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Chandrayaan-1 2008(october) Appalanaidu.Pappala Sarubujjili.

India’s Moon mission a big success

Spacecraft was meticulously manoeuvred

The spacecraft is now circling the Moon over its polar regions A fantastic achievement, says Madhavan Nair, CHENNAI: Chandrayaan-1 has kept its rendezvous with the Moon. In a meticulously planned operation, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday accomplished the most crucial and critical manoeuvre of safely inserting Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit. This is the first time that an Indian-built spacecraft has broken away from the Earth’s gravitational field and reached the Moon. The spacecraft is now circling the Moon over its polar regions with a periselene (nearest point from the moon’s surface) of 504 km and an aposelene (farthest point) of 7,502 km. The ISRO flawlessly executed this highly complex manoeuvre by radioing commands from the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC), Bangalore, to the engine on board Chandrayaan-1, which fired for 817 seconds from 4.51 p.m. ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair called it “a fantastic achievement” and “a great moment for the country.” He described the manoeuvre as “the most crucial moment in the whole mission … We have done it so precisely that as far as I know nobody else has got this kind of precision… Our precision proves that in competence, our scientists and technologists are quite ahead of the global standards. With this, we have achieved more than 90 per cent of the main objectives of the mission.” M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said: “Today we graduated into a real lunar mission. Everybody is thrilled. This is the first significant milestone in putting Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit.” Mr. Annadurai said there were more steps to perform in the mission: progressively reducing Chandrayaan-1’s orbit to the final circular orbit of 100 km above the moon on November 15. “The first indications from the spacecraft show that everything has gone on the dot.”

The historic event took place after Chandrayaan-1 reached the vicinity of the Moon and commands were radioed to it for reducing its velocity by rotating the spacecraft in the opposite direction. In space parlance, it is called retrofiring. When Chandrayaan-1’s velocity was reduced by 366.8 metres a second, it was captured by the Moon’s gravity and safely ensconced in the lunar orbit. S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, Bangalore, where the SCC, the nerve-centre of the operations is located, called it “a wonderful feeling.” Commands were being given to Chandrayaan-1 from the 32-metre and 18metre antennas, and “their tracking of the spacecraft is excellent.” The signals received from the spacecraft were good too, Mr. Shivakumar said. S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, applauded “the precision with which Chandrayaan-1 was inserted into the lunar orbit.” Had the slightest mistake been made, Chandrayaan-1 “would have skipped and gone away.”

Chandrayaan-1 Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit November 8, 2008 Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned spacecraft mission to moon, entered lunar orbit today (November 8, 2008). This is the first time that an Indian built spacecraft has broken away from the Earth's gravitational field and reached the moon. This historic event occurred following the firing of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's liquid engine at 16:51 IST for a duration of 817 seconds. The highly complex 'lunar orbit insertion manoeuvre' was performed from Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft Control Centre of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Bangalore.

Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu supported the crucial task of transmitting commands and continuously monitoring this vital event with two dish antennas, one measuring 18 m and the other 32 m. Chandrayaan-1's liquid engine was fired when the spacecraft passed at a distance of about 500 km from the moon to reduce its velocity to enable lunar gravity to capture it into an orbit around the moon. The spacecraft is now orbiting the moon in an elliptical orbit that passes over the polar regions of the moon. The nearest point of this orbit (periselene) lies at a distance of about 504 km from the moon's surface while the farthest point (aposelene) lies at about 7502 km. Chandrayaan-1 takes about 11 hours to go round the moon once in this orbit. The performance of all the systems onboard Chandrayaan-1 is normal. In the coming days, the height of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's orbit around the moon will be carefully reduced in steps to achieve a final polar orbit of about 100 km height from the moon's surface. Following this, the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) of the spacecraft will be released to hit the lunar surface. Later, the other scientific instruments will be turned ON sequentially leading to the normal phase of the mission. It may be recalled that Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched on October 22, 2008 by PSLV-C11 from India's spaceport at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. As intended, PSLV placed the spacecraft in a highly oval shaped orbit with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 255 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 22,860 km. In the past two weeks, the liquid engine of Chandrayaan-1 has been successfully fired five times at opportune moments to increase the apogee height, first to 37,900 km, then to 74,715 km, later to 164,600 km, after that to 267,000 km and finally to 380,000km, as planned. During this period, the Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), one of the eleven payloads (scientific instruments) of the spacecraft, was successfully operated twice to take the pictures, first of the Earth, and then moon. With today's successful manoeuvre, India becomes the fifth country to send a spacecraft to Moon. The other countries, which have sent spacecraft to Moon, are the United States, former Soviet Union, Japan and China. Besides, the European Space Agency (ESA), a consortium of 17 countries, has also sent a spacecraft to moon. Chandrayaan takes pictures of moon CHENNAI: The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on board Chandrayaan-1 has started taking pictures of the moon. On Tuesday evening, when the spacecraft was in the lunar transfer orbit, it photographed the crescent moon from a distance of some 2.5 lakh km. The TMC took pictures of the earth when it was made operational on October 29. The pictures showed the northern and southern coasts of Australia. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) performed the fifth and final orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 early Tuesday morning,

the spacecraft in the lunar transfer orbit. In the evening, the TMC, one of its 11 scientific instruments, took images of the moon. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said: “The pictures were taken when the spacecraft was more than 2.5 lakh km away from the moon. We did again the entire chain of tests of the 11 instruments, data handling, data storage, downlinking, radio frequency and so on.” Chandrayaan-1 will reach the moon’s vicinity on November 8. According to ISRO’s present plans, the spacecraft will be lowered into its final orbit on November 15, in which it will go round the moon at an altitude of 100

Chandrayaan-1 gets closer to moon Bangalore: The fourth orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 was carried out on Wednesday, which took the spacecraft closer to the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation said. — PTI “The moon mission is a demonstration of our scientific prowess and of our being a member of an exclusive club”

SINGAPORE: Hailing Chandrayaan-1 as a space-age “enterprise,” Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said “the mission to the moon should not be looked at from an economic standpoint.” Asked about the economic ‘viability’ of the ongoing project, Mr. Sibal said here on Thursday “there are some things that benchmark what Indian excellence stands for.” In fact, Chandrayaan-1 was carrying an American scientific “payload.” And, it was “not just the Americans” in this category. Mr. Sibal said: “We are the fifth country in the world now to reach the moon — hopefully, that will happen on the 10th of this month. For the first time, we are exploring the northern polar region of the moon, [something] never done before. Our [scientific] resolution levels are better than at any time by any launch in the past. So, it is a demonstration of our scientific prowess, [of] our being a member of that exclusive club. We are now going to launch, in 2012, Chandrayaan-2.” And, as part of Chandrayaan-1 itself, “there is a module [the Moon Impact Probe] that will land.” The Minister was answering questions at a meeting organised by the Singapore-based India Business Forum (IBF), under the auspices of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). India’s High Commissioner to Singapore S. Jaishankar and CII-IBF Chairman Girija Pande were among those who participated in the interactive session. Delivering a “Global Business Leaders Lecture,” Mr. Sibal portrayed Chandrayaan-1 as the “exciting” story of India’s rise on the global stage. Nonetheless, there was another side to this story. “You have got [in India] a polity which is somewhat fractured. And, you have an eco-system of innovation which is ready to erupt and a political system which is ready to disrupt.” However, India was “not a dysfunctional state,” he clarified at an interactive session, moderated by Vijay Iyengar, the Chairman of Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and Tan Tai Yong, the Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies here.

Scientists at the Indian Deep Space Network(ISDN) set up for the Chandrayaan project tracking the spacecraft at the ISTRAC campus of ISRO at Byalalu village, near Bangalore, on October 22, 2008. Photo: K. Murali Kumar Chandrayaan-1 gets closer to moon Bangalore: The fourth orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 was carried out on Wednesday, which took the spacecraft closer to the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation said. — PTI

How Chandrayaan-1 is raised to higher orbits R. PRASAD

Chandrayaan-1 could have been fired to reach the moon, which is about 3,84,000 km from earth, in one shot. But that was not done. Instead the spacecraft is being moved towards the moon in increasingly elliptical orbits with an apogee (farthest point from the earth) increasing many times more than the perigee.

“We could have done it one shot, but there is a possibility of missing the moon,” said M. Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-1 to this Correspondent. “So we have adopted an incremental increase in the orbits’ perigee.” That probably explains why the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decided to settle for five increasingly elliptical orbits before Chandrayaan-1 reaches the moon’s sphere of influence. Why is the firing always undertaken at the perigee position?

Firing at perigee “To increase the apogee, we must fire at the perigee [position]. And firing should consume less energy. So the firing is done at the perigee,” Dr. Annadurai explained. One more reason to fire at the perigee is to ensure that the spacecraft can be tracked by 3-4 ground stations. “The spacecraft is allowed to complete one or more orbits till such time 3-4 ground stations can track it. But we will fire it at the earliest opportunity,” he said. But not always can one assume that the firing will happen as planned. So any change in this will in turn affect the apsidal line (imaginary line that connects the apogee and perigee). This should be corrected and maintained if the rendezvous with the moon is to happen.

Increasing the apogee And what ensures that the apogee increases many hundred kilometres after every firing while the perigee changes by only a few kilometres? “When the firing is done exactly at perigee, the velocity increases and the apogee keeps increasing. There will be no change in the perigee position,” he said. But firing the spacecraft exactly at the perigee position is only theoretically possible. This results in a small change in the perigee altitude.

Duration of firing “It is not an instant firing [at the perigee]. It takes a few hundred seconds to complete the firing,” he said. But great effort is however taken to centre the firing around the perigee position. For instance, the first firing to take Chandrayaan-1 from the initial orbit to the first orbit (with an apogee of 38,000 km) took about 1060 seconds to complete. The second firing to take the spacecraft to the nearly 75,000 km apogee took 920 seconds. And the third firing to raise it to about 1,65,000 km apogee took 560 seconds. The fourth firing to take Chandrayaan-1 to 2,67,000 km will take about 190 seconds and finally the last raise to 3,80,000 will take 150 seconds. Though the original plan was to reach 2,00,000 km apogee in the third orbit, ISRO could only raise it to 1,65,000 km. So will that lead to any problems? “This can be made up for in the next firing,” Dr. Annadurai said.

Use of propellant

Will the change in the orbit-transfer strategy from five-and-half days to nearly a fortnight lead to increased fuel consumption and hence reduced mission life? “The amount of propellant required to fire the spacecraft to 4,00,000 km is less, whether it is done in one shot or in stages. And the propellant is used only for changing the orbits and not for orbiting around the earth,” he explained. Orbiting around the earth is mainly through the gravitational force of the earth. But the gravitational influence of sun and moon would still play a role, though minor. Since the spacecraft goes around only for a few days in each orbit, there will not be any change in the orbits and hence the need to use propellant to correct the orbits would not arise. But that will not be case when Chandrayaan-1 orbits the moon for two years. “There will be a need to correct the orbit once in two weeks to maintain a 100 km circular orbit,” said Dr. Annadurai.

Less energy required While earth’s gravitational force will exist even when the spacecraft moves further and further away from the earth, the force will decrease with distance. “So firing it to the fourth and fifth orbit will require less energy,” said Dr. Annadurai. “Since some propellant is already used in the previous firings, the overall mass would come down. So the effort required to fire reduces.”

Reverse firing Five-and-half days after the fifth firing, Chandrayaan-1 will have its rendezvous with the moon. Chandrayaan-1 will get nearer to the moon on November 8 when it reaches the 3,81,000 km apogee. Though the moon’s influence will be predominant, the velocity of Chandrayaan-1 has to be reduced to enable the moon to capture it. Else, it can fly past the moon. Once captured by the moon’s gravity, the velocity of the spacecraft has to be reduced to help it reach its final destination of 100 km circular orbit around the moon.

This is achieved by reversing what was done to raise its orbits. “First, the firing is resorted at both perigee and apogee positions. And the firing takes place only after the orientation of the spacecraft is reversed — turned 180 degrees,” he said. While the momentum of the spacecraft allows it to move in the same direction, the reverse firing helps it to reduce the velocity. The reduction in velocity is again undertaken in an incremental manner to reach the predetermined 100 km circular orbit around the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 bound for Moon T.S. Subramanian Against odds, PSLV-C11 successfully puts spacecraft into initial orbit

CHENNAI: India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) on Wednesday morning successfully put Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit, marking the spacecraft’s long journey to the Moon. This is the first time India is sending a spacecraft to the Moon, 3.84 lakh km away. India is the sixth country to do so, after Russia, the U.S., the European Space Agency, Japan and China. It will be three weeks before Chandrayaan-1 reaches its final destination of 100-km orbit around the moon. It was a dramatic end to a long-awaited event. Suspense and tension hung over the mission with rains and thunderstorms lashing the Sriharikota spaceport for the past five days and threatening to disrupt the lift-off. However, Team ISRO worked against all odds and won the day. G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), called the success “a historical moment” and “the beginning of a new era” in India’s space exploration programme. “Our journey to the Moon has just begun. Everything went on perfectly well. It is a remarkable performance by the PSLV.” The rocket imparted the right velocity, attitude and orbit to the spacecraft, with a perigee of 256 km and an apogee of 22,866 km, marking the

accomplishment of “the first leg and perhaps the most difficult part of the mission.” Subsequently, the propulsion system on board Chandrayaan-1 will be fired in stages to take it to the Moon and “stick” it in the lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 km. Dramatic moments Mr. Nair dwelt at length on the odds posed by the weather: “This mission had a lot of dramatic moments after the launch vehicle came to the launch complex … What we faced in the last five days was really an ordeal. The Sriharikota team has really done a remarkable job. We were racing against time. Last evening [Tuesday], we lost 10 hours of countdown. We lost all hope of the launch in the morning [Wednesday] … But the rains kept away and we just made it at 6.22 a.m.” — Photos: PTI, M. Vedhan

On cloud nine: An elated ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair (centre) after the PSLV-C11 (left), which lifted off from the Sriharikota space centre on Wednesday, put Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit. Rejoicing with him are (from left) George Koshy, Mission Director; K. Radhakrishnan, Director, VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram; T.K. Alex, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore; and M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1. As the PSLV-C11 sizzled into life on the dot at 6.22 a.m., it climbed up on a massive column of flames and smoke. But it could be seen only for a few seconds before it disappeared into the dark clouds blanketing the sky. The four stages ignited and fell away on time. Eighteen minutes and 20 seconds after the lift-off, the fourth stage of the PSLV-C11 injected Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit at a velocity of 9.25 km a second. It was V-sign everywhere at Sriharikota. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said the spacecraft’s band of 11 instruments and the wide spectrum of experiments they would perform “are unparalleled.” They would “enhance India’s image internationally because India will be part of the select group with a capability to study the planets directly.”

Chandrayaan’s orbit raised Special Correspondent CHENNAI: The first manoeuvre to raise the orbit of Chandrayaan-1, India’s first spacecraft to the moon, was accomplished on Thursday when the spacecraft’s liquid apogee motor (LAM) was fired for nearly 18 minutes. The engine firing took the spacecraft from its initial orbit of 256 km by 22,866 km to a perigee of 305 km and an apogee of 37,900 km. Nerve-centre

The commands for firing the engine were given from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Peenya in Bangalore. In this new orbit, Chandrayaan-1 will take about 11 hours to go round the earth once. The Spacecraft Control Centre will be the nerve-centre of operations till Chandrayaan-1 goes into its final orbit of 100 km around the moon by November 15 and also during the tenure of the spacecraft’s life for two years. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11), which lifted off from the Sriharikota spaceport on Wednesday at 6.22 a.m., put Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit 18 minutes and 20 seconds later. In this initial orbit, the spacecraft orbited the earth once in about six hours and a half. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said from Bangalore, that “everything went as we planned” when the LAM on board the spacecraft was fired for about 18 minutes. “The spacecraft’s health is normal. Everything is under control,” he said. The LAM would be fired again on Friday (October 24) morning to take the spacecraft to an apogee of 73,000 km and a perigee of 300 km, Mr. Annadurai said. The two dish antennas with diameters of 32 metres and 18 metres at the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu village, near Bangalore, tracked the spacecraft in its new orbit and received signals from it

Chandrayaan’s orbit raised Special Correspondent CHENNAI: The first manoeuvre to raise the orbit of Chandrayaan-1, India’s first spacecraft to the moon, was accomplished on Thursday when the spacecraft’s liquid apogee motor (LAM) was fired for nearly 18 minutes. The engine firing took the spacecraft from its initial orbit of 256 km by 22,866 km to a perigee of 305 km and an apogee of 37,900 km. Nerve-centre The commands for firing the engine were given from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Peenya in Bangalore. In this new orbit, Chandrayaan-1 will take about 11 hours to go round the earth once. The Spacecraft Control Centre will be the nerve-centre of operations till Chandrayaan-1 goes into its final orbit of 100 km around the moon by November 15 and also during the tenure of the spacecraft’s life for two years. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11), which lifted off from the Sriharikota spaceport on Wednesday at 6.22 a.m., put Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit 18 minutes and 20 seconds later. In this initial orbit, the spacecraft orbited the earth once in about six hours and a half. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said from Bangalore, that “everything went as we planned” when the LAM on board the spacecraft was fired for about 18 minutes. “The spacecraft’s health is normal. Everything is under control,” he said. The LAM would be fired again on Friday (October 24) morning to take the spacecraft to an apogee of 73,000 km and a perigee of 300 km, Mr. Annadurai said.

The two dish antennas with diameters of 32 metres and 18 metres at the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu village, near Bangalore, tracked the spacecraft in its new orbit and received signals from it

Chandrayaan’s orbit raised Special Correspondent CHENNAI: The first manoeuvre to raise the orbit of Chandrayaan-1, India’s first spacecraft to the moon, was accomplished on Thursday when the spacecraft’s liquid apogee motor (LAM) was fired for nearly 18 minutes. The engine firing took the spacecraft from its initial orbit of 256 km by 22,866 km to a perigee of 305 km and an apogee of 37,900 km. Nerve-centre The commands for firing the engine were given from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Peenya in Bangalore. In this new orbit, Chandrayaan-1 will take about 11 hours to go round the earth once. The Spacecraft Control Centre will be the nerve-centre of operations till Chandrayaan-1 goes into its final orbit of 100 km around the moon by November 15 and also during the tenure of the spacecraft’s life for two years. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11), which lifted off from the Sriharikota spaceport on Wednesday at 6.22 a.m., put Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit 18 minutes and 20 seconds later. In this initial orbit, the spacecraft orbited the earth once in about six hours and a half. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said from Bangalore, that “everything went as we planned” when the LAM on board the spacecraft was fired for about 18 minutes. “The spacecraft’s health is normal. Everything is under control,” he said. The LAM would be fired again on Friday (October 24) morning to take the spacecraft to an apogee of 73,000 km and a perigee of 300 km, Mr. Annadurai said. The two dish antennas with diameters of 32 metres and 18 metres at the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu village, near Bangalore, tracked the spacecraft in its new orbit and received signals from it

“ISRO can put an Indian into space before 2015” Special Correspondent CHENNAI: “It is a complex and challenging task,” but the Indian Space Research Organisation can put an Indian astronaut into space before 2015, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said on Wednesday. He told a press conference at Sriharikota that the ISRO had prepared a project report on sending an Indian into space. The Space Commission approved the ISRO’s proposal. “We are awaiting the government clearance.” The ISRO could design a module carrying two persons into space. An astronaut corps had to be trained. India’s manned mission to space would cost Rs.12,000 crore.

