The terrain mapping camera onboard India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 took splendid shots of the earth from deep space in black and white, the space agency said here Friday.
"The camera was controlled through a series of commands from the spacecraft control centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) here. The images were received by the deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu," the space agency said in a statement. Byalalu is about 40 km from Bangalore.
The first imagery, taken from an altitude (perigee) of 9,000 km above the earth, clearly shows the northern coast of Australia, while the second imagery, taken from an altitude (apogee) of 70,000 km from the earth, shows the southern coast of Australia.
"Analysis of the images conducted by Istrac's data centre confirmed excellent performance of the camera, one of the 11 scientific tools onboard the spacecraft. The device has a resolution of five metres," the statement noted.
The other four Indian payloads of Chandrayaan-1 are the hyper spectral imager (HySI), lunar laser ranging instrument (LLRI), high energy x-ray spectrometre (HEX) and the moon impact probe (MIP).
The remaining six payloads are from international space agencies such as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), ESA (European Space Agency) and from Bulgaria.
Cruising on its way to the lunar orbit, Chandrayaan-I is elliptically orbiting around the earth at 267,000 km apogee (farthest from earth) and 465 km perigee (nearest to earth) since Wednesday.
"In this orbit, Chandrayaan takes about six days to go round the earth once. The spacecraft performance is being monitored and it's health is normal," the statement added. In the next orbit-raising exercise, scheduled for Nov 3, the spacecraft will be fired to enter the elliptical lunar orbit, which will be 386,000 km away from the earth (apogee). All going well, Chandrayaan-I will be placed in the final lunar orbit Nov 8, which will be about 100 km from the surface of the moon.
Chandrayaan-I was blasted off Oct 22 onboard the 316-tonne polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C11) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota spaceport, about 80 km north of Chennai.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Chandrayaan-1 took excellent shots of the earth from deep space in B & W
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Final shape to Chandrayaan-2
With Chandrayaan-1 well on its way to moon without any glitch, Indian Space Research Organisation has now initiated a dialogue with its Russian counterpart of worksharing of Chandrayaan-2 which features a lander and a rover."Conceptual studies are in place. Overall configuration is finalised but the scientific experiments are yet to be finalised. It may take six months (for finalisation)", ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI in Bangalore.
"The lander will be from Russia. The Russian space agency is cooperating with us. The rover will be a joint development between Russia and India. Many of the scientific instruments (payloads on board Chandrayaan-2) will be from India", Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said.
Unlike the Chandrayaan-1 which will orbit the moon at an altitude of 100 km mapping topography and the mineralogical content of the lunar soil, the Chandrayaan-2 mission involves a lunar orbiting spacecraft and a lander and a rover on the moon's surface.
Project Director of Chandrayaan-1 Mayilsami Annadurai said the Government has approved a Rs 425 crore budget for the Chandrayaan-2 venture, with seed money of Rs 50 crore already in place.
Even for building the lander, India can contribute its expertise, Annadurai said, adding, work-sharing discussions on the mission (who will do what) are in progress with the Russian space agency.
The basics of orbit raising explained
his is the first time ever that an Indian spacecraft has been sent lakhs of kilometres away from earth. This has been done by incrementally changing the apogee (farthest point from earth). I realised that several people did not understand or know how this was done. And that made me write a lead piece in today’s Science and Technology pages of The Hindu explaining the basics.
Next, I looked at why the perigee increases very little while the apogee increases by several hundreds of kilometres. That is to do with the duration of firing. The firing at the perigee does not happen at one instant but over a period of several seconds. This is responsible for the perigee distance to also increase.
And while we are discussing about the duration of firing, it is interesting to note that the duration of firing is the most when it comes to raising the spacecraft from the initial orbit to the first orbit (1060 seconds), and the least to take it from the fourth to the fifth orbit (150 seconds).
Finally, I addressed how the spacecraft is able to reach the 100 km circular orbit around the moon. This is by slowing down the velocity of the spacecraft. Reducing the velocity is done by firing Chandrayaan-1 at both perigee and apogee. But the firing itself takes place only after Chandrayaan-1 is flipped by 180 degrees.
