India launches First Moon Mission – Update1
Chandrayaan-1 beams pictures of Earth
CHENNAI: Chandrayaan-1, India's spacecraft to the moon, has beamed down two pictures of the Earth it took on October 29. The pictures were taken by the Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on board the spacecraft after it was switched on. The first image taken by the TMC at 8 a.m. on October 29 from a height of 9,000 km shows the northern coast of Australia. The second image, taken at 12.30 p.m. from a height of 70,000 km, shows Australia's southern coast. 
The TMC is an imaging instrument built by the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The aim is to take pictures of the entire surface of the Moon. The ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) put Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit with an apogee of 22,866 km and a perigee of 256 km on October 22.
M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said, "Although we tested all the 11 scientific instruments of Chandrayaan-1 on the ground, we wanted to cross-verify, after the launch, the entire chain of its instruments, data storage, data handling systems, downlinking and radio frequency systems including the antennas at Byalalu village, near Bangalore and the ground processing of the images. The entire system is ready now."
The first pictures might not be of much scientific value but "we are able to verify en route to the moon the full chain of systems," he said. "This shows that the instruments on board Chandrayaan-1 are ready to image the moon after it goes into the final orbit around the moon."
Mr. Annadurai added that "the entire team is happy because the systems on the ground and on board the spacecraft are in place."
The TMC is one of the 11 scientific instruments on board the Chandrayaan-1. The camera can take black and white pictures of an object by recording the visible light reflected from it. The camera has a resolution of five metres. When the TMC takes pictures of the moon's entire surface, they will provide insights into the early origin and evolution of the moon. 
An ISRO press release said the TMC was successfully operated on October 29 through a series of commands radioed to Chandrayaan-1 from the Spacecraft Control Centre of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore. Analysis of the first images received by the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN)'s two bowl-shaped antennas with diameters of 32 metres and 18 metres at Byalalu and later processed by the Indian Space Science Data Centre "confirms the excellent performance of the camera," said the press release. The spacecraft's performance was being continuously monitored and was normal, it added.
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After four manoeuvres to raise Chandrayaan-1's orbit, it is now circling the Earth in an orbit whose apogee lies at 2,67,000 km and perigee at 465 km. In this orbit, the spacecraft takes about six days to go round the Earth once. The moon is 3.84 lakh km away from the Earth.
Chandrayaan-1 will execute one more maneuver to raise its orbit, and send the spacecraft to the vicinity of the moon at a distance of about 384,000 km from the Earth. Once the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft reaches the vicinity of the Moon, the spacecraft will be slowed sufficiently to enable the gravity of the moon capture it into an elliptical orbit. 
The spacecraft will make observations from the initial orbit, and then the orbit will be lowered a 100 km circular polar orbit. Following this, the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) will be ejected, impacting the lunar surface. Then the main mission will commensce, with Chandrayaan-1 exploring the moon from orbit with its array of instruments for two years.
Objectives of the mission
The Chandrayaan-1 mission will help ISRO to prepare high-resolution, three-dimensional topography of moon.
The Moon, the only natural satellite of Earth, is an intermediary planet. Explorations there could serve as a scientific and technological exercise in man`s dream of reaching to other planets like Mars.
A detail study of distribution of various chemical and minerals in the entire lunar surface will help in unraveling the mystery of evolution of the moon and solar system.
This mission will help in exploring the permanently shadowed north and south polar regions of the moon.
ISRO will also search for surface or sub-surface water-ice on the moon.
Further, it will help India to master the know-how of science payloads, lunar craft and the launch vehicle supported by DSN station, in-orbit operation of experiments, space communication/ telecommand, telemetry data reception, quick look data and archival for scientific utilization by identified group of scientists.
The Moon could be a major source of energy for human beings, who are grappling with the grim question of how to overcome the critical situation caused by fast depleting fossil fuel reserves on Earth. The detection of Helium in the celestial body`s surface has only helped in revitalizing newer lunar missions.
This first inter-planetary exploration is crucial as it would be followed by manned Indian lunar mission Chandrayaan-II, planned to be launched by mid-2010 for which the government had given approval.
A key Indian payload to be carried by the mission is the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) to prove technological elements for future landing missions.