Asked whether he expected international cooperation in this venture, Mr. Nair said the ISRO would like to be self-reliant. “We do not have any proposal for cooperation with other countries but we are not averse to it.” Planning a mission to send an Indian spacecraft to the Mars had started, he said. The ISRO’s Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) could take a spacecraft to that planet. “The technical capability exists and mission planning has started. We are looking at proposals from the scientific community [to carry instruments on board the spacecraft to the Mars]. As soon as we get them, we fill finalise them and plan our mission to the Mars.” A technology demonstrator of the Indian reusable launch vehicle would be flight-tested in two years, Mr. Nair said. S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said mission studies on sending an Indian spacecraft to the Mars were being done. “Our Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle can take a 250-kg spacecraft to the Mars. The GSLV-mark III can put a one-tonne spacecraft in orbit around the Mars.” M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said Chandrayaan-2 would fructify by 2012 or 2013, and it would drop a lander/rover on the Moon. Russia would provide the rover for it. The rover would come out of the lander. The rover would go about and pick up lunar soil samples. “While Chandrayaan-1 is a remote-sensing mission for locating chemicals and minerals in the lunar soil, Chandrayaan-2 will do in situ analysis of lunar soil, chemicals, helium 3, etc.” Asked when the country could send an Indian to the Moon, Mr. Annadurai said, “In 20 years, a manned mission is possible, if called for.”

Off to the Moon Despite inclement weather, riding atop the proven Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has successfully completed the first leg of a difficult journey that will ultimately take it nearly 400,000 kilometres to the Earth’s natural satellite. For the last four decades and more, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has worked tirelessly to fulfil the dream of its founder Vikram Sarabhai, who foresaw the enormous practical benefits that could be derived by using satellites. As a result, India today designs, builds, and launches its own earth observation, weather, and communication satellites — a capability that just a handful of nations possess. The Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe marks an effort by ISRO to go beyond the Sarabhai dream — a first step in taking on the challenges of deep space exploration. The Moon’s proximity makes access relatively easy and the journey time is a matter of days, not months or years. Besides, even after half a century of lunar exploration by scores of spacecraft and a dozen humans who walked its surface, there is still much about the Moon, including its origin and early evolution, that is not well understood. The Moon may well hold hidden tales about the early history of the Solar System and of the crucial period when life emerged on the Earth. The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is to be gradually manoeuvred into an orbit where it will circle the Moon at a height of 100 km. After reaching that orbit, the spacecraft will release the Moon Impact Probe that will reach the lunar surface. Over the next two years, its suite of cameras and instruments, several of which have been provided by the United States and Europe, will scan the Moon and relay the data through radio signals back to the Indian

Deep Space Network established near Bangalore. Mastery of this complex chain of events is vital for the more ambitious projects that ISRO has in mind. Last month, the Union Cabinet cleared the follow-on Chandrayaan-2 mission with a budget of Rs.425 crore. The joint Indo-Russian effort aims at sending a spacecraft into lunar orbit as well as putting a lander, with a robotic rover onboard, on the Moon’s surface around 2011-2012. The Indian space agency is also looking at missions to Mars, to asteroids and comets, and even one to study the Sun. At the heart of such missions of space exploration is the ability to do good science. Hopefully, the Chandrayaan-1 mission will catch the imagination of young Indian men and women who are to become tomorrow’s pool of talented scientists, the lifeblood of such programmes.

Once Chandrayaan goes near the moon, we will be there to track it’ The 32-metre antenna in Bangalore will allow us to collect the signals from Chandrayaan about 4,00,000 km away both in terms of satellite control capability and the science data coming from the various onboard experiments.

Set for launch: ISTRAC Director Dr. S. K. Shiva Kumar stands in the foreground of the 32-metre antenna of the Indian Deep Space Network established for the Chandrayaan mission. After its expected launch on Tuesday morning, Chandrayaan-1, the Indian lunar orbiter, will be injected into its first orbit around the earth in just 17 minutes. During its subsequent course to the final orbit around the moon, and during the orbiter’s lifetime of two years, a critical element of the mission will be the constant communication link from the ground to the satellite for tracking it as well as for its orbit control and house-keeping — the Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TTC) operations — and receiving data from the 11 onboard experiments. Missions that go beyond a distance of 1,00,000 km from the Earth are usually termed as deep space missions and Chandrayaan-1 is the first such for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). For deep space missions, ISRO has established an impressive communications infrastructure called the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu, a village located about 45 km from Bangalore, as part of the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command (ISTRAC) system. Comprising a massive indigenously built 32-m antenna and a German 18-m antenna, the IDSN will be the centre of activity for the entire duration of the mission. Excerpts from an interview of ISTRAC Director S.K. Shiva Kumar with Science Correspondent R. Ramachandran:

Dr. Shiva Kumar, what are the critical issues involved in telemetry, tracking and communications in general associated with deep space missions? When we talk of satellites in near earth orbit, we mean about 1,000 km altitude or more, or near earth space of about 2,000-2,500 km in range from the Earth’s surface. But when we say deep space mission, we mean lakhs of kilometres. For example, when we talk of the Moon mission, it means that the distance is not less than the Earth-Moon distance, which is about 4,00,000 km. Internationally, there is a way of categorising deep space and near earth, but a common way of defining would be the moon distance and beyond. In deep space missions, as the space probe moves farther away from the Earth, the strength of the signals from it become weaker and weaker. The real challenge is to catch those weak signals. Mathematically, from antenna theory, we know that we have to put up larger and larger dishes. ISTRAC has so far been involved with smaller dimension 10-11-metre diameter dishes. But now for a deep space mission, it jumps to something like 32 m. To make such an antenna, especially through the indigenous industry, was a big challenge for us. We looked at [systems] the world over and found that the nominally working deep space antenna you get to see is 30m-plus. We decided to make a 32-m antenna in Bangalore, which would give us the strength to talk to our satellite from our own soil and also to collect the signals from Chandrayaan about 4,00,000 km away both in terms of satellite control capability and the science data coming from the various onboard experiments. But wisely this DSN-32 has not been done only for the Chandrayaan mission but for all deep space missions to come in the future. It puts us in the category of deep space antennae found anywhere else in the world. That is the whole essence of building an Indian Deep Space Network facility. Starting with Chandrayaan we are pretty sure that we can track any other object deeper than this. If we are doing a Mars mission we do not have to worry at that point of time whether we have to build some more things. We have built a world standard facility that meets all the international standards. That means it can track any other [deep space] object. Simply stated, it is stateof-the-art interoperable and cross-support compatible facility that meets the Indian requirements with good margins and also the requirements of any other space agency. For deep space applications, when we say that we are capable of receiving signals of weaker strengths with this antenna, we should similarly be able to pump fairly strong signals to the satellite for commanding the spacecraft. Once the diameter of the dish is increased, that is very easily done with higher power amplifiers. About 2 kW was our normal usage. This time we have put up a 20 kW high power amplifier. That much power with a big dish is enough for the satellite to receive and execute the command functions. This is another world standard that has been met by IDSN. This antenna will also be capable of doing what is called the two-way ranging required for determining the position of the spacecraft. In addition, we have put up a reception facility for the science experiments [next to the antennae at Byalalu]. All the data will be sent to the spacecraft control centre [of ISTRAC] and the science data will be sent from this facility to the Space Science Data Centre (SSDC). The science data received here can then be sent to different processing systems for producing the various data products. All this needed a lot of critical technologies to be done and everything had to be done through the Indian industry. In terms of the amount of data that you would be receiving, what would be the bandwidth requirements? Could you give a comparison with what you handle in LEO missions?

Of course, in deep space everything is [at] a premium. Actually, IRS satellites, which are in 700-900-km orbit, produce much more data than what Chandrayaan will produce. For the imagery that you collect with 1-m and 5-m resolutions, that data is quite voluminous. But we are [already] in the higher level of data transmission from Chandrayaan. We will be transmitting data at 8.4 Mbps, whereas many people are doing it at much lower rates. Just for comparison, IRS satellites transmit at 100 Mbps data rate. Since we have handled high bit-rate data links, there is no issue in handling these lower bit-rates. For Chandrayaan, since the incoming data is at 8.4 Mbps, we have organised ourselves well for transmitting the data. The data we receive from Chandrayaan at our SSDC will be redistributed [for which] we have put up really high-speed dedicated links [up to 16 Mbps depending upon the experiment and the location]. In addition to that, since some people did not want dedicated links because they wanted [their data] to be in the public domain, we have put up a high-speed internet link of 16 Mbps. These are all, I would say, first in our domain. ISTRAC has never handled so many high-speed links. How will the operations be sequenced? Will it be that the normal ISTRAC network would track up to 1,00,000 km and then switch over to DSN? That’s rightly perceived. Actually, the satellite will be first put into an orbit with an apogee of 22,800 km. This is quite close to Earth. Since ISTRAC has a fairly big network, all our stations commonly used in our IRS missions will be deployed. None of these stations has a big antenna but they are good enough for tracking up to 1,00,000 km without any problem. Once we cross the 1,00,000-km barrier, the big antenna will come in. Notwithstanding this [nominal procedure], since we are deploying the big antenna for the first time, we cannot be waiting till 1,00,000 km. So, for most part of the trajectory we will be tracking it with both DSN-18 and DSN-32, even earlier than 1,00,000 km. But beyond 1,00,000 km, we will be doing specifically by the mission-assured IDSN. Are there any issues with regard to calibration that you need to do before you start your operations? First, there are the standard test and evaluation procedures that we have in ISTRAC. Then we have tracked some of the LEO satellites like Cartosat and IRS-P4/Oceansat with the big antenna. But, of course, this does not satisfy anybody because you have to track something nearer to moon. Very recently, we have started tracking SELENE, the Japanese lunar orbiting satellite [launched in September 2007], thanks to cooperation from JAXA [the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency]. We have been able to track the satellite continuously with this antenna. That has given us ample confidence to say ‘Yes. Once Chandrayaan goes near the moon, we will be there to track it.’ To that extent, our comfort level is quite high because if you have tracked a similar object that is closer to moon and you have been able to establish links with good margins and all that, we don’t have to speak much about our ability to do [the same] with Chandrayaan. In addition, we are planning to track another deep space [cometary] probe ROSETTA [launched in 2004]. This was another opportunity that was created thanks to the European Space Agency. That is one part of it. We have also tracked radio stars, which are quite good in S-band and X-band [the frequencies that will be used for TTC operations and science experiments respectively], like Cygnus, Cassiopeia, as well as Sun and Moon. This has given us ample experience in terms of pointing the beam on such a far off object, a major thing in my opinion. It also gives us ample scope for measurements because their movements are quite slow and we now know how to maximise our signals. What are the critical technologies that had to be developed to establish this set-up?

The realisation of the entire antenna system itself was a big challenge because we were doing it for the first time. ISTRAC was responsible for building this. We chose ECIL [Electronics Corporation of India Ltd.] as the prime contractor who had the primary responsibility for the reflector and the mount of the antenna. In turn we worked with ECIL very closely. Along with that we chose BARC for antenna control servo system, the major subsystem. The RF design was entrusted to the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC). ISTRAC and ISAC together developed the feed system. These three are the heart of the whole system and these four agencies constituted the core team for executing the project. But that is not all because many subsystems had to be realised. So we went around scouting different industries in the country. We could identify sources with good capability within the country — L&T, Godrej & Boyce, SLN Technologies in Bangalore, HAL and many others. I think we had interface with 40 industries to do this work.

Going boldly where others have gone before N. Gopal Raj Interest in lunar exploration has flared up anew. What’s left to find out about the Moon?

Moonward bound: The fully-assembled PSLV-C11 rocket is all set for take-off — Photo: M. Vedhan It was nearly 50 years ago that the Soviet Union sent the world’s first spacecraft to the Moon. But the sphere-shaped Luna 1 did no more than fly past Earth’s natural satellite at a distance of several thousand kilometres in January 1959 before settling into an orbit around the Sun. During the next 15 years or so, in a frenetic burst of technological oneupmanship, the Soviet Union and the United States despatched over 40 more spacecraft to photograph and study the Moon in great detail. In July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first of a dozen men to set foot on it in the course of the Apollo programme. Those astronauts brought back close to 400 kg of lunar soil and rock samples. The Soviets relied on robotic craft and rovers to explore the Moon’s surface and return samples. Once the space race ended, interest in sending spacecraft to the Moon rapidly waned. After Soviet Union’s Luna 24 brought back samples in August

1976, the small Japanese probe, Hiten, journeyed to our cosmic neighbour only 14 years later. Then the U.S. sent two spacecraft, the Clementine in 1994 and the Lunar Prospector in 1998. After such an intense burst of space exploration and careful analysis of the lunar data and samples that were garnered, one would think that the Moon has become a well understood entity with much of the scientific juice already wrung out of it. But interest in lunar exploration has flared up anew in recent years. In 2003, Europe sent the SMART-1 spacecraft. Last year, Japan’s Kaguya and China’s Chang’e-1 probes followed and are at present circling the Moon. India’s Chandrayaan-1 is currently scheduled to set off for the Moon on October 22. Early next year, the U.S. is planning to send the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. So what’s left to find out about the Moon? Countless mysteries “We know more about many aspects of the Moon than about any world beyond our own, and yet we have barely begun to solve its countless mysteries,” states a report from the U.S. National Research Council that was published last year. The report, titled ‘The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon’ and prepared at the request of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is eloquent about how much more the Moon has to offer science. “The Moon is, above all, a witness to 4.5 billion years ... of solar system history, and it has recorded that history more completely and more clearly than any other planetary body. Nowhere else can we see back with such clarity to the time when Earth and the other terrestrial planets were formed and life emerged on Earth.” Besides, the Moon’s proximity makes it accessible to a degree that other planetary bodies are not. The U.S. is interested in looking for resources that could support future human exploration of the Moon, but “that is not [our] primary goal,” said J. N. Goswami, director of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) at Ahmedabad. In the Indian Space Research Organisation, PRL will have a major role in the analysis of the scientific data sent back by Chandrayaan-1. “We still feel that in spite of all these [earlier] missions, our understanding of many aspects of the Moon is very rudimentary,” he told this correspondent. Many hypotheses were based on samples brought back by the Apollo and Luna missions from a few places on the Moon’s Earth-facing side. But quite a few of these views were not supported by the comprehensive lunar surveys that the Clementine and Lunar Prospector spacecraft carried out, he said. During the two years that Chandrayaan-1 is scheduled to spend orbiting the Moon, the stream of data from its suite of 11 instruments, several of which are supplied by the U.S. and Europe, will cast new light on many of these issues and perhaps help resolve some of the current controversies. How Earth came to acquire so large a moon is still a big mystery. Currently the most favoured hypothesis is that a Mars-sized body, given the name Theia, slammed into Earth some 4.5 billion years ago. The vast cloud of debris and vapourised material thrown into space by the gargantuan collision is thought to have later coalesced to form the Moon.

It is believed that in its early days the Moon may have been covered with molten rock (or magma). Then a crust solidified, made up of lighter minerals that floated to the top. “But we don’t know whether the magma ocean covered the whole Moon or how deep it was,” according to Narendra Bhandari, a leading planetary scientist who was closely involved in drawing up the scientific programme for the Chandrayaan-1 before he retired from the PRL. “We need to have detailed information about the chemical and mineralogical composition” of the Moon and how the composition changes with depth, said Dr. Bhandari. Those who study the Moon would like to know how many layers make up its crust, the composition of the mantle (the part of the interior of Moon below the crust) and so on, he remarked. It is this sort of data that Chandrayaan-1 has been configured to provide. Modellers will then be able to use the information to try and figure out the Moon’s hidden past. Chandrayaan-1’s advantage Chandrayaan-1’s great advantage is that its instruments can survey the Moon in several different ways: using visible wavelengths of light, ultraviolet, infra-red, x-ray, low-energy gamma ray and even radar. Doing so should provide not only the detailed topography of the Moon but also an accurate, high-resolution map of the chemicals and minerals that make it up. When, for instance, there is a solar flare and more energetic x-rays emanate from the sun, iron atoms in minerals on the Moon are prodded into giving off x-rays with a characteristic energy that can be readily picked up by an instrument on the spacecraft known as the Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-ray Spectrometer. That information would help calibrate data from other instruments, such as the Hyper-spectral Imager and Moon Mineralogy Mapper, which can then be used to estimate more precisely the amount of iron in minerals all over the Moon. The iron-to-magnesium ratio is a key number that scientists need to figure out the early stages of the Moon’s evolution, said Dr. Goswami. If all goes well, the Chandrayaan-1 should be able to provide that information with greater accuracy and a resolution that is an order of magnitude better than is currently available, he added. The pockmarked surface of the Moon, the result of collisions with numerous bodies left over after the formation of the Solar System, offers an opportunity to study its sub-surface composition as well. The Chandrayaan1’s high-resolution cameras will be able to pick out the “central hill” in craters where material from the interior of the Moon has rebounded and become exposed after such collisions. Then there is the issue of whether water is present on the Moon. Both the Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions found strong indications that water in the form of ice could be present in permanently shadowed areas at the poles. Just a few months ago, a group of U.S. researchers reported in the prestigious scientific journal Nature that they had used a new and more sensitive technique to analyse again some of the lunar volcanic soil samples brought back by the Apollo astronauts. They found that these samples still carried minute traces of water, suggesting that the water had come from deep within the Moon. “Thus, the presence of water must be considered in models constraining the Moon’s formation and its thermal and chemical

evolution,” pointed out Alberto Saal of Brown University and the other scientists in their paper. Finding water Water could also have been deposited on the Moon by comets and meteorites that crashed into it, and produced locally by interaction of the solar wind with oxygen-bearing minerals. As a result of heating by sunlight, much of this water would have evaporated and been lost to space. But some water might have been transported to places at the poles that never receive sunlight. Finding water is important for sustaining a permanently manned lunar base. The U.S.-built Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar on the Chandrayaan-1 is specifically intended to detect water ice up to a depth of a few metres at the poles. The spacecraft will also look for signs of how volatile substances, such as water, move along the hot, sunlit surfaces of the Moon till they get trapped in shadowed places at the poles. To this end, its High-Energy X-ray Spectrometer will be used to try and pick up faint signals from gamma rays released during decay of a radioactive form of the element radon, which is volatile, said Dr. Goswami. Other instruments on the spacecraft will make measurements to better model the lunar gravity field and study the radiation environment there. The spacecraft will also drop off an impactor that will crash land on the Moon. For scientists, the excitement from a mission like the Chandrayaan-1 lies not just in using its data to validate existing ideas about the Moon. A bigger thrill would be coming across new and unexplained phenomena that then open up fresh avenues of research. “In natural science, you approach the truth but never probably [reach] the whole truth,” says Dr. Goswami.