New Delhi born American eying for space
One more space success to lure the Indians! This time for a New Delhi born American, whose company in association with Boeing is eying for an agreement with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to look after cargo requirement of International Space Station (ISS), once they pull out their program after 2011. With the great success of India’s Chandrayaan-1 still in memory, the news will surely help recognize high-caliber Indians and will boost morale of all Indian agencies involved in space missions.Dr Chirinjeev Khaturia, an Indian immigrant to US, is presently the chairman of PlanetSpace, which has taken a giant step forward by agreeing to participate in a prestigious role in US’ space missions. PlanetSpace, in collaboration with prominent aircraft manufacturer Boeing, may soon start providing commercial re-supply services (CRS) to ISS. The business is costing around $3 billion. There are other two agencies in the competition for the mega deal with NASA.
This is not the first time PlanetSpace has engaged itself in space activity. In fact, the company aims for commercializing the space business. Khaturia’s company has also developed partnership understanding with Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of advanced defence technology systems and Alliant Techsystems (ATK), an advanced space systems provider to fulfill their space objectives. The new consortium of PlanetSpace with Boeing is too expected to deliver its intended fruit. Speaking on the occasion, 42 years old Kathuria said, “We are thrilled to add Boeing to round out our extraordinary team”. He added further, “This team brings together technical innovations leveraging more than 50 years of relevant experience using flight-qualified US-built Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motors, Athena launch vehicles, proven space vehicle technology and on-orbit operations”.
As part of the agreement with PlanetSpace, Boeing will be responsible for cargo carrier development, ISS integration and operations support, and cargo integration services. Vice president and general manager of Boeing’s Space Exploration division Brewster Shaw said, “This CRS contract is an important part of ensuring the long-term viability and value of the ISS. Boeing is pleased to be a part of the PlanetSpace CRS team”. He also added, “The Boeing Company, as a partner in the design, development and integration of the ISS, shares NASA’s interest in ensuring this national resource and world-class laboratory is used to its full capability and potential”.
Justifying his claim and expressing his happiness over the recent development, Dr. Kathuria said, “The team PlanetSpace has assembled is the only team that can address NASA’s capability based on availability of heritage hardware and software systems, unprecedented corporate commitment and the reputations for ultimate mission success. We commend Congress and NASA on their continued commitment to support and grow commercial spaceflight supporting our nation’s space utilization needs”.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Chandrayaan mission seems to be on course, well set on its way to the moon.
The Chandrayaan mission seems to be on course, well set on its way to the moon. According to project director M. Annadurai, the Chandrayaan has covered almost half the distance to the moon. The Chandrayaan was launched on October 22 with the help of a homespun PSLV C-11 rocket; modified for India's first lunar expedition.Post a picture-perfect launch, the Chandrayaan probe, piggybacking scientific instruments from various other countries is now on course for its first brush with the moon. There are three more maneuvers to be completed before the probe attains its intended orbital path around the moon. The last of these steps is scheduled for November 8th.
That is when the rockets aboard the Chandrayaan will fire and push it forth towards an elliptical orbit around the moon. By November 14-15th, it will be just 100 kms above the surface of the moon -- its final intended orbit. Before the scientific projects commence and the Chandrayaan starts sending valuable data from the lunar surface, it will drop its symbolic payload -- the first Indian object, our national flag on to the lunar surface!
Chandrayaan-1 will be raised to its fourth orbit
Chandrayaan-1 will be raised to its fourth orbit tomorrow morning between 5-7 am. It will reach its perigee (nearest point to the earth) tomorrow around this time.
Firing Chandrayaan-1 to its next highly elliptical orbit will happen when it reaches the perigee point.
ISRO has been pretty successful in flawlessly putting the moon and then raising its orbit. This has received praise from across the globe.
Chandrayaan-1’s flawless launch has boosted India’s image in the world. There is no doubt about it.
Besides the feat also shows that India is fast catching up with China that began its ambitious space programmes long before India thought to begin one.
Everyone is all praise for the feat that India has achieved within a short time and with minimal resources. From Barack Obama to Ban Ki Moon everyone has realized that India has finally arrived.
It is a big achievement for a country that just over a decade ago was known more for snake charmers, abject poverty, backwardness and corruption.
But things have changed and certainly for better when it comes to economic prosperity and scientific advancements.
Now consistent impressive performance in the economic filed in the last decade has seen India’s graph going up in the international arena.
Spacecraft will be raised to 267,000 km on Wednesday,
The earth orbit of India's first lunar spacecraft will be raised to 267,000 km on Wednesday, an official here said.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Chandrayaan-I left all cheerful but Byala lu villagers ...
Sriharikota recently cheered all across India, except the residents of Byalalu and Chandrappa Circle villages near Bangalore where Deep Space Network is tracking the Chandrayaan - 1 satellite with the help of two large antennae.