1. ISRO Headquarters, Bangalore, India
2. ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore, India
3. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, India
4. Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, India
5. ISRO Telemetry , Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore, India
6. Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems (LEOS), Bangalore, India
7. Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, India
8. Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram, India
9. National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Hyderabad, India
10. Liquid Propulsion Systems Center (LPSC) Bangalore & Mahendragiri, India
11. ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU),Thiruvananthapuram, India
International Groups participating in Chandrayaan Mission -1 are
12. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK
13. Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy, Lindau,Germany
14. Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden
15. Solar-Terrestrial Influences Laboratory, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
16. Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, France
17. Nuclear Physics Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechoslovakia
18. Applied Physics Lab, Johns Hopkins University, MD, USA
19. Naval Air Warfare Centre, Chinalake, CA, USA
20. Brown University, USA
21. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA
22. Centre d`Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Toulouse, France
23. University of Helsinki, Finland
24. ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Peenya, Malaysia
FAQs about Chandrayaan-I
The idea was mooted during Indian Academy of Sciences in the year 1999 followed by discussions in the Astronautical Society of India in 2000.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which has proved its mettle in space science, will conduct the mission.
The name Chandrayaan means (in Sanskrit) - Chandra (Moon) and Yaan (Vehicle) i.e. "Vehicle to Moon".
It costs Rs 386 crore to the exchequer which include Rs 100 crore for the establishment of Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu in Karnataka which will also help in receiving radio signals transmitted by satellites in future too.
The duration of the mission is two years.
It is the first Indian unmanned lunar exploration mission by Indian Space Research Organisation.
It can be controlled from earth itself.
It contacts with scientist here in earth through the Deep Space Network - a back-end support system and spacecraft signal monitoring station.
The spacecraft will take five and half days to reach the orbit of the moon.
The spacecraft is cuboid in shape with sides measuring 1.50 m (approx).
It weighs 1304 kg at launch and 590 kg at lunar orbit (due to the difference in Gravity of Moon and Earth).
It will carry eleven science payloads - five Indian and three from European Space Agency, two of NASA and one from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
The Indian payloads are: The Terrain Mapping Camera (to make high-resolution map of the Moon); the Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI) to produce mineralogical mapping; the Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) to create Moon's surface topography; Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) to detect solar flux; High Energy X-ray/gamma ray spectrometer (HEX); a Moon Impact probe(MIP) carrying a high resolution mass spectrometer, an S-Band altimeter and a video camera.
The foreign payloads include: a Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer (SARA), Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), a near infrared spectrometer (SIR-2), S-band miniSAR, Radiation Dose Monitor.
The spacecraft will generate power through a solar array, generating about 700 watts, which will be stored by batteries. During eclipse, these Lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries will feed the spacecraft.
The spacecraft has a X-band, 0.7m diameter parabolic antenna for data transmission.
The spacecraft has three Solid State Recorders (SSRs) on board to record data --
SSR-1 (32Gb data), SSR-2 (8Gb), M3 (Moon Mineralogy Mapper) with 10Gb capacity.
With Chandrayaan, India will join the elite space club comprising the US, Russia, European Space Agency, China and Japan by demonstrating its capability to explore moon with its own spacecraft and launch vehicle.
Chandrayaan-2
Chandrayaan-2 will consist of the spacecraft and a landing platform with the moon rover.
The rover would move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, do a chemical analysis and send the data to the spacecraft orbiting above.
The rover will weigh between 30 kg and 100 kg, depending on whether it is to do a semi-hard landing or soft landing. The rover will have an operating life-span of a month. It will run predominantly on solar power.
Chandrayaan-3 (manned landing in 2015)
Andhra Pradesh: The Indian space agency that started the country's maiden unmanned moon mission Wednesday is planning to send two Indians into space by 2015, said a top official.
"We are planning to carry two human beings into the space in our first manned space mission. The project report has been cleared by the Space Commission. The project outlay is Rs 120 billion ($2 44 billion)," G Madhavan Nair, chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told reporters on Wednesday.
He said the manned mission would be using India's second rocket - the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
"The manned mission will be an indigenous effort. However we are not averse to cooperating with any other space agency," he added.
The Indian space agency has to cross several hurdles before it can send a man to space.
Firstly it has to stabilise GSLV and also master the space recovery capsule technology.
The rocket as well as the space capsule in which the humans would return has to get a specified rating, technically called the human rating, so that it doesn't get overheated during its return to the atmosphere.
"The failure rate in such vehicles should not be more than 1 in 100 missions," Nair pointed out.
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