Chandrayaan-1 taking final tests T.S. Subramanian Chandrayaan-1 will be married up with PSLV on October 12 or 13 Launch likely on October 19 or 20

CHENNAI: Work in different centres of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gathering speed for the launch of Chandrayaan-1 at 6.20 a.m. on October 22 from India’s spaceport at Sriharikota. The tall and elegant Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) that will put Chandrayaan-1 in orbit is fully integrated at Sriharikota’s second launch pad. After having sailed through thermal and vacuum tests which simulated the conditions in deep space, Chandrayaan-1 is coursing through the final stages of vibration tests at the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bangalore to determine the integrity of its systems. At Byalalu village, 40 km from Bangalore, two massive dish antennae, one with a 32-metre diameter and the other with a diameter of 18 metres, are

ready to track Chandrayaan-1 during its 3.84-lakh km. odyssey to the moon, send commands and receive information on its health. Chandrayaan-1 will carry 11 instruments – five from India and six from other countries – to study the minerals and chemistry on the moon’s surface from an altitude of 100 km above. “The vehicle is totally ready,” declared George Koshy, Mission Director. “Some tests are going on. Everything is in good shape.” Mr. Koshy said Chandrayaan-1 would be married up with the PSLV on October 12 or 13 after the spacecraft arrived at Sriharikota from Bangalore in the first week of October. “We would like to launch on October 22. But a date before October 22… October 19th or 20th is my target.” The PSLV-C11 is fully integrated in the 83-metre tall (the height of a 26-storey building) Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) of the second launch pad. It stands majestically on a huge mobile pedestal, with platforms surrounding the four stages of the rocket. The PSLV-C11, which weighs 316 tonnes and is 44.4 metres tall, will be wheeled very slowly on its pedestal from the VAB to the launch pad some days before the launch. The mood is equally upbeat at the ISAC. “Vibration tests of the spacecraft are going on at the shake-table,” M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said on Monday. “They started on October 25th evening. Things are under control.” The tests involved 120 accelerometers. Mr. Annadurai said: “It is not just putting the spacecraft on the table and vibrating it. We have to ensure that all accelerometers’ results are within limits. “When the vibration is taking place, accelerometers will provide information on what is the response from each one of the instruments from the spacecraft. We will keep Chandrayaan in different orientations on the shaketable and test it. The vibration tests will ensure the integrity of the spacecraft.” Now Chandrayaan-1 will be subjected to high levels of noise, simulating what happens when the rocket climbs up with the spacecraft. Both the 32-metre and 18-metre dish antennae would be used, said S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, Bangalore. “It is good to have two antennae.” The Control Centre, which will be the nerve centre of the Chandrayaan mission, was ready, he said. “Everything is focussed.”

Chandrayaan-1 on course for launch T.S. Subramanian Passes battery of tests in Space Simulation Chamber

— PHOTO: ISRO

Chandrayaan-1 undergoing tests at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore. BANGALORE: The sticker on the threshold just says, “Spacecraft checkout No.4.” As we entered the mezzanine-like floor on Monday and looked below, the gorgeous looking Chandrayaan-1, enveloped in golden yellow insulation foil, came into view. It was in the dirt-free “clean room” of the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore, and men dressed in white overalls, were fussing over it and conducting checks. It had passed a battery of tests in the space simulation chamber (SSC), where it was subjected to extremes of hot and cold temperatures. Tests that unfolded its solar panel, as if were an accordion, and for pointing its antenna were equally successful. It will now face vibration and noise tests. Things are moving ahead for the launch of Chandrayaan-1, India’s first spacecraft to the moon, before the end of October from Sriharikota by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle called PSLV-XL. Chandrayaan-1 will carry 11 instruments, five from India and six from abroad. They will map the minerals and chemicals on the lunar soil and also provide clues to the moon’s origin. ISAC Director T.K. Alex called it “a complicated mission” because “for the first time, we are sending a spacecraft beyond the earth’s orbit” (that is, it will orbit the moon). The moon is nearly four lakh km away and the spacecraft has to be manoeuvred precisely in stages to reach the moon’s orbit. After all the 11 instruments were successfully integrated into Chandrayaan-1, it underwent thermo-vacuum tests in the special facility SSC. The spacecraft was subjected to 120 degrees Celsius and minus 150 degrees Celsius in the chamber. “It was tested in varying temperatures for almost 20 days. The performance of the spacecraft and its instruments were thoroughly checked and we found that they were all working well,” said Dr. Alex. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, asserted that there were “no issues’ when the spacecraft went through thermo-vacuum tests, including “soak and shock tests.” During the “soak” tests, it was subjected to high

temperatures for long durations. In “shock” tests, it alternately went through high and very low temperatures in quick succession. “During these tests also, we found that there was no issue and all the systems were working well,” Mr. Annadurai said. He called the SSC a big contraption that “looks like a well.” It is four metres in diameter and seven metres in depth. It has a big lid. Chandrayaan-1 is now getting ready for the vibration and acoustic tests from September 20. It will be placed on a shake-table. Mr. Annadurai said: “We will generate the vibrations that the spacecraft will undergo when it is launched by the PSLV. Then we move on to the acoustic chamber, where we generate noise similar to that made by the PSLV engines. The spacecraft has to withstand that also.” While an aircraft engine produced 145 decibels of noise, the PSLV engines produced 150 decibels, Dr. Alex explained. “We are on course for transporting Chandrayaan-1 to Sriharikota by the end of this month (September),” Mr. Annadurai said.

Chandrayaan-I passes endurance test Bangalore: The lunar craft to be used in India’s first unmanned mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-I, successfully passed a test for its endurance in harsh space environment, crossing a major milestone in preparation for the odyssey expected some time next month. The two-week vacuum test to evaluate the thermal design of the spacecraft and to verify its endurance in the harsh environment of space has just been completed at the ISRO Satellite Centre here, sources in the space agency said. “The test was satisfactory,” an ISRO official told PTI on Thursday.

Chandrayaan launch delayed Special Correspondent It is likely to take place in mid-October Chandrayaan-2 is being planned for a 2011-2012 launch ISRO will consider new satellites to accommodate new channels

CHENNAI: The launch of Chandrayaan, India’s moon mission project, will be delayed past the scheduled date of September 18 to mid-October, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here on Wednesday. He said that the systems had already been fully integrated and that thermovacuum tests would be conducted soon. The launch would be possible about 45 to 60 days after that. Alignments were the key to a successful launch along with climate conditions. Only about three days each month would provide favourable alignments, he said. Chandrayaan-2, which would involve a moon orbiter and a land rover, was already being planned for a 2011-2012 launch. Agreements had been signed with Russian space authorities and plans had started, he said.

On the entry of private players into satellite launches, Dr. Nair said cost was an important factor. It took about 7 to 8 years for a Rs. 600 crore-1,000 crore investment in a satellite launch to break even. This was why private players showed only a mild interest. Many companies, including TataSky and Reliance, had come forward to buy slots in the Ku band for direct-to-home (DTH) transmissions. ISRO would consider new satellites to accommodate new channels. All Ku band slots had been sold out and negotiations with international bodies were required to increase spectrum allocation, he said. Manned mission Dr. Nair said that India’s manned mission project could become a reality in the near future as ISRO was preparing a project report for the perusal of the government. Manufacture of indigenous cryogenic satellites could also be possible from the next year, as a thorough study had been made

Chandrayaan launch delayed Special Correspondent It is likely to take place in mid-October Chandrayaan-2 is being planned for a 2011-2012 launch ISRO will consider new satellites to accommodate new channels

CHENNAI: The launch of Chandrayaan, India’s moon mission project, will be delayed past the scheduled date of September 18 to mid-October, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here on Wednesday. He said that the systems had already been fully integrated and that thermovacuum tests would be conducted soon. The launch would be possible about 45 to 60 days after that. Alignments were the key to a successful launch along with climate conditions. Only about three days each month would provide favourable alignments, he said. Chandrayaan-2, which would involve a moon orbiter and a land rover, was already being planned for a 2011-2012 launch. Agreements had been signed with Russian space authorities and plans had started, he said. On the entry of private players into satellite launches, Dr. Nair said cost was an important factor. It took about 7 to 8 years for a Rs. 600 crore-1,000 crore investment in a satellite launch to break even. This was why private players showed only a mild interest. Many companies, including TataSky and Reliance, had come forward to buy slots in the Ku band for direct-to-home (DTH) transmissions. ISRO would consider new satellites to accommodate new channels. All Ku band slots had been sold out and negotiations with international bodies were required to increase spectrum allocation, he said. Manned mission Dr. Nair said that India’s manned mission project could become a reality in the near future as ISRO was preparing a project report for the perusal of the

government. Manufacture of indigenous cryogenic satellites could also be possible from the next year, as a thorough study had been made

Chandrayaan launch delayed Special Correspondent It is likely to take place in mid-October Chandrayaan-2 is being planned for a 2011-2012 launch ISRO will consider new satellites to accommodate new channels

CHENNAI: The launch of Chandrayaan, India’s moon mission project, will be delayed past the scheduled date of September 18 to mid-October, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here on Wednesday. He said that the systems had already been fully integrated and that thermovacuum tests would be conducted soon. The launch would be possible about 45 to 60 days after that. Alignments were the key to a successful launch along with climate conditions. Only about three days each month would provide favourable alignments, he said. Chandrayaan-2, which would involve a moon orbiter and a land rover, was already being planned for a 2011-2012 launch. Agreements had been signed with Russian space authorities and plans had started, he said. On the entry of private players into satellite launches, Dr. Nair said cost was an important factor. It took about 7 to 8 years for a Rs. 600 crore-1,000 crore investment in a satellite launch to break even. This was why private players showed only a mild interest. Many companies, including TataSky and Reliance, had come forward to buy slots in the Ku band for direct-to-home (DTH) transmissions. ISRO would consider new satellites to accommodate new channels. All Ku band slots had been sold out and negotiations with international bodies were required to increase spectrum allocation, he said. Manned mission Dr. Nair said that India’s manned mission project could become a reality in the near future as ISRO was preparing a project report for the perusal of the government. Manufacture of indigenous cryogenic satellites could also be possible from the next year, as a thorough study had been made

Preparations on for moon mission T.S. Subramanian A 32-metre-diameter dish antenna ready near Bangalore to track the spacecraft Stacking of the stages of PSLV-C11 under way at Sriharikota All 11 payloads of the spacecraft integrated fully

PSLV Chandrayaan reaching the moon CHENNAI: Preparations have begun for the launch of Chandrayaan-1, India’s moon mission, with the stacking of the stages of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) under way at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh from July 21. Simultaneously, the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, with its 11 payloads from India and abroad, has been assembled fully at the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore. A 32-metre-diameter dish antenna is ready at Byalalu village near Bangalore to track the spacecraft during its 3,84,400 km journey to the moon. If the campaign goes as planned, the PSLV-C11, which is a more powerful version and is called PSLV-XL, will put Chandrayaan-1 in orbit on September 19. Top officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation said: “We have started stacking the PSLV at Sriharikota for the Chandrayaan-1 mission. We are now building the first stage. The launch campaign has begun. We are moving the various stages from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram and the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu to Sriharikota.” M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, called it “a national mission with international participation and India as the captain.” He said from Bangalore, “All the 11 payloads of the spacecraft have been integrated fully. The next milestone is to go for the thermo-vacuum tests.” These entail the creation of space-like vacuum in a big chamber at the ISAC. Mr. Annadurai said: “The fully integrated Chandrayaan-1 will be subjected to tests in the vacuum-like space environment. It will go through tests in minus 120 degrees Celsius and searing hot temperatures.” After the thermo-vaccum tests, it would go through vibration tests to test its integrity. The spacecraft would later be moved to Sriharikota, he said. The PSLV-XL is a more powerful vehicle than the normal PSLV. It is suffixed with XL because its strap-on booster motors are extra long. S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), VSSC, said: “A PSLV has six strap-on motors. A normal strap-on will use nine tonnes of solid propellants. But XL will have 12 tonnes of propellants in each strap-on. We have also extended

the length of the strap-ons from ten metres to 13.5 metres. That is why it is called XL – extra long.” The PSLV-XL is a four-stage vehicle with a weight of 316 tonnes and a height of 44.4 metres. Chandrayaan-1 will weigh 1,304 kg on the earth but 590 kg when it orbits the moon at an altitude of 100 km. The PSLV-XL would put Chandrayaan-1 in a long, elliptical orbit with an apogee of 22,000 km and a perigee of 200 km. Mr. Ramakrishnan explained how Chandrayaan-1 would reach the moon from this transfer orbit: “You fire the apogee kick motor [on board the spacecraft] to extend the ellipsis from 22,000 km to about half a million km. That is how it reaches the vicinity of the moon. Once it nears the moon, Chandrayaan-1’s velocity is reduced by rotating the spacecraft in the opposite direction. It is called retro-firing. Its velocity is reduced so that the moon’s gravity will capture Chandrayaan-1 and it will be in moon’s orbit.” From an altitude of 100 km above the moon’s surface, Chandrayaan-1’s payloads will be used to investigate the moon’s minerals and chemical properties, detect the presence of water, if any, on the lunar surface, map the moon’s surface and look for clues on its origin and evolution. One of Chandrayaan-1 payloads called Moon Impact Probe (MIP) will be ejected after the spacecraft reaches the lunar orbit.

Decision on Chandrayaan-I launch date in a month ISRO is unique in having a strong human resource, says Madhavan Nair Photo: P. V. Sivakumar

IN RECOGNITION: ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair presents the Y. Nayudamma Award to geophysicist Harsh K. Gupta in Hyderabad on Thursday. At left is V. P. Dimri, Director of NGRI. — HYDERABAD: The exact date for Chandrayaan-I launch will be decided in a month although September 19 has been tentatively fixed as the “earliest opportunity,” Indian Space Research Organisation chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here on Thursday. Dr. Nair was talking to journalists after delivering a National Technology Day lecture on “Indian Space Programme-Future Perspectives,” organised by the Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences (APAS) at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI). He said the final stage of integration of instruments with the spacecraft was on. Tests and evaluation were in progress. Dr. Nair declined to comment on

the proposed “Space Command,” saying he was not involved with it and it would be unfair to make any comment. ISRO planned to launch five major satellites from Sriharikota next year, including the Indo-French joint mission Mega-Tropiques for study of water cycle and energy exchange in tropics and the Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT- having all weather, day and night imaging capability) and Astrosat. ISRO also has two commercial launch contracts scheduled for 2009 and 2010. Antrix corporation, commercial arm of ISRO, was now doing a business of Rs. 1,000 crore, which was a “good achievement.” “Good eye-opener” Earlier delivering the talk, Dr. Nair described the launch of eight nano satellites (along with Cartosat-2A and IMS 1) on April 28 as a “good eyeopener for our universities.” He said ISRO had so far launched over 50 missions and 26 of them were through the Indian launch vehicles. Pointing out that ISRO was unique in having a strong human resource, he said 210 transponders of the INSAT series of satellites were in orbit. The INSAT applications included broadcast, communication, meteorological and developmental such as tele-education and tele-medicine. In tele-education, over 30,000 schools and colleges were connected while annually around 3,00,000 patients benefited. Maintaining leadership India wanted to maintain its leadership in earth observation, communications and navigation satellite systems. Dr. Nair mentioned the manned mission to moon and reusable launch vehicles among the “future directions” of ISRO. Earlier, the ISRO chairman presented Professor Y. Nayudamma Memorial Gold Medal to Harsh K. Gupta, former Secretary, Department of Ocean Development, and Raja Ramanna, Fellow, NGRI. APAS president D.Narayana Rao announced that the Akademi would organise an AP Science Congress annually on the lines of Indian Science Congress.

