Chandrayaan-1, Indias Lunar Mission
Its truly a proud moment for all Indians. India’s 1st Space mission to Moon, Chandrayaan 1 completed its journey to the moon. Through the ages, the Moon, our closest celestial body has aroused curiosity in our mind much more than any other objects in the sky. With the history of the early solar system etched on it beckons mankind from time immemorial to admire its marvels and discover its secrets. Understanding the moon provides a pathway to unravel the early evolution of the solar system and that of the planet earth. The average distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,399 kilometres (238,854 miles), which is about 30 times the diameter of the Earth. The Moon is about one-third the size of the Earth and has a diameter of 3,474 kilometres (2,159 miles).
The Moon makes one complete orbit about the Earth every 27.3 days, and the periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth-Moon-Sun system are responsible for the lunar phases that repeat every 29.5 days. The gravitational attraction of the Moon is responsible for the tides on Earth. The Moon is the only celestial body on which human beings have orbited and landed. The first man-made object to escape Earth’s gravity and pass near the Moon was the Soviet Union’s Luna 1, the first man-made object to impact the lunar surface was Luna 2, and the first photographs of the normally occluded far side of the Moon were made by Luna 3, all in 1959. The first spacecraft to perform a successful lunar soft landing was Luna 9 and the first unmanned vehicle to orbit the Moon was Luna 10, both in 1966. The United States’ Apollo program achieved the first (and only) manned missions to the Moon, culminating in 6 landings between 1969 and 1972.
On 56th indepence day, August 15 2003, India’s Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced. “Our country is now ready to fly high in the field of science. I am pleased to announce that India will send her own spacecraft to the moon by 2008. It is being named Chandrayaan-1″. Chandrayaan-1, is India’s first mission to the moon.
ISRO, Indian Space Research Organisation, has published the following objectives of the Chandrayaan 1 mission to the Moon:
Purpose of the Announcement of Opportunity
Through this First Announcement of Opportunity in the series, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) solicits Proposals from International and Indian Scientific Community for participating in the mission by providing suitable scientific payloads for Chandrayaan-1.
Chandrayaan-1: Mission Definition and Goal
Chardrayaan-1 is the first Indian Mission to the Moon devoted to high-resolution remote sensing of the lunar surface features in visible, near infrared, X-ray and low energy gamma ray regions. This will be accomplished using several payloads already selected for the mission. In addition a total of about 10 kg payload weight and 10 W power are earmarked for proposals, which are now solicited. The mission is proposed to be a lunar polar orbiter at an altitude of about 100 km and is planned to be launched by 2007-2008 using indigenous spacecraft and launch vehicle of ISRO.
Mission Objectives
* Carry out high resolution mapping of topographic features in 3D, distribution of various minerals and elemental chemical species including radioactive nuclides covering the entire lunar surface using a set of remote sensing payloads. The new set of data would help in unravelling mysteries about the origin and evolution of solar system in general and that of the moon in particular.
* Realize the mission goal of harnessing the science payloads, lunar craft and the launch vehicle with suitable ground support system including DSN station, integration and testing, launching and achieving lunar orbit of ~100 km, in-orbit operation of experiments, communication/telecommand, telemetry data reception, quick look data and archival for scientific utilization by identified group of scientists.
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 pole
* 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 5 m resolution, to provide new insights in understanding the moon’s origin and evolution.
The estimated cost for the project is Rs. 386 crore (US$ 80 million).
Chandrayaan 1, Indias Unmanned Moon Mission was launched by the PSLV on 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 06:23 am. The vehicle caring the Chandrayaan was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008. The Moon Impact Probe was successfully impacted at the lunar south pole at 20:31 hours(10.31 pm) on 14 November 2008.
Chandrayaan had a mass of 1,380 kilograms at the time of launch and 675 kilograms at lunar orbit and carries high resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infrared, and soft and hard X-ray frequencies to get a good view of the moon. Over a two-year period, Chandrayaan is intended to survey the Moon surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional map or topography. For the Indian Scientists working on Chandrayaan the polar regions of the moon are of special interest, as they might contain ice.
The main scientists who worked on the success of the Chandrayaan-1 project are:
G. Madhavan Nair (Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation), T. K. Alex (Director, ISAC - ISRO Satellite Centre), Mylswamy Annadurai (Project director), S. K. Shivkumar (Director - Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network), * George Koshi –Mission Director, Srinivasa Hegde (Mission Director), M Y S Prasad (Associate Director of the Sriharikota Complex and Range Operations Director), J N Goswami (Director of Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory and Principal Scientific Investigator of Chandrayaan-1) and Narendra Bhandari (Head, ISRO`s Planetary Sciences and Exploration program).
Moon / Chaand and Bollywood:
So our fascination for the moon continues. While on the topic of moon, Boolywood has presented moon as a romantic object and has created innumerable songs around chaand. This post on the moon will be incomplete without a list of our favourite Chaand Songs.
Some Hindi Songs from Bollywood Moviews on Chaand (Moon):
Chaan Phir Nikla from Paying Guest:
Chaand Sifarish from Fanaa:
Khoya Khoya Chaan from Kala Bazaar
Maine Poocha Chaand Se from Abdulla
Chaand si mehbooba from Himalay Ki God main
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