operated for 312 days. The craft had been expected to remain in orbit for approximately another 1000 days and to crash into the lunar surface in late 2012,[99] although in 2016 it was found to still be in orbit.[27]
A member of the science advisory board of Chandrayaan-1 said that it is difficult to ascertain reasons for the loss of contact.[100] ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair said that due to very high radiation, power-supply units controlling both the computer systems on board failed, snapping the communication connectivity.[101] However, information released later showed that the power supply supplied by MDI failed due to overheating.[90][91][102]
Although the mission was less than 10 months in duration, and less than half the intended two years in length,[30][101][103] a review by scientists termed the mission successful, as it had completed 95% of its primary objectives.
Public release of data[edit]
Data gathered by Chandrayaan-I was made available to the public by the end of the year 2010. The data was split into two seasons with the first season going public by the end of 2010 and the second going public by the mid of 2011. The data contained pictures of the Moon and also data of chemical and mineral mapping of the lunar surface.[130]
Lunar outpost[edit]
Chandrayaan's imagery will be used to identify regions of interest that will be explored in detail by the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The interest lies in identifying lunar water on the surface that can be exploited in setting up a future lunar outpost. The Mini-SAR, one of the U.S. payloads on Chandrayaan, was used to determine the presence of water ice.[135]