Chandrayaan-I launch likely by September 19 New Delhi: India’s maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-I has reached a major milestone with scientists completing the integration of all instruments onto the spacecraft. The aim is to launch it by September 19. Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) last week completed the integration of 11 instruments – six indigenous and five under international cooperation – onto the spacecraft, which is no bigger than a typical office cubicle. “We are carrying out integrated tests to ensure that all systems match our expectations and to record the spacecraft level data for future references,” Mylswamy Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-I, told PTI

Chandrayaan-I launch likely by September 19

New Delhi: India’s maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-I has reached a major milestone with scientists completing the integration of all instruments onto the spacecraft. The aim is to launch it by September 19. Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) last week completed the integration of 11 instruments – six indigenous and five under international cooperation – onto the spacecraft, which is no bigger than a typical office cubicle. “We are carrying out integrated tests to ensure that all systems match our expectations and to record the spacecraft level data for future references,” Mylswamy Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-I, told PTI

Mars mission possible before 2015 R. Ramachandran Ambitious space missions drawn up by ISRO’s Advisory Committee Chandrayaan-1 will be launched by mid-2008 Chandrayaan-2 launch expected in 2012

Udhagamandalam: After the Moon, it could be Mars before 2015 for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) if the ambitious space missions drawn up by ISRO’s Advisory Committee for Space (ADCOS) up to the year 2020 are realised in the envisaged time frame. This was disclosed here by Prof. U.R. Rao, former Chairman of ISRO and currently Chairman of ADCOS, in his inaugural address at the four-day 15th National Space Science Symposium (NSSS-2008) which got underway on Tuesday. It was on the basis of the recommendations made by ADCOS that the first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1, which will be an orbitercum-impactor mission, and the multi-wavelength X-ray astronomical satellite ASTROSAT have been undertaken by ISRO. Chandrayaan-1, originally scheduled for an April launch window, is now postponed by a few months and will be launched by mid2008. The mission is chiefly aimed at understanding the chemistry and mineralogy of the lunar surface. It comprises 11 instrument payloads, which include five indigenous experiments, two joint experiments of ISRO with external agencies and the remaining four wholly foreign. According to ISRO sources, four of the payloads have been totally integrated with the lunar satellite and the remaining are in various stages of integration. ASTROSAT is expected to be launched in 2009. ADCOS, Prof. Rao said, had recently constituted four major panels on Planetary Exploration, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space Weather and Weather and Climate Science. In recent months the deliberations of these panels have resulted in the identification of candidate future scientific missions on the basis

of which the Committee has drawn up a perspective plan up to the year 2020, that also includes programmes for the Eleventh Five Year Plan period 2007-2012, he said. The exercises of defining these missions are likely to be taken up in due course. The identified missions include Chandrayaan-2, which ADCOS envisages to be a lunar orbiter mission again but this time with the possibility of including a lander-rover and robotic instruments to carry out, if possible, in situ analyses of lunar samples. Studies related to this mission are already on and Chandrayaan-2 is expected to be launched by 2012. Prof. Rao, in fact, expected this to be followed by more lunar missions. Some other important future scientific missions that ADCOS has identified include: A Mars Orbiter, to be taken up in the time frame 2009-2015, for the exploration of Mars with regard to the effect of solar wind, studies of its surface magnetic field, and search for palaeo-water; Asteroid orbiter or comet fly-by during the time frame 20092017, with the near-earth asteroid as the primary target; Spaceborne solar coronograph by 2012 in the visible and infrared. A twin-satellite mission is planned to probe the electromagnetic field of the near-earth space during 2008-2010; small satellites carrying primary payloads such as (a) a nadir-viewing multi-angle polarisation imager and multi-spectral sensor; (b) payload for measuring vertical distribution of aerosols; and, (c) IR spectrometer for measuring atmospheric trace gases by 2010. Besides the small satellite scientific mission solar coronograph mentioned above, several other small satellite missions have also been proposed for the period beyond 2010. As for the upcoming near-term scientific missions besides Chandrayaan-1, there is the Indo-Russian mission called RT-2, aimed at hard X-ray spectrometry and imaging, which will be flown aboard the Russian launcher Photon-Coronas and is scheduled be launched this year. The other is the Indo-Israeli mission called TAUVEX, a UV imaging satellite, which will be launched along with GSAT-4 aboard ISRO’s launcher GSLV. This is also scheduled for launch in 2008. With increasing scientific missions, where instrument design and fabrication is a critical area, a dedicated Space Science Instrumentation Facility (SSIF) is also proposed to be established shortly as a separate wing of ISRO.

32-metre dish antenna installed for Chandrayaan-I T.S. Subramanian ISRO plan to send spacecraft to moon gathers speed

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

MOON MISSION: The installation of the dish antenna to track Chandrayaan-1 has been completed at a village near Bangalore. CHENNAI: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s ambitious plan to send the spacecraft Chandrayaan-I to the moon has gathered speed with the installation of a huge dish antenna at Byalalu village, 40 km from Bangalore. The dish is 32 metres in diameter and weighs 60 tonnes. All its petals have been assembled at a height of more than 27 metres from the ground. The antenna will send commands to Chandrayaan-I to perform various manoeuvres during its 3.84 lakh-km journey to the moon. The antenna will receive information from Chandrayaan-I about the health of its cameras and payloads, and science data about the moon. This antenna is the centrepiece of a Deep Space Network (DSN) coming up at Byalalu. A muscled version of the ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will lift off with Chandrayaan-I from Sriharikota on April 9, 2008. “Dream project”

“The installation of the 32-metre dish antenna has been completed in all aspects. It is an all-out Indian effort. It gives us a sense of fulfilment. It is a dream project for radio frequency engineers,” S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore, said on Saturday. The ISTRAC is responsible for establishing the DSN at Byalalu.

The integration of the dish antenna with motors and gearboxes called servo control system, located separately in a room, is under way. These motors and gearboxes will move the antenna to track various spacecraft. The antenna will track Chandrayaan-I, Chandrayaan-II and the ISRO’s proposed spacecraft to the Mars. Chandrayaan-II will land a rover on the moon. Mr. Shivakumar is especially happy that the installation of the dish along with the beam wave guide system (BWGS) has been completed. “It is one of the critical challenges we have met.” With seven mirrors, it is a crucial system that communicates with Chandrayaan-I by sending commands to it and receiving signals including scientific information about the moon. N. Ramakrishna Reddy, ISTRAAC engineer and core designer of the BWGS, said it was totally indigenously designed and developed. The antenna is a massive system with the dish, mount, bull gear systems and wheels. The total antenna system weighs 350 tonnes. It is 11-storey (32 metres) tall from the ground to the tip of a quarter-pod installed inside the dish which is also called the reflector. The dish can rotate horizontally and vertically from zero to 90 degrees. Circular track

The antenna rotates on a circular track on four wheels, called the wheel and track system. “All four wheels are aligned with extreme precision,” said Reddy. They move very slowly. Each wheel weighs two tonnes and is 20 cm thick. The bull gear is the rotating system which supports the dish. The dish was designed and developed by the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad. Others who made important contributions to the project included the ISTRAC, the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore, L and T, Godrej, Vamshi Electronics, Hyderabad, and SLN Technologies Private Limited, Bangalore. At the ISAC, the integration of various payloads of Chandrayaan-I gathered momentum, said M. Annadurai, Project Director. It would carry 11 instruments – five from India and six from abroad. Four instruments from abroad were already integrated.

In December, the Indian payloads would undergo assembly integration testing and in January 2008, two payloads from abroad. Simultaneously, Mr. Annadurai said, the spacecraft would be subjected to tests simulating the various manoeuvres it would perform as it travelled to the moon.

Lunar mission to help long-term collaboration Vladimir Radyuhin Russia, U.S. have plans to set up permanent bases on the moon by 2020 Helium-3, a highly efficient fuel, is abundant on the moon

MOSCOW: A joint lunar mission that India and Russia had agreed to undertake may pave the way for long-term, far-ranging collaboration between them in moon exploration and tapping of its natural resources. The agreement signed on Monday by the space chiefs of the two countries on the sidelines of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit here provides for an unmanned laboratory to the moon in 2011-12. India will build a launch vehicle and a lunar orbiter, while Russia will contribute a landing module and a moon rover packed with scientific instruments. The mission will take off from the Indian space centre. The moon mission will be a cross between the two countries’ phase-2 programmes for lunar research, Chandrayaan in India and Luna-Globe in Russia. In phase 1, India and Russia will proceed alone. Under Chandrayaan-I India, in the first half of 2008, will launch a space probe that will circle the moon but will not land on its surface. Foreign input into Chandrayaan-I is limited to two research instruments built by the United States and Bulgaria. Russia’s first Luna-Globe mission, scheduled for 2010, does not envisage landing any spacecraft on the moon either. In the second stage, Russia plans to soft-land a 400-kg sophisticated moon rover, which will be carried to the moon aboard an Indian rocket. The Russian programme also provides for phase-3 and phase-4 missions to the moon between 2012 and 2015. These may also become joint India-Russia projects as the November 12 accord will be effective till 2017 and can be extended by mutual agreement. According to the head of Russia’s Lavochkin Spacecraft Design Bureau Georgy Polishchuk, in phase-4, the Luna-Globe programme is planned to look for mineral resources on the moon.

Russia and the U.S. have announced plans to set up permanent bases on the moon by 2020 to mine Helium-3, a highly efficient fuel for thermonuclear reactors which is scarce on the earth and abundant on the moon.

Dish antenna being readied to track Chandrayaan T.S. Subramanian

Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Various payloads of Chandrayaan-I being tested at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore. — CHENNAI: As a tall crane lifts a steel plank called “counterweight,” workers standing on the rampart of the “mount” on top of a pedestal building shout instructions on walkie-talkie to the crane operator where to lodge the counterweight on the mount. On the ground below are the “petals” which will soon be assembled into a massive dish with a diameter of 32 metres on the mount. A petal has already been hoisted on top. There is activity everywhere, with contraptions arriving and several buildings under construction. In a couple of weeks, this dish antenna will be the centrepiece of the Deep Space Network (DSN) that is fast coming up at Byalalu village, about 40 km from Bangalore. The dish antenna will track the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Chandrayaan-I and II spacecraft to the moon, which is 3.84 lakh km away, send commands to them and receive telemetry signals including science data. The antenna will also keep a tab on the ISRO’s proposed spacecraft to Mars, six crore km away from the earth. The entire technology for the dish antenna has been indigenously developed. All mechanical systems have been designed and developed in India. “We are on the verge of completing the installation of the 32metre antenna,” said S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore. ISTRAC is responsible for establishing the DSN at Byalalu. “We have reached the limit in the state-of-the-art technology available in

2007 for an antenna of this class. It is meant not only for one mission but for many missions into deep space that we plan in the future.” The dish alone weighs 60 tonnes. It can rotate horizontally and vertically. A few hundred metres away is another dish antenna with an 18metre diameter, built to ISRO specifications by Vertex RSI, a German company. National effort

The development of the 32-metre dish antenna was a massive national effort with key contributions from the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad; the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay; ISTRAC; ISAC; and several industries. Mr. Shivakumar said: “We chose the ECIL as the prime contractor for the development of the system. The total reflector (the 32metre dish) was designed and developed by the ECIL. We completed the trial assembly of the dish at Hyderabad and made a good amount of measurements. After ascertaining that everything was all right, we brought it to Byalalu, re-assembled it on the ground and the final installation is going on now.” First step

Cut back to Bangalore. In a huge ultra-clean facility with highpurity environment at the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), “disassembled mode of testing” is under way on Chandrayaan-I. Spacecraft Engineers are busy scanning its payloads. In an adjacent room, women engineers are monitoring their computer consoles for results. “Chandrayaan-I is the first step for India in planetary science … Although ISRO’s earlier satellites formed its bread-and-butter missions, Chandrayaan-1 has fired us with enthusiasm because the unknown is always exciting,” said M. Annadurai, Project Director. “We are having a tight schedule. We are working overtime. Everything is on course,” he said. Chandrayaan-I will carry 11 instruments — five from India and six from abroad. They will look for chemicals, minerals and water on the moon. Besides, the spacecraft will map the entire surface as it circles the moon at an altitude of 100 km during its two years of life. Four of the 11 instruments have already been integrated into the spacecraft — Moon Mineralogy Mapper and Miniature Imaging Radar Instrument, both from the United States, Radiation Dose Monitor from Bulgaria and Infra-red Spectrometer from Germany. The next phase of assembly, integration and testing of instruments will begin on November 15. Moon Impact Probe

On board Chandrayaan-I will be a Moon Impact Probe (MIP), a 20-kg instrument. Mr. Annadurai said, “On reaching the lunar orbit, we will reorient Chandrayaan-I and we will eject the MIP, which has a motor. It will fire for two seconds to reduce the MIP’s

velocity to 75 km a second.” As the MIP speeds towards the moon, its video-camera will take pictures of the lunar surface. The MIPs’ altimeter will measure its instantaneous altitude from the moon’s surface. A third instrument, a mass spectrometer, will “sniff” the tenuous atmosphere above the moon to find out what it is made of. All these data will be sent to Chandrayaan-I until the MIP crashes on the moon’s surface. If things progress as per plan, a galvanised Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will lift off from Sriharikota on April 9, 2008 and put Chandrayaan-I into orbit.

Antenna for tracking Chandrayaan T.S. Subramanian To send commands, receive data and track the ISRO's spacecraft to the moon The 18-metre antenna is in position and its erection completed ISTRAC engineers looking forward to installing the antenna with a 32-metre diameter Photo: K. Murali Kumar

A view of the antenna meant to track the proposed Chandrayaan, put up at Byalala Village, 40 km southwest of Bangalore. CHENNAI: A massive dish-shaped antenna with a diameter of 18 metres has been erected near Byalalu village, about 40 km from Bangalore, to send commands, receive data and track ISRO's Chandrayaan-I spacecraft to the moon. The device forms part of the Indian Space Research Organisation's ambitious plans to establish a Deep Space Network (DSN) of big antennae that will track not only ISRO's Chandrayaan-I and Chandrayan-II spacecraft to the moon but also its mission to Mars.

Spacecraft missions

G. Madhavan Nair, ISRO Chairman, said: "First of all, the Deep Space Network is going to be a national effort. It is going to serve not only the moon mission, but other spacecraft missions at a later date, such as one to Mars." ISRO's more powerful Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle called PSLVXL will speed into the sky from Sriharikota in the first quarter of 2008 to put Chandrayaan-I spacecraft in orbit about 100 km above the moon's surface. As part of the DSN programme, installation of another huge antenna with a diameter of 32 metres is all set to begin at Byalalu this month. Pedestal complete

Construction of a pedestal, which is a civil structure necessary to support this 32-metre antenna, is almost complete at the site. The 32-metre antenna will keep a tab on the Chandrayaan-II spacecraft and ISRO's inter-planetary probes. A DSN is essential for these missions because of the huge distances involved. For instance, the moon is about 3.86 lakh km away from the earth. Tracking spacecraft

Mars is six crores km away when it is nearest to the earth. As spacecraft travel towards the moon or Mars, they have to be constantly tracked, commands sent to them and data received from them. "Today, the 18-metre antenna is in position. We have completed its erection. We are conducting tests and evaluation. It is working all right," said S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore. ISTRAC is responsible for establishing the DSN at Byalalu. The installation of the 18-metre antenna was a turn-key job. It was built by the Vertex RSI, a Germany company, to ISRO's specifications. Three parts

According to G.R. Hathwar, general manager, Technical Services Group, ISTRAC, the entire 18-metre contraption can be divided into three parts. They are: the bowl/the dish with reflector panels made of aluminium; the mount that allows the antenna to move horizontally and vertically to track any object in space; and the pedestal, that is the building, on which the mount is erected. The height of the entire column from the ground is 25 metres. But what the ISTRAC engineers are looking forward to is the installation of the antenna with a 32-metre diameter.

Indigenous effort

"The design, development, fabrication and installation of the 32metre antenna will be a totally indigenous effort. This is the first of its kind in the country and it is technologically challenging in fabrication. It involves all elements of engineering," said Mr. Shivakumar. Contractor

The Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), a unit of the Department of Atomic Energy, is the prime contractor for executing the 32-metre antenna project. The project will be national effort, with key contributions from the ECIL, Bhabha Atomic Research Cente (BARC), ISTRAC, ISRO Space Applications Centre and industries. By June 2007, the antenna will be in position and start operating. Selection of Byalalu village to locate the antenna was a major exercise. Thirteen teams fanned out several hundred kms from Bangalore and examined about 40 sites. Byalalu with Savanadurga hills at a distance was chosen. Noise survey

"We did a thorough noise survey and a blockage study. We assured ourselves that there was no natural terrain blocking our view. When I point my antenna towards the target, there should also be no tall building blocking the signals," said Mr. Shivakumar. The noise survey showed that there were no major frequencies there. Another antenna

ISTRAC will soon start building at Byalalu another antenna with a diameter of 11 metres for ISRO's ASTROSAT mission, which will be an observatory in space for astronomical studies. When the DSN is complete with three antennae of 18, 32 and 11 metres diameter, "nobody in this part of the world will have a ground station of this magnitude and size," said Mr. Shivakumar

Energy from space to be explored Staff Reporter Chandrayaan not just to land man on the moon The mission will explore the mineral wealth and energy sources such as Helium-3 Solar Power Satellites could deliver the sun's energy to earth from space BANGALORE: The ambitious "Chandrayaan" project of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was not just intended to

land an Indian on the moon but to explore the vast mineral resources and abundant energy potential the earth's natural satellite had to offer, according to ISRO Satellite Centre Director K.N. Shankara. Delivering the Dr. H. Narasimhaiah memorial lecture on "Innovative Space Technologies and Applications" at the Bangalore Science Forum here on Friday, Dr. Shankara said the planetary mission would explore the mineral wealth and energy sources such as Helium-3, which had the potential of solving future global energy demands. Chandrayaan-I, he said, would see the Indian satellite orbiting 100 km above the moon and its terrain mapping stereo camera, with a high resolution of 10 metres, would explore the surface of the moon. A Deep Space tracking station was coming up near Bangalore to track the satellite, he said. Looking at space as a solution for future needs in energy and drinking water, he said the gap between the energy needs of the world and the production was increasing. The energy source on earth would not be enough to meet the needs of growing population and the economies. Eighty per cent of the energy was being produced from fast depleting fossil fuel that had led to serious environmental problems. With the demand rising every day, the annual demand for energy in the world had risen to 12 terra watts per annum. The shortfall would mount to 15 terra watts by the end of the century and new sources of clean energy to fill the gap had to be explored seriously. As the present system of technology would not address the energy demand in the coming decades, alternative sources had to be explored. Sun's energy

Dr. Shankara said Solar Power Satellites (SPS), which could deliver the sun's energy to earth from space could be a major alternative. The concept mooted by Peter Glazer of the U.S. in 1968 was initially thought to be economically not viable but it was being believed now that it could be made possible. This technology would have a five km by 10 km Photovoltaic Array fitted on a satellite in space that would deliver sun power from space to earth through SPS network. As it would be impossible to hurl such a huge system from earth in one go, it would be built in phases in space itself. A one km wide antenna on the earth, which would transfer power into high-tension lines, would trap the solar energy from satellites. Production of the same amount of energy on earth would need 130 sq km of space besides a huge quantity of fossil or nuclear fuel. Building such huge antenna was possible, though the biggest antenna India had built so far had a diameter of 14 metres. Advanced technology developed in the world during the past 30 years had really given hope that a solar array of such huge size could be made possible, he said. The cost of putting material in space, however, would have to be reduced for the project's success. At present every kilo of

material transported to outer space would cost $25,000 to 30,000. The SPS could be made a cost-effective pollution-free energy source for the coming centuries. Helium-3, derived from a mixture of helium and deuterium in reactors built on the moon, could prove an extremely potent, non-polluting, non-radioactive energy source that could solve the energy shortage forever. One million tonnes of H-3 was enough to power earth for 1000 years. Just 25 tonnes of H-3 transported through a single voyage by a space shuttle could supply power to both the U.S. and India for one full year. One kg of H-3 burnt with 0.67 kg of deuterium gave about 19 MW of power. Though just one tonne of H-3 was expected to cost $4 billion in today's calculations, tapping this source of energy could become a reality in view of the advancements being made in space science, according to Dr. Shankara.

