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2008(october)
Appalanaidu.Pappala
Sarubujjili.
India’s Moon
mission
a big success
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.
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 retro-
firing. 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.
Commands were being given to Chandrayaan-1 from the 32-metre and 18-
metre antennas, and “their tracking of the spacecraft is excellent.” The
signals received from the spacecraft were good too, Mr. Shivakumar said.
November 8, 2008
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.
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.”
“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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
T.S. Subramanian
Against odds, PSLV-C11 successfully puts spacecraft into initial orbit
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.”
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.
Special Correspondent
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 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
Special Correspondent
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 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
Special Correspondent
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 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
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.
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.”
“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.”
“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.”
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.”
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 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.
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 state-
of-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.
N. Gopal Raj
Interest in lunar exploration has flared up anew. What’s left to find out about
the Moon?
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.
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.
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.
Chandrayaan-1’s advantage
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 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 Chandrayaan-
1’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.
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.
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.
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.
T.S. Subramanian
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.
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.
“It is not just putting the spacecraft on the table and vibrating it. We have to
ensure that all accelerometers’ results are within limits.
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.”
T.S. Subramanian
Passes battery of tests in Space Simulation Chamber
— PHOTO: ISRO
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.
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.
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.
Special Correspondent
It is likely to take place in mid-October
He said that the systems had already been fully integrated and that thermo-
vacuum tests would be conducted soon. The launch would be possible about
45 to 60 days after that.
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
Special Correspondent
It is likely to take place in mid-October
He said that the systems had already been fully integrated and that thermo-
vacuum tests would be conducted soon. The launch would be possible about
45 to 60 days after that.
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
Special Correspondent
It is likely to take place in mid-October
He said that the systems had already been fully integrated and that thermo-
vacuum tests would be conducted soon. The launch would be possible about
45 to 60 days after that.
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
T.S. Subramanian
A 32-metre-diameter dish antenna ready near Bangalore to track the
spacecraft
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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 eye-
opener 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.
Maintaining leadership
Dr. Nair mentioned the manned mission to moon and reusable launch
vehicles among the “future directions” of ISRO.
APAS president D.Narayana Rao announced that the Akademi would organise
an AP Science Congress annually on the lines of Indian Science Congress.
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.
“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
“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
R. Ramachandran
Ambitious space missions drawn up by ISRO’s Advisory
Committee
T.S. Subramanian
ISRO plan to send spacecraft to moon gathers speed
— Photo: K. Murali Kumar
“Dream project”
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.
Circular track
“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.
Vladimir Radyuhin
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.
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.
T.S. Subramanian
Photo: K. Murali Kumar
National effort
Mr. Shivakumar said: “We chose the ECIL as the prime contractor
for the development of the system. The total reflector (the 32-
metre 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
T.S. Subramanian
Pedestal complete
Tracking spacecraft
Three parts
Contractor
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.
Noise survey
Another antenna
Staff Reporter
Sun's energy
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
Two-year mission
"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."
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.
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.
“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.
George Koshy was the mission director and C. Venugopal, the vehicle
director.
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
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 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.
Special Correspondent
“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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
R. Ramachandran
‘We have been able to establish downlink with the spacecraft with the help of
JAXA’
“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.
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.
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.
Staff Reporter
It will begin tracking the lunar satellite six hours after its launch
Collaboration
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
P. Sunderarajan
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval for a Rs. 820-
crore programme for providing scholarships under the Ministry of Science
and Technology’s Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research
scheme.
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.
R. PRASAD
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.
“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
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.
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.
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
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.
It took pictures of the far side of the moon and transmitted them to the
earth.
U.S. : In the 1960s, the U.S. launched its Ranger spacecraft series which hit
the lunar surface.
Neil Armstrong
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
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.
T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
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.
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.
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 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.
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
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 high-
resolution 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.
ROY MATHEW
— Photo: M. Vedhan
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 (peri-
seline) 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.
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.
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.
T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
K MURALI KUMAR
It is a ballpark figure.
When?
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 earth-
observation 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.
T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
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.
"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... .
Love-hate relationship
K. BHAGYA PRAKASH
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.
Y. Mallikarjun
Staff Reporter
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.
Indian and ESA scientists will share the data from the European
instruments as per the agreement signed today.
May 9, 2006
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.
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 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.
November 4, 2008
Prepared by
Sir.bujlinaidu(PANaidu)
Sarubujli.