Chandrayaan-1 "India In The 21st Century"

It is India's first mission to the moon by India's national space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The unmanned lunar exploration mission includes a lunar orbiter and an impactor. The spacecraft was launched by a modified version of the PSLV XLon 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 06:23 IST (00:52 UTC). The vehicle was successfully put into the lunar orbit on 8th November 2008.The estimated cost for the project is Rs. 3.86 billion (US$ 80 million).

The remote sensing satellite weighs 1,380 kilograms (3,042 lb) at launch and 675 kilograms (1,488 lb) at lunar orbit and carries high resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infrared, soft and hard X-ray frequencies. Over a two-year period, it is intended to survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional topography. The polar regions are of special interest, as they might contain ice. Also included in the mission, are the five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other international space agencies including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which are being carried free of cost.

Objectives

The stated scientific objectives of the mission are:^[11]

• To design, develop and launch and orbit a spacecraft around the Moon using Indian made launch vehicle.
• Conduct scientific experiments using instruments on-board the spacecraft which will yield the following results:

• To prepare a three-dimensional atlas (with high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10 m) of both near and far side of the moon.
• To conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of mineral and chemical elements such as Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium as well as high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium with high spatial resolution.
• To impact a sub-satellite ( Moon Impact Probe -MIP ) on the surface on the Moon as a fore-runner to future soft landing missions

Specifications

Mass

1380 kg at launch, 675 kg at lunar orbit,^[12] and 523 kg after releasing the impactor.

Dimensions

Cuboid in shape of approximately 1.5 m

Communications

X band, 0.7 m diameter parabolic antenna for payload data transmission. The Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TTC) communication operates in S band frequency.

Power

The spacecraft is mainly powered by its solar array, which includes one solar panel covering a total area of 2.15 x 1.8 m generating 700 W of power, which is stored in a 36 A·h Lithium-ion battery.^[13] The spacecraft uses a bipropellant integrated propulsion system to reach lunar orbit as well as orbit and altitude maintenance while orbiting the Moon

Specific areas of study

• High-resolution mineralogical and chemical imaging of permanently shadowed north and south polar regions.
• Search for surface or sub-surface water-ice on the Moon, specially at lunar poles.
• Identification of chemical end members of lunar high land rocks.
• Chemical stratigraphy of lunar crust by remote sensing of central upland of large lunar craters, South Pole Aitken Region (SPAR) etc., where interior material may be expected.
• To map the height variation of the lunar surface features along the satellite track.
• Observation of X-ray spectrum greater than 10 keV and stereographic coverage of most of the Moon's surface with 5m resolution
• To provide new insights in understanding the Moon's origin and evolution.

Payloads

The scientific payload has a total mass of 90 kg and contains five Indian instruments and six foreign instruments