Accord signed for moon mission Staff Reporter NASA, ISRO ink MoU: Chandrayaan will have on board two U.S. payloads A Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar and a Moon Minerology Mapper to be placed on board The objective is to map cold regions and track moon's mineral composition

REACHING FOR THE MOON: ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin greet each other after signing a memorandum of understanding in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash BANGALORE: In a milestone in space cooperation between New Delhi and Washington, India's unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1 will have on board two U.S. payloads. The mission is slated for launch by early 2008. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G. Madhavan Nair and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Michael Griffin on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding in this regard.

The payloads are a Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (mini SAR) that will map the cold regions and scan for ice deposits and a Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3). The Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, under funding from the NASA, developed the mini SAR. Brown University and the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory built the M3. Two-year mission

Mr. Griffin said: "The two-year mission would map the lunar surface and investigate its properties that would advance knowledge about the moon's history and evolution, besides informing future exploration decisions by characterising the content of the lunar soil. "The mission you will conduct some 40 years after humans saw the moon up close for the first time will greatly advance our understanding of our closest neighbour in space and represents a very impressive technical achievement." The NASA chief said: "I understand that you are undertaking this mission to upgrade India's technological capability and provide challenging opportunities for planetary research for the younger generation." ISRO's Physical Research Laboratory Director V.N. Goswami said the mission's main objective was to investigate the mineral and chemical distribution on the lunar surface. "Our mission will, for the first time, explore the topography of the moon. It is important to know, as once a manned mission is there, we should know where humans should go." There were many theories on the moon, mainly due to the huge gap after the 1969 Apollo mission. Space cooperation between the two countries dates back to 1963 when Indian atmospheric experiments were carried out on a U.S. rocket. However, the relations became strained after India's nuclear testing in 1998. Washington imposed sanctions on India, resulting in a freeze on exchanges in nuclear and other high-tech sectors. Chandrayaan-1 will also carry five Indian instruments, along with three developed by the European Space Agency and one from the Bulgarian Space Laboratory. An international mission with India as captain T.S. Subramanian CHENNAI: 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 PSLVC11 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 Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument would send high-energy lasers to the lunar surface and these would bounce back to the spacecraft. The lasers would help in measuring the depth of the moon’s craters and the height of its mountains. An important instrument was the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), on which was painted the Indian national flag. The MIP would be ejected from Chandrayaan-1 soon after the spacecraft reached its final orbit of 100 km around the moon on November 15, Mr. Annadurai said. After a 20-minute descent, it would crash-land on 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.” George Koshy was the mission director and C. Venugopal, the vehicle director.

Final countdown begins for launch of Chandrayaan-1 T.S. Subramanian India’s first moon mission to take off at 6.22 a.m. on Wednesday

Countdown reduced from 52 hours to 49 hours Lightning and electric charges in clouds are causes for concern

CHENNAI: The final 49-hour countdown for the lift-off of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11), which will put Chandrayaan-1 into orbit, began around 5.30 a.m. on Monday at the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The launch is scheduled to take place at 6.22 a.m. on October 22 (Wednesday). “The countdown is going on smoothly,” said M.Y.S. Prasad, Associate Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on Monday evening. “The countdown involves a lot of activities and continuous operations, in which hundreds of people work simultaneously. These activities and operations will by synchronised and linked to the common time,” Dr. Prasad explained. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which had earlier decided on a 52-hour countdown, later preferred a 49-hour countdown because “our countdown activities are always optimised,” added Dr. Prasad. However, dark clouds gathered over the island on Monday and there were spells of rain. “The vehicle is rain-proof, and unless there is a real problem on the weather front, the lift-off will take place on Wednesday. What we are worried about is lightning and electric charges in the clouds,” an ISRO official said. This is the first time that ISRO is sending a spacecraft to the moon, 3.84 lakh km from the earth. It is a complex mission because ISRO has to continuously communicate with the spacecraft as it journeys this huge distance through deep space, give commands to perform various tricky manoeuvres and ultimately lower Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 km and “stick” to this orbit. Two huge dish antennas, one with a diameter of 32 metres and another of 18 metres, have been installed at Byalalu village, about 40 km from Bangalore, to radio commands to Chandrayaan-1 and receive information about its health. The antennas will also receive information on the scientific data that will flow from the 11 instruments on board the spacecraft. The 32-metre dish antenna is a totally indigenous effort, made possible by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and ISRO units and private industries. S. Satish, Director, Publications and Public Relations, ISRO, called it an engineering marvel. The dish antenna alone weighs 60 tonnes. Its “petals” had to be assembled with an accuracy of a few millimetres at a height of more than 27 metres from the ground. The 18-metre dish antenna is a turn-key job done by Germans.

Chandrayaan-1 shifted to VAB Special Correspondent CHENNAI: Hectic activity was under way at ISRO’s launch centre in Sriharikota, 100 km north of here on Tuesday, with the integration of the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) proceeding smoothly.

The spacecraft was moved to the 83-metre tall Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) of the second launch pad complex on the midnight of October 13/14. It is in the VAB that the PSLV-C11 rocket stands majestically on a massive launch pedestal. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said from Sriharikota, “The spacecraft is being assembled on top of the vehicle now. Initial tests are going on.” The tests involved checking the radio frequency and computer connectivity to the ground. “We are testing them so that we can get ready for the countdown. If the weather permits, the launch will take place on October 22. There are no other issues. Technically, we are in good shape. The whole team is in an upbeat mood,” Mr. Annadurai added. The 52-hour final countdown starts from 4.00 a.m. on October 20. Chandrayaan-1 is India’s first mission to the moon. The spacecraft will take remote-sensing images of the moon, which will help in locating minerals and chemicals on the lunar soil. It will help in confirming the presence of water in the South Pole of the moon. The remote-sensing images will also provide clues on the early evolution of the moon. The PSLV-C11, also called PSLV-XL, is a more powerful variant of the normal PSLV. The PSLV-XL’s strap-on motors are longer and carry more solid propellants than the normal PSLVs. Hence, the suffix XL, which stands for extra long. The PSLV-XL weighs 316 tonnes and is 44.4 metres tall

The colours of India to the moon T.S. Subramanian The tasks for the Chandrayaan mission, all set to be launched on October 22 — Photo: Courtesy ISRO

KEY TOOL: The Indian flag is painted on the Moon Impact Probe, which will “sit like a hat” on Chandrayaan-1. CHENNAI: The Moon Impact Probe (MIP), which has pride of place among the 11 instruments on board Chandrayaan-1, is painted with the proud colours of the Indian flag. It is this instrument that will land on the moon’s surface and leave telltale evidence of an Indian instrument having reached the moon.

The MIP, which weighs 29 kg and sits like a hat on top of Chandrayaan-1, has been built by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. The MIP will be a technological forerunner to India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission which will deploy a lander or a rover on the moon. Russia will build this lander/ rover. If it is a rover, it will look like children’s toy-car, a few feet long and a few feet broad. It will move around the moon, pick up soil samples, do chemical analysis in situ and transmit the data to the ground. India’s Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) will put Chandrayaan-2 in orbit around 2011-12. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russia’s federal space agency Roskosmos signed an agreement on November 12, 2007, which envisages a joint lunar mission for Chandrayaan-2. While ISRO will build the mother-spacecraft, Roskosmos will build the lander/rover. This lander/rover will detach from Chandrayaan-2 and land on the moon. Preparations are on at Sriharikota for the launch of Chandrayaan-1 on October 22 by ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11). Chandrayaan-1 will carry 11 instruments — five from India and six from abroad. An important instrument is the MIP. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, explained how the MIP would land on the moon. After Chandrayaan-1 reaches the lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 km, ISRO will give commands to it to re-orient and eject the MIP, which has a motor on board. “The motor will fire for two seconds to reduce the MIP’s velocity to 75 metres a second,” Mr. Annadurai said. As the MIP descends to the moon’s surface, its video-camera will take pictures of the lunar surface. These pictures will help ISRO to decide where to land Chandrayaan-2’s rover. The MIP’s altimeter will measure its altitude from the moon every second of its journey towards the moon. A third instrument, a mass spectrometer, will sense the moon’s atmospheric constituents as it keeps falling and crashes on the moon. All this data will be sent to Chandrayaan-1 till the MIP crashes on the moon. Chandrayaan-1, in turn, would beam the data to the earth, Mr. Annadurai said.

IDSN tracks Japanese lunar mission R. Ramachandran ‘We have been able to establish downlink with the spacecraft with the help of JAXA’ Bangalore: The impressive communications infrastructure, Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN), set up by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to transmit to and receive signals from Chandrayaan 1, successfully tracked last week the Japanese lunar mission, SELENE (Koguya), launched in 2007 and now in orbit around the moon.

“We have been able to establish downlink with the spacecraft with the help of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency),” S.K. Shiva Kumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command (ISTRAC), told The Hindu. “We have also been able to bring uplink fairly quickly, establish contact with the spacecraft and track it successfully. That has given us ample confidence. If you have tracked a similar object closer to the moon and have been able to establish links with it with good margins, to that extent your comfort level is high. You don’t have to worry about our capability to do with Chandrayaan,” he said. IDSN has been set up at Byalalu village, 40 km from Bangalore. It is an important and critical element of Chandrayaan 1, expected to be launched on October 22, as it is the constant communication link to the lunar satellite from the ground for tracking it as well as for its orbit control and housekeeping operations for the entire duration of the moon mission of about two years. Doing this for a deep space mission such as the moon mission is a different ball game altogether compared to the satellite missions that ISRO has undertaken hitherto, which have included Low Earth Orbit (LEO) remote sensing IRS system of satellites and geostationary communication INSAT satellites. Missions that go beyond a distance of 100,000 km from the earth are usually termed as deep space missions. The IDSN comprises a massive 32-metre antenna, that has been designed and built indigenously and an 18-metre antenna built by a German agency to ISRO’s specifications. As the launch of Chandrayaan approaches, the question is how do we know that DSN 32 will perform as desired, given that ISRO has had no earlier experience in deep space missions? How is DSN 32 calibrated to say with confidence that Chanadrayaan will be accurately tracked throughout its lifetime? The IDSN will take over the tracking of Chandrayaan 17 minutes after its launch from Satish Dhawan Space Launch Centre at Sriharikota when the satellite would have separated from the launch vehicle. While, in principle, it would suffice for IDSN to take over after the lunar satellite reaches the Earth Transfer Orbit (ETO) of 100,000 km apogee, being the first deep space mission, IDSN plans to track in parallel beyond the first ETO apogee of 22,000 km itself, according to Dr. Shiva Kumar. “When Chandrayaan goes near the moon, we will be there to track it,” Dr. Shiva Kumar said. In addition, beginning this week, DSN 32 will also be put into calibration and test mode with another deep space probe of the European Space Agency (ESA) called ROSETTA, a probe launched in 2004 with the objective of landing on the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. When link with ROSETTA would be established, DSN 32 would have truly proved itself as real deep space tracking system. In addition, IDSN is also being put to regularly tracking radio stars. “We have been tracking Cygnus, Cassiopeia (supernova remnant stars) and, of course, sun and moon which are all good radio sources in their own right. We have been able to obtain signals from them and track them,” Dr. Shiva Kumar said. “This has also given us ample experience …we now know how to maximise our signals,” he added.

Giant antenna set to track Chandrayaan I Staff Reporter

It will begin tracking the lunar satellite six hours after its launch ECIL develops antenna with help from BARC and ISRO

Bangalore: Signalling another milestone in the countdown to the launch of moon mission Chandrayaan I, the giant 32-metre antenna at the Indian Deep Space Network Facility in Byalalu village set up to track its progress, was officially inaugurated on Friday by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G. Madhavan Nair. Collaboration The fully-steerable 300-tonne antenna has been developed indigenously by Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) in collaboration with scientists from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and ISRO. The antenna will begin tracking the lunar satellite within six hours of its launch on October 22 at 6.20 a.m. from Sriharikota, Chairman and Managing Director of ECIL K.S. Rajashekhara Rao told presspersons here on Friday. Voyage It will continue tracking the satellite’s 400,000-km voyage to the moon and its orbit around the moon for the next two years. After it completes tracking of the two-year Chandrayaan I mission, the antenna will be put to use for ISRO’s future missions, including Chandryaan II. Lifespan The Rs. 65-crore project has a lifespan of two decades, according to Mr. Rao. “India now joins the exclusive league of countries that have the technological competence in deep space networks,” Mr. Rao said. A few weeks ago the IDSN successfully tracked the Japanese lunar mission, SELENE. Chandrayaan I will have 11 experiments on board and will gather information on distribution of minerals on the moon, and capture the high resolution pictures of lunar topography.

Chandrayaan to be launched on October 22 Bangalore (PTI): India's first unmanned lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, is scheduled to be launched from the spaceport of Sriharikota at 6.20 am on October 22, Indian Space Research Organisation sources said on Monday. The satellite was transported from here to Sriharikota in a special vehicle last week and has reached the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR). The spacecraft is expected to be mated with ISRO's work-horse rocket, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) later this week, the sources told PTI. The spacecraft would carry 11 payloads -- five from India and six from the US, Europe and Bulgaria. It would be launched on board PSLV-C11. Chandrayaan-1 satellite would orbit the Moon at an altitude of 100 km mapping the topography and the mineralogical content of the lunar soil.

Chandrayaan-1 would also carry a Moon Impact Probe payload for demonstrating the technology needed towards landing on the Moon's surface. India believes the Rs 386-crore lunar mission is a step towards its quest for exploration of outer space and inter-planetary missions.

Moon mission is not expensive, says ISRO Bangalore (PTI): Dismissing suggestions that Chandrayaan-1 was an expensive mission, ISRO today said the moon odyssey will enable India to upgrade technological expertise for exploration of outer space and ultimately help in setting up a base on the earth's natural satellite. "Moon mission cost is less than Rs 400 crore, which is just ten per cent of annual budget of ISRO spread over many years," ISRO spokesperson S Satish said, countering critics who questioned the need for such a venture when other countries have already explored the moon. Cost of India's first unmanned lunar mission, slated for October 22, is Rs 386 crore, which includes Rs 100 crore for the establishment of Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu near here that will perform the task of receiving radio signals transmitted by future satellites, not just Chandrayaan-1. "Those who argue that the moon mission is unnecessary do not know the full facts," say ISRO officials. For example, previous moon missions have been undertaken by individual countries and it's no secret that expertise of that nature are not shared. So, India had to do it by itself lest it would lose out in the race for the Moon. Besides, the moon mission would enable ISRO to upgrade its technological expertise further as it takes steps towards its quest for exploration of outer space and inter-planetary missions. "There is also the pride factor. With China forging ahead in the space field, India cannot lag behind and miss the bus. Moreover, some kind of colonisation of Moon cannot be ruled out in the coming decades. We have to have our presence," an ISRO official said.

Cabinet clears Chandrayaan-2 P. Sunderarajan NEW DELHI: Even as the Indian Space Research Organisation is getting ready for the launch of its maiden mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, the Cabinet gave approval for the second mission at a cost of Rs. 425 crore. Chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the meeting on Thursday also gave its nod for the establishment of an autonomous Institute of Nano Science and Technology at Mohali near Chandigarh at a cost of Rs. 142 crore. It would cover all aspects of the emerging area of nanoscience and technology, from basic research and commercialisation of new technologies to human resource development. During the initial period, it would focus on nano bio-pharma, food and agriculture, and nanometeorology. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval for a Rs. 820crore programme for providing scholarships under the Ministry of Science

and Technology’s Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research scheme. To be implemented from this financial year, the programme aims at attracting talented youth to science-intensive programmes by providing scholarships and mentoring through summer attachments to researchers working in scientific institutions. The CCEA also gave its nod for another scheme of scholarship for college and university students at a cost of Rs. 1,000 crore during the 11th Plan period, and for renewing scholarship for national scholarship holders under the earlier scheme till the completion of their courses. The scheme is designed to help meritorious students belonging to poorer sections meet day-to-day expenses.

How Chandrayaan-1 will help compile a 3D atlas R. PRASAD

The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on-board Chandrayaan-1 is a unique demonstration of space scientists’ ingenuity. It will be able to produce a 3D

atlas of the moon using a single camera. The resolution will be 5 metres. This will help to prepare a 3D atlas with a unprecedented high-resolution.

Developed indigenously Developed by the Ahmedabad based Space Applications Centre, the TMC will be able to image the moon’s surface from three directions — vertically down view, forward view and backward view along the path of the spacecraft’s orbit. The three view imaging feature of TMC is the first among ISRO’s remote sensing payloads. “The three different views become possible as the camera picks up data from three different angles,” said Dr. Kiran Kumar A.S., Deputy Director, Sensor Development Area, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad. “The three images are picked up simultaneously from three different angles by the Terrain Mapping Camera.” The data will enable the preparation of a three dimensional lunar atlas. For 3D information, at least 2 views of the region from different angles are required.

Overcoming occlusion The three views of TMC will ensure that regions on slope where the viewing angle is smaller than the slope is not occluded, as the image of the slope will be available by the third view. One would normally need three cameras to image a feature simultaneously from three different angles. So how does the Terrain Imaging Camera manage to do it with just one camera? “It is due to the innovative design of the camera,” Dr. Kumar said. “A set of two mirrors in the camera are used to provide two angles apart from the nadir [view from the top] view.” While a normal camera of four mega pixels would have 2,000 by 2,000 elements, the Terrain Mapping Camera does not capture data the same way. “We don’t get one frame at a time but one single line,” he said. The 4,000 pixels (1 pixel covers an area of 5 metre x 5 metre from a height of 100 km from the moon) in the Terrain Mapping Camera are arranged in a linear manner. While the spacecraft moves in north-south polar orbit, the camera covers a width of 20 km in an east-west direction.

The swath Hence the area covered in an instant is 5 m x 20 km (4,000 by 5 metres). This is called the swath. “We can map 4,000 elements by 5 metres (20 km swath) in one instant and the next moment we move to cover another 5 metres,” Dr. Kumar explained. An area of 1.5 km of the moon is imaged in one second. All the three views generate a 2-D image, as each view covers north-south and east-west directions (X, Y directions). And a 3-D view of a point can be generated by combining the 2-D data by using data from any of the two views. Since the three views of the camera are in the same direction of the spacecraft movement, a point lying in the path of the orbit is covered by all the three views. “Combining all the 3 views provides more details and takes

care of the occlusion problem,” said A Roy Chowdhury, Head, Geo & Planetary Sensor Electronics Division and Instrument Scientist TMC & HySI, Chandrayaan-1 at Space Applications Centre. The spacecraft will take nearly two hours to complete one north-south polar orbit. But the moon will not be imaged continuously for the full two hours of the orbit. The solar illumination changes as the moon moves in its orbit. So the imaging time is limited to minimise the variation of illumination conditions.

Prime imaging period Limiting the solar aspect angle to 30 degrees on either side of the equator will result in a prime imaging period of just 60 days in six months. “We will get two slots of 60 days each in a year. We will pick up data during these two slots,” said Dr. Kumar. So this results “in imaging for only 20 minutes per six visible orbits from the Indian ground station to cover the whole moon.” The area covered during 20 minutes of imaging will be 1,800 km (1.5 km will be imaged in a second). These are some of the reasons why the mission period is two years though imaging the moon can theoretically be completed in 28 days — the time taken by the moon to complete one rotation. The camera has four exposure settings and this lets the camera record data from areas not well illuminated by the sun, particularly those lying in higher latitudes up to the poles. While increasing the exposure time would allow imaging the less lit areas, the spacecraft will be moving during such long exposures. This will result in coarser resolution of the images. The 3D atlas with a unprecedented high resolution will help in better understanding of the moon’s evolution process. It will also help researchers to identify regions of the moon for detailed study. The images will also “be an important input for analysing data from other scientific instruments on Chandrayaan-1.

Mission moon T.S. SUBRAMANIAN

On October 22, 2008, India joined a select band of five countries when its rocket called Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) erupted into life in its launch pad at the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and put Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft into its initial orbit 18 minutes and 20 seconds later. The other countries/agencies to have sent spacecraft to the moon are Russia, the U.S., the European Space Agency, Japan and China. Thus Chandrayaan-1’s journey to th e moon, which is about 3.84 lakh km away, has begun. It will be November 15 when the spacecraft ultimately reaches its destination at an altitude of 100 km around the moon.

In orbit Chandrayaan-1 being put into orbit on its journey towards the moon opens a new chapter in the history of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The latter’s truly indigenous space programme began on February 22, 1969, when ISRO launched a “pencil” rocket, weighing 10 kg from Thumba, near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This “toy” rocket was a few feet tall. It rose a few km into the air. Today, the PSLV-C11 is 44.4 metres tall and weighs a massive 316 tonnes. Chandrayaan-1 itself weighed 1,380 kg on the ground. It will weigh 590 kg when it travels around the moon at an altitude of 100 km.

Photo: ISRO

Chandrayaan-1: Surrounded by the golden-coloured insulation foil, on board the PSLV-C11 at Sriharikota. Chandrayaan-1 carries 11 scientific instruments. Of these, five instruments are from India and six from other countries. They will take pictures of the moon’s soil to gather information on its hills, valleys, craters, chemicals and minerals such as uranium, thorium, silicon, magnesium and so on. These instruments will also confirm whether there is water ice on the moon. An important instrument, built by India, is the Moon Impact Probe (MIP). This MIP, with the Indian flag painted on it, will eject from the mother-spacecraft, that is, Chandrayaan-1 and crash on the moon. That will be a truly historic moment when the Tricolour is dropped on the moon’s surface.

Missions so far

Apollo 11 There have been two kinds of missions to the moon so far: unmanned, that is, a spacecraft may circle the moon or land on its soil; and manned missions in which human beings walk on its surface. The U.S.: Apollo-11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 the six manned missions to the moon

Twelve American astronauts have walked on the moon. They have brought back about 400 kg of moon’s rock and soil samples. The U.S.S.R.: In 1959, Luna 1 circled the moon at an altitude of 6,000 km. In 1959, the Soviet Luna 2 hit the lunar surface. It took pictures of the far side of the moon and transmitted them to the earth. In 1966, Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. U.S. : In the 1960s, the U.S. launched its Ranger spacecraft series which hit the lunar surface. Surveyor robotic spacecraft soft-landed on the moon soil

Neil Armstrong Lunar Orbiter spacecraft took pictures of the moon. July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. The European Space Agency (ESA) sent SMART-1 in 2003 to take images of the moon.

Chang’e-1 The first phase of the lunar exploration ended in 1976. The second phase began in 1990 The Japanese launched the Hiten spacecraft to the moon. In 2007, Japan orbited Lunar-A and Kaguya (earlier called Selene) and China its Chang’e-1 spacecraft to take images of the moon. So far, there have been 67 missions (from various countries) to the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 is Mission 68 and India’s maiden mission to the moon. In 1994, the U.S.’ robotic spacecraft mission identified what appeared to be traces of water ice on the moon’s surface.

What Chandrayaan-1 aims to accomplish T.S. SUBRAMANIAN

Although India has earlier built multi-purpose INSATs which combined communication and meteorology payloads, Chandrayaan-1 is a novel clubbing together of remote-sensing and communication payloads. Chandrayaan-1’s orbit may be similar to the geo-synchronous transfer orbit of a communication satellite. The complexities of the remote-sensing payloads in Chandrayaan-1 are also similar to those of the regular remote-sensing satellites. The comparison stops there. For “all [the Indian] instruments on board Chandrayaan-1 have been made for the first time [in the country]. We had to develop prototypes and test them for high levels of endurance in the environment,” said T.K. Alex, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, which built the spacecraft. For this spacecraft, every system and sub-system is critical. “We have made sure that their reliability is good. For every item, we had a redundant system. If an item or a sub-system did not work, we had a standby. We had two star-trackers. We had two gyroscopes, two transmitters, two receivers and so on,” he added.

Looking for water ice Chandrayaan-1 carries on board 11 instruments — five from India and six from abroad.

These scientific payloads will help in preparing a three-dimensional atlas of the entire topographic surface of the moon, spot minerals such as thorium, magnesium, aluminium, silicon, iron and titanium, and in confirming the reported presence of water ice in the moon’s polar regions. The spacecraft’s communication sub-system transmits this precious information gathered by these 11 instruments to the earth in ‘X-band’ through its dual gimballed antenna, which has been made in India. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, has been the dynamic driving force behind the integration of the 11 instruments in the spacecraft bus. Mission wise, the journey of Chandrayaan-1 towards the moon is extremely complicated. “For the first time, we are sending a spacecraft beyond the earth’s orbit deep into space,” Dr. Alex said.

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. Later, the scientific instruments are switched on. The Moon Impact Probe, one of the 11 instruments, is ejected from Chandrayaan-1 and it hits the lunar surface.

To study moon’s origin The five Indian payloads are Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) , Hyperspectral Imager (HySI), Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) and MIP. The TMC is a charged coupled device (CCD) camera which will take images of the near and far side

of the moon which will enable preparation of the 3-D atlas of the entire lunar surface. This will help in understanding the origin and evolution of the moon. The HySI, which is also a CCD camera, will provide mineralogical mapping of uranium and thorium deposits.

Lunar gravity These images will help in identifying the mineralogical compositions in the moon’s deep crater region. The LLRI will provide the accurate height of moon’s hills and mountains, and depths of craters. This information will be useful in getting an improved model of lunar gravity. HEX will enable exploration of the moon’s polar regions. The MIP, which will crash-land on the moon, is a forerunner to India landing rovers on the moon. It has a video-camera, which will take pictures of the lunar surface every second of its 20-minute descent to the moon. Its altimeter will measure the MIP’s altitude from the moon every second of its descent. Its mass spectrometer will analyse moon’s thin atmosphere. The highresolution and low resolution optics in the cameras of the Indian instruments have been fabricated by the Laboratory for Electro-Optic Systems (LEOS), Bangalore. Dr. Alex, who was the founder-director of LEOS, said: “We get raw, special glass, grind it and polish it into mirrors and lenses of very large sizes. We can fabricate at LEOS lenses and mirrors of half-a-metre to one metre diameter.” Of the six instruments from abroad, three are from the European Space Agency (ESA), two from the U.S. and one from Bulgaria.

Looking for minerals The three ESA payloads are Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (CIXS) which will measure the presence of magnesium, aluminium, silicon, iron and titanium on the moon’s surface; Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) will study the moon’s surface composition, the way in which its surface reacts with solar wind and so on; Smart Near Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2) will study the lunar surface to explore its mineral resources. Bulgaria’s Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM) will characterise the moon’s radiation environment. NASA’s Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) will detect water ice in the moon’s permanently shadowed polar regions. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) also of NASA will map lunar minerals.

How Chandrayaan-1 will be put in the moon’s sphere of influence ROY MATHEW

— Photo: M. Vedhan

All set: The fully assembled PSLV-C11, which will launch Chandrayaan-1 on October 22. The enhanced capabilities of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and accurate modelling of the forces that act on the Chandrayaan-1 satellite in orbit make India’s mission to Moon possible next week. The PSLV will put the satellite into an elliptical orbit under the influence of earth’s gravity. The inbuilt rockets of the satellite will then push it to the moon’s sphere of influence.

Final destination The final destination is a circular Lunar orbit 100 kilometres above the surface of the Moon. The first challenge for the engineers of ISRO will be to put the satellite into the transfer orbit around the earth. The PSLV has been modified to lift the 1,304 tonne satellite and attain a highly elliptical orbit. The nearest point (perigee) of this orbit will be about 250 kilometres and the farthest point (apogee) will be about 22,860 km away from earth. The launch vehicle will have to achieve a velocity of about 26,000 km an hour to place the satellite into the transfer orbit. This, it will do in just over 18 minutes, or 1,096 seconds, to be exact. The capacity of the strap-on-booster motors of PSLV has been increased from nine to 12 tonnes of solid propellant to achieve that. (Because of the increased length of the strap-ons, they are referred to with the suffix XL.) The first stage of the vehicle together with its six strap-on boosters carries 320 tonnes of propellants. The third stage also uses solid propellant while the second and fourth stages use liquid propellants. Once the launch Vehicle puts the satellite into orbit, the inbuilt thrusters are used to move it into an extended transfer orbit. Then a trajectory to transfer the satellite into the moon’s gravitational sphere is achieved through multiple manoeuvres to extend the apogee beyond 3.8 lakh kilometres. The calculation of the gravitational and other forces acting on the satellite at this and earlier stages is crucial in guiding the satellite into the right orbits. The Indian Space Research has prepared models for this, and the calculations have been validated in reference to models used by other space agencies.

The manoeuvre

The manoeuvre to insert the satellite into Lunar orbit will be done when the moon is at its nearest position to earth. The Indian Space Research Organisation is hoping to use a window available early in November. For this, the launching is to be done between October 22 and 28. Before the moon is in position, a trial will be done by extending the apogee beyond the position where the moon would be at the time of insertion. When the satellite falls into the Lunar orbit, it will be about 500 km (periseline) from surface of the Moon on an elliptical orbit that will extend to 5000 km (apo-seline). The orbit will then be reduced to 100 km in steps by slowing down the satellite. Corrections and Clarifications (A sentence in the third paragraph of a report "How Chandrayaan-1 will be put in the moon's sphere of influence" ("Science & Technology" page, October 16, 2008) was "The PSLV has been modified to lift the 1,304 tonne [Chandrayaan-1] satellite and attain a highly elliptical orbit". It was an error. The Indian Space Research Organisation describes Chandrayaan-1 as weighing 1,304 kg at launch and 590 kg at lunar orbit.)

Get ready for a mission to the moon Y. MALLIKARJUN Space trekking and galactic galas are in the offing according to the Astronautical Congress.

In touch with space: At the astronautical expo Have you ever wondered how it would be to exchange notes on space tourism, ways to prevent an asteroid from hitting the earth, global exploration strategy, future lunar and interplanetary missions and satellitebased telemedicine network? Well this was exactly what one was party to and more at the 58th International Astronautical Congress held here recently. The world’s top space scientists, astronauts, builders of rockets and satellites, specialists in space debris and space law were among the 2,000odd experts, who gathered to discuss ways to improve the quality of life by using space technologies.

Celebrate the launch

With this year marking the golden jubilee of the launch of the artificial satellite, Sputnik-1 by the then Soviet Union, a special screening of the historic event was held for the delegates. 2007 also celebrates the 50th anniversary of International Geophysical Year and 40th anniversary of Outer Space Treaty. Missions to the moon and Mars held the centre-stage in the deliberations. The renewed interest in the moon was attributed to the fact that it could be used as a springboard to go to Mars. India’s Chandrayaan mission, Japan’s Selene and Chinese missions were highlighted. NASA administrator, Michael Griffin said he was "convinced" that the first human mission to Mars would take place by 2037.

Trail blazers

About 250 young professionals from abroad and 50 college students also attended the Congress. And adding light to the galactic affair were the trail blazers. Sunita Williams, the star-speaker at the global space extravaganza, was scheduled to deliver two lectures on the concluding day of the meet. Former president, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam participated in an interactive session with students from schools in Hyderabad. An international exhibition held as part of the Congress enthused Indian and foreign students alike. K.Shashank, a second year engineering student, observed that the expo provided him a rare opportunity to know about the progress made in space technology by various countries. Similar views were echoed by a Std. X Korean student, Sangmin Lee, who said that she learnt new things about satellites and rockets after attending the expo.

We have mastered the technology' T.S. SUBRAMANIAN Interview with G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, and Secretary, Department of Space.

K MURALI KUMAR

AROUND the world there has been a renewed interest in exploring the moon's surface. The Japanese and the Chinese will send spacecraft to the moon. The Americans will launch a lunar reconnaissance orbiter in 2008. In India, the Indian Space Research Organisation has its own plans, G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, and Secretary, Department of Space, told Frontline in an interview at his office at ISRO headquarters, Bangalore, on November 20. In the first quarter of 2008 it plans to send the spacecraft Chandrayaan-I into the moon's orbit, which will drop a Moon Impact Probe onto lunar soil. A subsequent mission will land a robot capable of doing its own chemical analysis and sending the results to the earth. ISRO is evolving plans to send an Indian into space. As a first step towards this, it will launch a Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE) from Sriharikota in January 2007, Madhavan Nair said. Excerpts from the interview: So far, ISRO has sent satellites into a geostationary transfer orbit at a height of 36,000 km by 180 km. But its spacecraft Chandrayaan-I will orbit the moon, which is about 3.8 lakh km away from the earth. What technological challenges do you foresee in covering such a great distance, in navigation, in building propulsion systems and so on?

Unlike previous launch vehicle missions, we will not be able to have an autonomous navigation and guidance system for the Chandrayaan-I mission. We have to depend heavily on tracking carried out from the ground station. Towards this, we are establishing a Deep Space Tracking Network at Byalalu near Bangalore. It will be our own station. Maybe, for the initial phase, we will draw support from one of the stations outside [India] to provide continuous support to receive telemetry, send telecommands and fix accurately the trajectory parameters. Even after getting these data, one has to go through a large amount of processing to remove the noise and arrive at the appropriate coordinates. So this is going to be the first of its kind. We have not experienced tracking a spacecraft to distances more than 36,000 km so far - decision-making will be important. The propulsion system we are going to use in Chandrayaan is similar to what we are using for INSATs. So far we have had minimum uncertainties on that count. We hope we will be able to carry out a number of simulations and validation tests well before

the launch so that we can have a systematic launch operation for taking the spacecraft to the moon. Besides sending Chandrayaan to orbit the moon, you are going to land a probe on the surface of the moon. In what way will this Moon Impact Probe be useful for future missions? The impactor is essentially to evaluate the lunar trajectories. When we send the spacecraft to the moon, the gravitational field will have a strong influence on its [the spacecraft's] orbit. We have some inputs available on this based on past missions. But when the spacecraft orbits the moon we will get some data on this. Using these, we will try to define a trajectory for the impactor. That will be one of our major experiments. As the impactor descends, it will take closer pictures of the lunar surface and when it impacts, it will kick up some dust. Using the mass spectrometer, we will be able to get the signature related to the composition of the material that covers the lunar surface. This is the first step towards later missions, which that will require a soft landing and a robot, experimental set-up to analyse and return the data. So will the future ISRO mission land a robot on the moon? We are trying to conceive of an experiment in which the system will land on the lunar surface, move around and pick up samples, do their chemical analysis and transmit the data back to the ground. K MURALI KUMAR

AN INDIGENOUSLY DEVELOPED cryogenic engine at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri near Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu. How important is the Deep Space Tracking Network for future missions to the moon? You have already installed a

satellite antenna with a dish diameter of 18 metres at Byalalu to track Chandrayaan, and you are soon going to erect one with a diameter of 32 metres. ISRO is going to invest Rs.100 crores out of Rs.386 crores for the Chandrayaan-I mission on the Deep Space Network. Is it a sound investment and why do you locate it near Bangalore? First of all, the Deep Space Network is going to be a national effort. It is going to serve not only the moon mission, but other spacecraft missions at a later date, such as one to Mars. Secondly, the technological challenges associated with developing large antenna systems, accurate tracking systems and so on, are providing a challenge to the technical people at BARC [Bhabha Atomic Research Centre], ECIL [Electronics Corporation of India Limited] and ISRO. Thirdly, it will provide us with the opportunity to offer our support to other countries if they have deep-space missions. How do you explain the revival of interest now in exploring the moon's surface? Earlier, lunar explorations were driven by national prestige. The United States wanted their man to land on the moon and they achieved it. Russia [Soviet Union] concentrated more on sending robots and instruments to the moon. These explorations were more or less confined to the equatorial regions of the moon. At the same time, there was a lot of scientific interest in studying the entire lunar surface, especially at the poles, where it is hypothesised that there is some trace of water. But there is no clear proof as yet. All this provides a lot of interest to the scientific community to explore the moon. This is one of the driving forces. People are also looking at whether the minerals on the lunar surface can be economically exploited. It means a lot more data are required on the abundance of various elements and on whether it is feasible to mine them and bring them back. Besides, if we want to travel further to other planets, such as Mars or even to the outer solar system, an intermediate base may be required. From that point of view, a lunar base will provide us with an opportunity, and this again is one of the driving forces. Above all, trying to understand the moon will help us try to understand the origin of the earth and its evolution. This is because it is believed that the moon spun off from the earth at some point of time in its evolution. The present political leadership of India is keen on sending an Indian astronaut into space. Is this because it wants India to catch up with China, which has already sent its astronauts into space?

You are perhaps reading too much between the lines. The first thing is, any such project normally goes through a review process at all levels. In fact, we are in zero phase, where the concepts are being evolved. They are being projected to the scientific community and the latter's viewpoints for and against such a mission are being received. We are trying to evaluate the benefits and the costs involved, the type of technological maturity required, the infrastructure required and so on. Based on this assessment only can we go to the government and seek its permission for going ahead with such a programme. We hope that in a year's time we will have convergence on all these issues. Once we have clarity, we will be able to submit a report to the government. In January 2007, ISRO will launch a PSLV from Sriharikota, which will orbit the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE), a recoverable satellite. In what way will this SRE be useful for a manned mission to space? The SRE is a small capsule to demonstrate zero-gravity experiments and the results (payloads) in the SRE will be recovered. But a capsule for a manned mission has to be much bigger. Compared to the 500 kg capsule for the SRE, the manned mission capsule will weigh a few tonnes, three to four tonnes at least. Also, the type of requirements for the life-support systems, the radiation environment, zero-gravity and so on will be very complex. So the manned mission is an order of magnitude higher than that of the SRE. Some inputs related to the breaking of the orbits, bringing the capsule back to the surface on a safe mode and so on, will form the inputs for the design of a manned capsule. What challenges will you face in sending a man into space? Plenty. It will be a major driver for technology development in the country. The launch vehicle has to be made more reliable than it is today. We don't want to take risks with human beings. Then there are the launch, abort and rescue systems. In any part of the mission, we should be able to rescue the astronauts from the capsule and bring them back to the ground in case of any problem with the mission. Thirdly, we have to design a capsule which can withstand the launch environment, later the space environment, especially the severe radiation and vacuum conditions, and the capsule should have life-support systems for food, water, waste management and so on. A host of new elements need to be developed. Training the astronauts will need a big infrastructure [development] in aero-medicine, in simulations for various conditions and in evaluation courses. We believe that these will be a real challenge for the entire scientific community, not only within ISRO but also outside. After the Union Cabinet approves the ISRO proposal, will it take 10 years for ISRO to send an Indian into space? It depends. We are working out the technical details, the elements that need to be developed. Preliminary estimates show that eight to 10 years could be the time-frame after approval.

Will it cost Rs.10,000 crores? It is a ballpark figure. After that, do we plan to send a man to the moon? To go into orbit with a man and bring him back, we require a velocity increment of something like 11 km a second. If you want to go to the moon and come back [with him], it is 122 km a second. So the launch vehicles have to be more powerful, with a heavy lift capability that can provide this kind of velocity to the capsule. This needs to be addressed separately. At what stage is the development of ISRO's re-usable launch vehicle? We have not embarked on the development of the vehicle itself but a technology demonstration to study the hypersonic behaviour... of the vehicle and how to make the controls at a high mach regime. [One mach equals the speed of sound.] These experiments have been conceived and in two years from now, we will have a demonstrator flight. These inputs will go towards the design of a recoverable and reusable launch vehicle by 2010 or so. Through a series of ground tests, you were able to achieve supersonic combustion and you held the flame for seven seconds when the velocity was Mach six (that is, six times the speed of sound). There are very few countries that have demonstrated this capability, and perhaps we are the third in the series. The next step we are planning is a sounding rocket experiment. Sounding rockets are used to conduct experiments in the upper atmosphere. A sounding rocket will be modified to carry one of the air-breathing modules and that will be flown soon. When? We have not fixed the date. It will take at least a year. An article appeared in The Hindu recently that questioned ISRO's plans to send a man into space. It was sceptical of the benefits that would accrue from the mission. It also said it would go against Vikram Sarabhai's philosophy that space endeavour should bring benefits to the common man. We want such inputs. Then only we can sharpen our thoughts on this process. I would say that it is a welcome analysis from a common man. We must keep in mind that humankind has progressed only because it has taken up challenges. If Columbus had not ventured [across the Atlantic], today's America would not have been there. Similarly, if we had not gone to Antarctica, we would not have known anything in-depth about oceans, life sciences and so on. Naturally, we will have an in-depth

understanding of space [by sending a man to space]. For that, there is a price to pay. If you take the space programme, the spin-offs are substantial. The technology spin-offs that will result from such a high-tech area can more than justify what you are spending.

India is emerging as an economic power. If you want to sustain this economic growth, scientific capacity has to match it. Perhaps the scientific and technical challenges are greater in space [exploration] than in another field. By investing in it [space exploration], we will contribute much more to our stature globally. A scientist commented at our meeting that the so-called cost for our manned mission is equivalent to building a 2,000 MWe power plant - Rs.5 crores for each MWe. So it is affordable. When will you conduct the full-duration firing of the indigenous cryogenic stage for 720 seconds at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu? We will do it in the last week of December. A cryogenic stage is one of the most difficult propulsion systems that can be developed. We have our own technology that is on a par with that of the advanced countries. We have mastered the technology and we have full confidence that we can reproduce it in flight. We have mastered the material technology in terms of stainless steel, copper, Kevlar composites, high-speed bearings, control components and so on. All these have come of age.

India in space N.GOPAL RAJ Since 1980, India has come a long way in its space programme. Only seven countries, including India, have so far been able to launch satellites.

AT THE SATISH DHAWAN SPACE CENTRE (SDSC) SHAR, SRIHARIKOTA: ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C6. PHOTO: ISRO It was nearly 50 years ago that the first artificial satellite went into orbit around earth. That satellite was Sputnik 1, and it was a metal sphere just two-and-a- half times the diameter of a football. The launch of Sputnik 1 marked the beginning of the space age. Far bigger and heavier satellites now circle overhead. Many of these satellites play an important part in day-to-day life, relaying telephone conversations around the globe, broadcasting television and radio programmes, keeping watch on the world's storms and taking photographs of the earth that are needed for a variety of purposes. Scientific satellites help study our planet and to peer at distant stars. Spacecraft have gone to the moon as well as to various planets in the solar system. Humans have walked on the moon and lived aboard the International Space Station that orbits the earth. But leaving the earth and getting into space is no easy task. It is not enough that a launch vehicle carries a satellite to the required height and leaves it there because, the satellite would fall back to earth. To prevent the earth's gravity from dragging it down, the satellite must move horizontally at sufficient speed. For example, if a satellite is to circle earth at a height of 300 km (about the distance from Chennai to Bangalore), it needs to travel 30 times faster than a passenger jet. It is the job of the launch vehicle to take the satellite to the desired altitude and to give it the speed needed to stay in orbit. Accelerating through the atmosphere to reach those sorts of speeds is risky and accidents do happen from time to time. The technology is difficult and just seven countries, including India, have so far been able to launch satellites.

In orbit India's first satellite launch vehicle, the SLV-3, successfully flew in 1980. The SLV-3 and the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) that followed it

were experimental launchers intended to give Indian scientists and engineers sufficient experience before building more powerful rockets. Both the SLV-3 and ASLV were able to put small satellites in orbit. Today, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) routinely takes big earthobservation satellites built within the country into space. The more powerful Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) carries the country's satellites for communications and broadcasting. The current GSLV can launch satellites that are 125 times heavier than those the SLV-3 could carry. In two years' time, the PSLV will send Chandrayaan 1, an unmanned spacecraft carrying scientific instruments, on its way to the moon. India's space programme has come a very long way and many more challenges undoubtedly await it in the years ahead. Gifted physicist Vikram Sarabhai, a gifted physicist, was not put off by the huge difficulties a poor and industrially backward country like India would face in trying to master such complex technology. A few years after the launch of Sputnik 1, he was able to convince the Indian Government that the country would be able to build its own satellites and carry them into space on its own launch vehicles.

The first step was learning to launch foreign-made 'sounding rockets'. These are small rockets that carry scientific instruments high up into the atmosphere. Later, these sounding rockets were made within the country. Photo caption: Dr. Homi Bhabha and Dr. Vikram Sarabhai

Over the moon T.S. SUBRAMANIAN NASA chief's visit opens a new chapter in India-U.S. space cooperation.

K. BHAGYA PRAKASH

G. MADHAVAN NAIR, ISRO Chairman, and Michael Griffin, NASA Administrator, addressing the press at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore after signing an MoU on the inclusion of two U.S. instruments on Chandrayaan-1. WHEN Michael Griffin, Administrator of the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), spent 10 minutes closely examining the intricacies of an Indian-made cyrogenic engine at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram on May 10, nobody there, especially the top brass of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), would have missed the irony. Thirteen years ago, in July 1993, the U.S. had forced Russia not to sell cryogenic technology to ISRO because, it said, cryogenic engines were used to power missiles. Under an agreement India and Russia signed in January 1991, Russia was to supply not only cryogenic engines but cryogenic technology for ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLVs). But in May 1992 the George Bush Sr administration imposed sanctions on both ISRO and Glavkosmos, the Russian space agency which was to sell it the engines and technology. In early 1993, the U.S. virtually served an ultimatum on the Russian government to renege on the agreement. The Boris Yeltsin administration yielded. In an interview to Space India (October 1993 - March 1994) just before he laid down office, ISRO Chairman U.R. Rao called the U.S. embargo "uncalled for". Rao said: "Firstly, nobody uses cryogenic engines for missiles and, secondly, if they [the U.S.] had wanted to object, they could have done so earlier and they knew fully well that for the last five years, people have been approaching us... and one and a half years after the contract was signed with the Russians, they [the U.S.] woke up. Anyway, commercial motives are behind all these. But the Russians reneged on the contract invoking the force majeure clause."

ISRO went ahead and developed its own cryogenic engine at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu and tested it successfully on December 5, 2003. A few more engines were tested since then and it was one of these that held Griffin's attention. At lunch on that day, Griffin gave ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair his visiting card after writing his mobile phone number on it and told him that he could call him any time. The NASA Administrator went round three key ISRO facilities: the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore, the VSSC, and the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. At the VSSC, Griffin was taken around the various facilities, including the simulation laboratory where a launch vehicle in flight is simulated. He then saw a presentation on ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and GSLV programmes, the PSLV variants, how ISRO was able to step up the PSLV's payload capability, the GSLV-Mark III version under development, ISRO's theoretical studies on interplanetary missions to the moon and Jupiter, and so on. VSSC Director B.N. Suresh, who made the presentation, said: "He [Griffin] clearly enjoyed his visit to the VSSC. He felt we have done a very good job in all space segments. He said ISRO was doing remarkable work within the budget available to it." At the ISRO Satellite Centre, K.N. Shankara, Director, and Madhavan Nair took Griffin around the laboratories, which are among the ISRO facilities that are likely to see more American involvement. Madhavan Nair and Griffin later signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on flying two U.S.-made instruments on board Chandrayaan-1, ISRO's satellite to the moon, opening a new chapter in India-U.S. cooperation. The instruments are a Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini SAR) developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, and funded by NASA, and the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), jointly built by Brown University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA. The instruments were selected on merit from 16 firm proposals from all over the world in response to an ISRO announcement. The mini SAR will look for water in the permanently shadowed areas of the polar regions of the moon. The M3 will scan the lunar surface for minerals. In his speech before the MoU was signed, Griffin said: "It is fitting for our purposes today to note that 35 years ago this summer, during the Apollo 15 mission to Hadley Rille beneath the moon's towering Apennine mountains, among the special items that our astronauts carried with them was the national flag of India... . "Today, the Indian people deserve to be tremendously proud that the next time the Indian flag travels to the moon, it will be placed on a very impressive scientific spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1. The mission you will conduct some 40 years after humans saw the moon up close for the first time will greatly advance our

understanding of our closest neighbour in space, and represents a very impressive technical achievement. NASA is honoured to be a participant on this mission." A modified version of the PSLV called PSLV-XL will be launched from Sriharikota sometime in 2007-08 carrying Chandrayaan-1, a spacecraft weighing 1,050 kg. The PSLV will place the satellite in a geostationary orbit 36,000 km above the earth. Subsequently, Chandrayaan-1's own propulsion system will place it in a polar orbit 100 km above the moon. In its lunar orbit, Chandrayaan-1 will weigh 525 kg and have a life of two years. It will have instruments from India, the U.S., the European Space Agency (ESA) and Bulgaria. According to Dr. J.N. Goswami, Director of the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad and principal scientist of Chandrayaan1, the primary objectives are to investigate the presence of various minerals and chemical elements on the moon and conduct high-resolution three-dimensional mapping of the entire moon surface. The satellite will carry Indian payloads such as the Terrain Mapping Camera, a High Energy X-Ray Spectrometer, a Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer and a Lunar Ranging Instrument. Importantly, Chandrayaan-1 will carry an Indian-made Moon Impact Probe, which is conceived as a forerunner to future landing missions. At a press conference after the signing ceremony, Griffin said he was sorry about the U.S. sanctions on some ISRO units and that he would use his good offices to lift the sanctions. "I am sorry about the past but I will certainly take back a good word about Indian space capabilities. I am very impressed." He said NASA and ISRO wanted to avoid duplication of work. "We are looking at what are the areas where we can increase cooperation between our countries so that we are both not spending on the same length," Griffin said. He denied that there was any "self-imposed" ban on NASA Administrators' visits to India. "I think there was a period of time between our countries where, because of nuclear proliferation issues and other factors, the ability to cooperate in technical matters was less strong than it is today," he said. At the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Griffin was shown around the state-of-the-art Second Launch Pad, its Vehicle Assembly Building, the First Launch Pad, Propellant Servicing Systems, the Satellite Preparation Facility, the Mission Control Centre, the Launch Control Centre and so on. M. Annamalai, Director, SDSC, explained to him how the facilities were realised with technologies developed by ISRO. Love-hate relationship

The India-U.S. space relationship has been a love-hate one. It began on a promising note, but faltered on the way. The very first rocket ISRO launched, from Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram, on November 21, 1963, was a U.S.-made Nike-Apache sounding rocket for conducting experiments in the ionosphere. The launch, which took place under U.N. auspices, was an international effort:

the sodium vapour payload was from France, the range clearance was given by an M1-4 helicopter from the Soviet Union, and the rocket engineers and payload specialists were Indians. The relationship gained momentum in 1975 with the launch of the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), which beamed educational programmes to many Indian villages through the American Applications Technology Satellite (ATS-6). SITE demonstrated the use of satellite technology as an effective tool to educate the masses. The bonding extended to the establishment of the multi-purpose Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system for telecommunication and weather forecasting, in the 1980s. The first four satellites of the INSAT-1 series were built by Ford Aerospace and Communication Corporation in the U.S. and three of them were put in orbit by U.S. launch vehicles including the space shuttle. K. BHAGYA PRAKASH

MADHAVAN NAIR AND Michael Griffin signing the MoU. They are flanked by K.N. Shankara, Director, ISAC, and J.N. Goswami, Director, PRL. The relationship soured in the 1990s with India seeking to build cryogenic engines to power its GSLVs in order to launch INSATs weighing more than two tonnes. In fact, a U.S. company was keen to sell both the cryogenic engine and the technology to ISRO. As U.R. Rao told Space India, "Knowing our interests in this area, not at our initiative but their own initiative, General Dynamics (USA) wanted to sell the cryo engine in the first phase and then talk of the cryo technology transfer in the second phase. But the cost was very prohibitive. So we said we would go on our own." Later Arianespace offered ISRO cryogenic technology but, again, the cost was prohibitive. "But just before going to the Cabinet for approval of the indigenous development of the cryogenic stage, the Russians approached us with a deal which was very good and the result was that for just Rs.235 crores, we would get the total cryogenic technology and the supply of two engines. We could save at least some two to three years of developmental time." But the U.S. played spoilsport, pressuring Russia not to sell the technology to India. Following this, the India-U.S. space relationship turned frosty. The Pokhran-II nuclear tests in May 1998 proved the breaking point. Undeterred by U.S. sanctions, ISRO focussed on building launch vehicles and working on other projects. Soon, the PSLV started flying mini-satellites of belonging to other countries, forcing the U.S. to sit up and take

notice. It forced Taiwan to cancel a contract with ISRO to fly a satellite on the PSLV. In an interview to Frontline in Chennai on May 11, Griffin underlined that the differences between the U.S. and India had "more to do with concerns over proliferation than anything else". In his assessment, the U.S. and India had come to terms on nuclear issues after President George W. Bush's visit to India in March 2006 and his discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "It paves the way for the resumption of our normally close relationship in science and technology that has existed for a long period of time," Griffin said. He was confident that flying the two U.S. instruments on Chandrayaan-1 would "certainly help to revitalise the relationship". On whether the U.S. would be ready to train a corps of Indian astronauts if India decides in a couple of years to send an Indian into space, he said, "In terms of training an Indian astronaut for a home-grown Indian manned flight space capability, again we will be happy to do that. But that will be the choice of the Indian government to ask us to do that because that would have to be done on cost reimbursable basis." Griffin summed up his impression of his visit to ISRO facilities thus: "ISRO spends about $700 million [a year] on space. Other nations spend more and many nations spend less. But I don't think it is possible to do a better job with the money being spent than ISRO is doing. All work I saw was of very first quality and something I believe the Indian people can be very proud of. I was very impressed." So was the Indian side. Madhavan Nair called the NASA Administrator's visit "a grand success". "He was very impressed with our achievements and capabilities in many areas of space," the ISRO Chairman said.

ndrayaan-1 Chandrayaan-II to be finalised in 6 months Y. Mallikarjun ISRO will consider sending lander-rover Chandrayaan to carry U.S. instruments

HYDERABAD: The Indian Space Research Organisation will finalise details of Chandrayaan-II in six months, said Chairman G. Madhavan Nair. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the 58th International Astronautical Congress here, he said the ISRO would consider sending a lander-rover, which can move on the surface of the moon. The conceptual design for the project was being evolved. As for Chandrayaan-I, the ISRO was building the spacecraft. It would carry two instruments from the United States and also payloads from European countries including Bulgaria. However, the primary missions would be carried out with six Indian instruments. Chandrayaan-I was mostly a remote-sensing spacecraft, meant for scanning the lunar surface for minerals and water. The next project would look at the possibility of collecting samples and analysing them on the spot. Though Chandrayaan-II was basically an Indian mission, the ISRO would consider participation by other countries case by case if they showed interest in it. Asked whether India had plans to participate in the International Space Station, Mr. Nair said, “We don’t have a meaningful proposal to conduct any experiment”. On the proposed 60 ISRO missions, he said a series of communication and earth observation satellites including Oceansat and the radar imaging satellite had been lined up to meet national needs. The capacity of the communication satellite was proposed to be increased from 200 to 500 transponders. This would require 10 missions to complete. Also planned were 10-12 earth observation satellites and another 10 communication satellites. The GSLV Mark-III would be operational in two years.

Chandrayaan II launch likely in 2011: ISRO official Staff Reporter ISRO collaborating with Russians for the second mission In the first mission there will be no landing

PERUNDURAI: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to follow up the first mission to the moon with a second one, which will be around year 2011, said V. Jayaraman, Director, Earth Observation System, ISRO, Bangalore. Talking to journalists on the sidelines of ‘INCRUIS-2008,’ an international conference organised by the Kongu Engineering College here on Thursday, Dr. Jayaraman said for the second mission, ISRO was collaborating with the Russians. “Chandrayaan II,” according to him, “will aim at landing a rover or lander on the moon’s surface.” In the first mission, there would be no landing; a satellite would orbit the moon and do surface mapping. Almost all the components in the satellite were indigenously built. Dr. Jayaraman said the first mission, which would take off by April 2008, would carry nearly 11 payloads, a few of which would be from other countries. ISRO would send CARTOSAT II for studying sea surface wind, fisheries mapping and meteorological purposes. About the space agency’s potential to launch a manned recovery vehicle, he said it was awaiting the government’s nod. India and Russia Sign an Agreement on Chandrayaan-2 November 14, 2007 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) have signed an Agreement on joint lunar research and exploration. Mr G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, and Mr A Perminov, Director, Roskosmos, signed the Agreement in Moscow on November 12, 2007 during the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Russia. This cooperation envisages Chandrayaan-2, a joint lunar mission involving a lunar orbiting spacecraft and a Lander/Rover on the Moon's surface. ISRO will have the prime responsibility for the Orbiter and Roskosmos will be responsible for the Lander/Rover. A few scientific instruments from other space agencies may also be accommodated on these systems. Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) around 2011-12 time frame. This agreement is a major milestone in the long-standing cooperation between India and Russia in the area of outer space. Activities for launching Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned mission to moon during April 2008 are progressing well. The spacecraft is in the final stages of integration and testing, and will be launched onboard India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). This mission features a spacecraft orbiting around the Moon for two years at an altitude of 100 km mapping the

topography and the mineralogical content of the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-1 will also have a Moon Impact Probe payload for demonstrating the technology needed towards accurate landing on the Moon's surface. Chandrayaan-2 is the next logical step for more detailed and in situ study of the Moon.

Chandrayaan-1 Camera Tested October 31, 2008

The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) onboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was successfully operated on October 29, 2008 through a series of commands issued from the Spacecraft Control Centre of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore. Analysis of the first imagery received by the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu and later processed by Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) confirms excellent performance of the camera. The first imagery taken at 8:00 am IST from a height of 9,000 km shows the Northern coast of Australia while the other taken at 12:30 pm from a height of 70,000 km shows Australia’s Southern Coast. TMC is one of the eleven scientific instruments (payloads) of Chandrayaan-1.

The camera can take black and white pictures of an object by recording the visible light reflected from it. The instrument has a resolution of about 5 metres.

Besides TMC, the other four Indian payloads of Chandrayaan-1 are the Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI), Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) and the Moon Impact Probe (MIP). The other six payloads of Chandrayaan-1 are from abroad. It may be recalled that the 1380 kg Chandrayaan-1 was successfully launched into an initial elliptical orbit around the Earth by PSLV-C11 on October 22, 2008. This was followed by four orbit raising manoeuvres, which together raised Chandrayaan-1’s orbit to a much higher altitude. The spacecraft is now circling the Earth in an orbit whose apogee (farthest point to Earth) lies at 267,000 km (Two lakh sixty seven thousand km) and perigee (nearest point to Earth) at 465 km. In this orbit, Chandrayaan-1 takes about six days to go round the Earth once. The spacecraft performance is being continuously monitored and is normal.

Agreement for Including European Instruments on Chandrayaan-1 Signed June 27, 2005 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed an agreement today (June 27, 2005) for including European instruments on board India's first scientific mission to moon, Chandrayaan-1. This agreement, under the umbrella agreement for cooperation already existing between ISRO and ESA, was signed by Mr G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO and Mr Jean Jacques Dordain, Director General, ESA, at Bangalore. The European contribution will be as follows: A low energy (0.5-10 keV) X-ray spectrometer called Chandrayaan Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer from Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK, to measure elemental abundance distributed over the lunar surface using X-ray fluorescence technique. It will also include X-ray solar monitor to record the incident solar X-ray flux. Near Infra-Red (IR) Spectrometer from Max Planck Institute of Aeronomie, Germany, to detect and measure lunar mineral abundances. Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser from Swedish Institute of Space Physics, developed in collaboration with India, to measure

volatiles generated due to solar wind impacting on lunar surface and determine the surface magnetic field anomalies. Europe will also contribute to the Indian experiment, namely, High Energy X-ray Spectrometer. The European instruments will complement the following main Indian experiments on Chandrayaan-1: Terrain Mapping Camera with stereo imaging capability operating in panchromatic band with 5 m spatial resolution and 20 km swath. A Hyper-Spectral Imager operating in 400-900 nm band with a spectral resolution of 15 nm, a spatial resolution of 80 m and 20 km swath. A Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument with a vertical resolution of better than 5 m. A High Energy X-ray (10-250 keV) spectrometer with a footprint of 20 km to detect radio nuclei. In addition, an Impact Probe has been included in the mission for proving technological elements required for future landing missions. Chandrayaan-1 is planned for launch by 2007-08 on board India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The 525 kg satellite will be placed in 100 km polar orbit around the moon and it will have a life time of two years. Indian and ESA scientists will share the data from the European instruments as per the agreement signed today. ISRO and NASA Sign MOU on Chandrayaan-1 May 9, 2006

Mr G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO (centre) and Dr

Michael Griffin, Administrator, NASA (right), signing MOU on Chandrayaan-1 at ISRO Satellite Centre. Mr G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, and Dr Michael Griffin, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of USA today (May 9, 2006) signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) at ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore, on inclusion of two US Scientific instruments on board India's first mission to Moon, Chandrayaan-1. These instruments are - Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini SAR) developed by Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University and funded by NASA and Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), jointly built by Brown University and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA. Chandrayaan-1, scheduled during 2007-2008, is India's first unmanned scientific mission to moon. The main objective is the investigation of the distribution of various minerals and chemical elements and high-resolution three-dimensional mapping of the entire lunar surface. ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV, will launch Chandrayaan-1 into a 240 km X 24,000 km earth orbit. Subsequently, the spacecraft's own propulsion system would be used to place it in a 100 km polar orbit around the moon. The Indian payloads on board Chandrayaan-1 include: a Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), a Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI), a HighEnergy X-ray spectrometer (HEX), a Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) and a Moon Impact Probe (MIP).

The two US instruments, Mini SAR and M3, were selected on the basis of merit out of 16 firm proposals from all over the world received in response to ISRO's announcement of opportunity. The main objective of Mini SAR is to detect water in the permanently shadowed areas of lunar polar regions. The objective of M3 is the characterisation and mapping of minerals on the lunar surface. Earlier, three instruments - Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer (CIXS) from Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK, developed with contribution from ISRO Satellite Centre; Near Infra-Red Spectrometer (SIR-2) from Max Planck Institute,

Germany; and Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) from Swedish Institute of Space Physics developed in collaboration with ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre -- were selected from the European Space Agency besides a RAdiation DOse Monitor (RADOM) from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The inclusion of US instruments on Chandrayaan-1 has added fillip to the Indo-US cooperation in the space arena which dates back to the very beginning of the Indian space programme. More recently, the India-US Conference on Space Science, Applications and Commerce held at Bangalore during in June 2004 led to the setting up of a Joint Working Group to enhance the cooperation in civil space between India and USA. The Joint Working Group, comprising representatives of government, academic institutions and industries, had its first meeting in Bangalore in June 2005. During the signing of MOU today, senior NASA and US Embassy officials and senior officials from ISRO and Ministry of External Affairs were present. Dr Griffin also visited the laboratories at ISAC and interacted with senior scientists. He would also be visiting Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram and Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR at Sriharikota. Chandrayaan-1’s Orbit Closer to Moon October 29, 2008 The fourth orbit raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was carried out today (October 29, 2008) morning at 07:38 am IST. During this manoeuvre, the spacecraft’s 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about three minutes. With this, Chandrayaan-1 entered into a more elliptical orbit whose apogee (farthest point to Earth) lies at 267,000 km (two lakh sixty seven thousand km) while the perigee (nearest point to Earth) lies at 465 km. Thus, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft’s present orbit extends more than half the way to moon. In this orbit, the spacecraft takes about six days to go round the Earth once. The health of the spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore with support from Indian Deep Space Network antennas at Byalalu. All systems onboard the spacecraft are performing normally. One more orbit raising manoeuvre is scheduled to send the spacecraft to the vicinity of the moon at a distance of about 384,000 km from the Earth. Chandrayaan-1 enters Deep Space October 26, 2008 Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has entered deep space after crossing the 150,000 km (one and a half lakh km) distance mark from the Earth. This happened after the successful completion of the spacecraft’s third orbit raising manoeuvre today (October 26, 2008) morning.

During this manoeuvre, which was initiated at 07:08 IST, the spacecraft’s 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about nine and a half minutes. With this, Chandrayaan-1 entered a much higher elliptical orbit around the Earth. The apogee (farthest point to Earth) of this orbit lies at 164,600 km while the perigee (nearest point to Earth) is at 348 km. In this orbit, Chandrayaan1 takes about 73 hours to go round the Earth once. The antennae of the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu are playing a crucial role in tracking and communicating with Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in such a high orbit. The spacecraft performance is normal. More orbit raising manoeuvres are planned in the coming few days to take Chandrayaan-1 towards Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft’s Orbit Raised Further October 25, 2008 The second orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was carried out at 05:48 hrs IST this morning (October 25, 2008) when the spacecraft’s 440 Newton Liquid Engine was fired for about 16 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 further raised to 74,715 km, while its perigee has been raised to 336 km. In this orbit, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft takes about twenty-five and a half hours to go round the Earth once. This is the first time an Indian spacecraft has gone beyond the 36,000 km high geostationary orbit and reached an altitude more than twice that height. It may be recalled that Chandrayaan-1, India’s first spacecraft to Moon, was successfully launched by PSLV-C11 on 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 earth) of 255 km and apogee (farthest point to earth) of 22,860 km. The first orbit-raising manoeuvre was performed on October 23, 2008 by firing the spacecraft’s liquid engine for 18 minutes resulting in the increase of the spacecraft orbit’s apogee to 37,900 km and the perigee to 305 km. The Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Bylalu is tracking the spacecraft in the present orbit, receiving signals in S and X bands and is sending commands to the spacecraft. All systems onboard the spacecraft are functioning normally. Further orbit raising maneuvers to take Chandrayaan-1 to still higher orbits are planned in the next few days. PSLV-C11 Successfully launches Chandrayaan-1 October 22, 2008 In its fourteenth flight conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota this morning (October 22, 2008), the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C11, successfully launched the 1380 kg Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft into a transfer orbit with a

perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 255 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 22,860 km, inclined at an angle of 17.9 deg to the equator. After a 52 hour count down, PSLV-C11 lifted off from the Second Launch Pad at SDSC SHAR at 06:22 Hrs Indian Standard Time (IST) with the ignition of the core first stage. The important flight events included the separation of the first stage, ignition of the second stage, separation of the payload fairing at about 116 km altitude after the vehicle had cleared the dense atmosphere, second stage separation, third stage ignition, third stage separation, fourth stage ignition and fourth stage cutoff. PSLV-C11 is the uprated version of ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in its standard configuration. Weighing 320 tonnes at lift-off, the vehicle uses larger strap-on motors (PSOM-XL) to achieve higher payload capability. PSOM-XL uses 12 tonnes of solid propellants instead of 9 tonnes used in the earlier configuration of PSLV. PSLV is a four stage launch vehicle employing both solid and liquid propulsion stages. PSLV is the trusted workhorse launch Vehicle of ISRO. During 1993-2008 period, PSLV had fourteen launches of which thirteen (including today’s launch) are consecutively successful. PSLV has repeatedly proved its reliability and versatility by launching 30 spacecraft (14 Indian and 16 for international customers) into a variety of orbits so far. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, designed and developed PSLV. ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) at Thiruvananthapuram developed the inertial systems. The Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), also at Thiruvananthapuram, developed the liquid propulsion stages for the second and fourth stages of PSLV as well as reaction control systems. SDSC SHAR processed the solid propellant motors and carried out launch operations. ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) provided telemetry, tracking and command support. Chandrayaan-1 is India’s first spacecraft mission beyond Earth’s orbit. It aims to further expand our knowledge about Earth’s only natural satellite – the moon. With well-defined objectives, Chandrayaan-1 mission intends to put an unmanned spacecraft into an orbit around the moon and to perform remote sensing of our nearest celestial neighbour for about two years using eleven scientific instruments built in India and five other countries. The primary objectives of Chandrayaan-1 are: a. To place an unmanned spacecraft in an orbit around the moon b. To conduct mineralogical and chemical mapping of the lunar surface c. To upgrade the technological base in the country Chandrayaan-1 aims to achieve these well-defined objectives through high-resolution remote sensing of moon in the visible, near infrared, microwave and X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. With this, preparation of a 3dimensional atlas of the lunar surface and chemical and mineralogical mapping of entire lunar surface is envisaged.

PSLV placed the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft into a highly elliptical Transfer Orbit (TO) around the earth. Later, through a series of highly complex manoeuvres, the desired trajectories will be achieved. After circling the Earth in its Transfer Orbit, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft will be taken into more elliptical ‘Extended Transfer Orbits’ by repeatedly firing its Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in a pr-determined sequence. Subsequently, the LAM is again fired to make the spacecraft to travel to the vicinity of the moon. When it reaches the vicinity of the Moon and passes at a few hundred kilometers from it, its LAM is fired again so that the spacecraft slows down sufficiently to enable the gravity of the moon to capture it into an elliptical orbit. Following this, the height of the spacecraft’s orbit around the moon is reduced in steps. After a careful and detailed observation of the orbit perturbations there, the orbital height of Chandrayaan-1 will be finally lowered to its intended 100 km height from the lunar surface. Moon Impact Probe will be ejected from Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft at the earliest opportunity to hit the lunar surface in a chosen area. Later, cameras and other scientific instruments are turned ON and thoroughly tested. This leads to the operational phase of the mission. This phase lasts for about two years during which Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft explores the lunar surface with its array of instruments that includes cameras, spectrometers and SAR. The Payloads: There are 11 payloads (scientific instruments) through which Chandrayaan-1 intends to achieve its scientific objectives. They include five instruments designed and developed in India, three instruments from European Space Agency (one of which is developed jointly with India and the other with Indian contribution), one from Bulgaria and two from the United States. The Indian payloads of Chandrayaan-1 are: Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), a CCD camera that maps the topography of the moon, which helps in better understanding of the lunar evolution process. Hyperspectral Imager (HySI), another CCD camera, is designed for mapping of the minerals on the lunar surface as well as for understanding the mineralogical composition of Moon’s interior. Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) provides necessary data for accurately determining the height of lunar surface features. High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) is designed to help explore the possibility of identifying Polar Regions covered by thick water-ice deposits as well as in identifying regions of high Uranium and Thorium concentrations.

Moon Impact Probe (MIP) demonstrates the technologies required for landing a probe at the desired location on the moon. It is also intended to qualify some of the technologies related to future soft landing missions. The six international payloads of Chandrayaan-1 are: Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X ray Spectrometer (C1XS), an ESA payload and jointly developed by Rutherford Appleton Laboratory of England and ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, intends is to carry out high quality mapping of the moon using X-ray fluorescence technique for finding the presnce of Magnesium, Aluminium, Silicon, Iron and Titanium distributed over the surface of the Moon. Smart Near Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2), another ESA payload, developed by Max Plank Institute of Germany, aims to study the lunar surface to explore the mineral resources and the formation of its surface features. Sub kiloelectronvolt Atom Reflecting Analyser (SAR), the third payload from ESA, is built by Swedish Institute of Space Physics and Space Physics Laboratory of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Tiruvananthapuram. The aim of this instrument is to study the surface composition of the moon and the magnetic anomalies associated with the surface of the moon. Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM), a payload developed by Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, aims to characterise the radiation environment in a region of space surrounding the moon. Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) is one of the two scientific instruments from the USA and is from Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory and Naval Air Warfare Centre, USA through NASA. MiniSAR is mainly intended for detecting water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles up to a depth of a few meters. Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) is an imaging spectrometer from Brown University and Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the US through NASA, is intended to assess and map lunar mineral resources at high spatial and spectral resolution. The Spacecraft: Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft weighed about 1380 kg at the time of its launch and is a 1.5 m cuboid with a solar panel projecting from one of its sides. The spacecraft is powered by a single solar panel generating electrical power of 700 W. A Lithium ion battery supplies power when the solar panel is not illuminated by the sun. To make Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft to travel towards the Moon, its Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) is used. Liquid propellants needed for LAM as well as thrusters are stored onboard the spacecraft. Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft’s Dual Gimballed Antenna transmits the scientific data gathered by its eleven scientific instruments to Earth. Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was built at ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore with contributions from Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

(VSSC), Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) and ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) at Tiruvananthapuram, Space Applications Centre (SAC) and Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad and Laboratory for Electro-optic Systems (LEOS), Bangalore. The Ground Segment: The Ground facilities of Chandrayaan-1 perform the important task of receiving the health information as well as the scientific data from the spacecraft. It also transmits the radio commands to be sent to the spacecraft during all the phases of its mission. Besides, it processes and stores the scientific data sent by Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) had a lead role in establishing the Ground Segment of Chandrayaan-1 with contributions from ISAC and SAC. The Ground Segment of Chandrayaan-1 consists of: 1. Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) 2. Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) 3. Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) The Indian Deep Space Network receives the data sent by the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. Besides, it sends commands to the spacecraft at a power level of upto 20 kilowatts. IDSN consists of two large parabolic antennas – one with 18 m diameter and the other 32 m diameter – at Byalalu, situated at a distance of about 35 km from Bangalore. Of these the 32 m antenna with its ‘seven mirror beam waveguide system’, was indigenously designed, developed, built, installed, tested and qualified. The 18 m antenna can support Chandrayaan-1 mission, but the 32m antenna can support spacecraft missions well beyond Moon. The Spacecraft Control Centre, located near the ISTRAC campus at Peenya, North of Bangalore, is the focal point of all the operational activities of Chandrayaan-1 during all the phases of the mission. The Indian Space Science Data Centre forms the third element of Chandrayaan-1 ground segment. Also located at Byalalu, ISSDC receives data from IDSN as well as other external stations that support Chandrayaan-1, stores, processes, archives, retrieves and distributes scientific data sent by Chandrayaan-1 payloads to the user agencies. Chandrayaan-1 enters Lunar Transfer Trajectory November 4, 2008 The fifth and final orbit raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was successfully carried out today (November 4, 2008) morning at 04:56 am IST. During this manoeuvre, the spacecraft's 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about two and a half minutes. With this, Chandrayaan-1 entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory with an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of about 380,000 km (three lakh eighty thousand km).

The health of the spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Byalalu. Since its launch on October 22 by PSLV-C11, all systems onboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft are performing normally. Chandrayaan-1 will approach the Moon on November 8, 2008 and the spacecraft's liquid engine will be fired again to insert the spacecraft into lunar orbit.

Prepared by Sir.bujlinaidu(PANaidu) Sarubujli.