Villagers here lament that the state government acquired their land at a very low rate for the project a few years ago. But today they feel cheated in comparison to those who can currently sell off their land at many times higher than that prices.
"I sold my two-and-a-half acres of land for Rs. 450,000 three years ago, now I feel cheated, as the land price has increased to more than Rs 60,00,000 per acre. The money I received then has been spent on marriages of my daughters, clearing the pending loan and such other reasons," said Muniyappa, a villager.
Villager had sold off their land three years ago at a price which is 1/12th of the prevailing prices for the same piece of land. The land prices have broken roof. It is evident from the fact that the land available at Rs. 400,000 per acre only three years ago is today between Rs. 30,00,000 to 60,00,000 (three to six million rupees).
"We were told that we could get lots of money and we thought the money would help us to improve living standard. But now we know that those who did not sell their land at that point of time are many times richer than us," said Byregowda, a villager.
Villagers, who didn't have to sell off their piece of land for the government's requirements for the project, can today sell off their land at sky-rocketed prices.
Though a petition asking for higher rates for the land was filed in the Karnataka High Court two-and-a-half years ago, it is yet to be admitted.
According to officials, a survey was conducted over 12 places and decided on the saucer-shaped Byalalu since it offers security from the electro-magnetic and radio waves besides from the sounds and lights of Bangalore.
It was found the best location to contain electromagnetic noise that can interfere with signals from deep space.
Chandrayaan-I - ISRO - NASA - all are big things
Quality and perfection with which Chandrayaan-I has been launched, has made the world staring India with great surprise and respect. Even America has started calculating amount of drift ISRO’s small heads have caused in their leading space programs. Barak Obama, US Democratic Presidential nominee, has already warned America saying India’s recent moon mission must not be ignored and should be taken as a wake-up call for them.
If you look at the long list of scientists those made the Chandrayaan-I a grand success, you will find majority of these scientists are the graduates of relatively smaller regional engineering colleges of India, and not from the IIT’s as one might think about. Two good examples of such low-profile engineering colleges are Government College of Technology and PSG College of Technology, both from a small town, Coimbatore, of India,
“Comments and observations with envy that have come from overseas after Chandrayaan-1’s launch reaffirms ISRO’s matured and advanced technologies,” said G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO. Even NASA has shown interest, following Chandrayaan-I, in working with ISRO recognizing India’s space power.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Chandrayaan raised one more orbit
“An air of professionalism and cool-headedness” prevailed at the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at the ISRO Telemetry Command, Control and Tracking Network (ISTRAC), headed by S.K. Shivakumar at Bangalore, where radio frequency specialists radioed commands on Sunday morning to the engine on board Chandrayaan-1 to fire, an ISRO official said.
The engine fired for about nine-and-a-half minutes from 7.08 a.m. on Sunday. This successful firing lifted the spacecraft’s orbit from an apogee of 74,715 km and a perigee of 336 km on Saturday to its present apogee of 1.64 lakh km and a perigee of 348 km. The spacecraft has almost reached half the distance to the moon, which is 3,84,000 km away from the earth. In this orbit, Chandrayaan-1 takes about 73 hours to go round the earth once.
At this distance from the earth, the electric transmitter power with which Chandrayaan-1 “whispers” is so low that the signals received from it are very feeble and they have to be amplified, the official explained. “So it is quite a big challenge to communicate with the spacecraft when it is travelling deep in space,” he added.
The two antennae with a diameter of 32 metres and 18 metres that belong to the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) of ISRO at Byalalu village, near Bangalore, were playing a crucial role in tracking and communicating with Chandrayaan-1 in such a high orbit. When the spacecraft becomes operational, these huge bowl-shaped antennae will also receive scientific information from the 11 instruments on board Chandrayaan-1.
If three more firings of the liquid apogee motor on Chandrayaan-1 are successfully accomplished on October 29, November 3 and November 8, the spacecraft will reach its final abode of 100 km around the moon on November 14th or 15th. Commands will then be radioed from the Spacecraft Control Centre to Chandrayaan-1 to eject the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) which “sits like a hat on top of it.”
The MIP, which will crashland on the moon’s surface, will be a technological forerunner to India landing a rover in the moon around 2012-2013 as part of Chandrayaan-2 mission with Russia.
Chandrayaan Inching closer to its final destination
Inching closer to its final destination, India’s first moon-bound spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 on Saturday became the most successful among all Indian space missions with the furthest point in its current orbit around the earth touching 74,715 km. No Indian spacecraft had gone beyond 36,000 km in space till now.
“The second orbit-raising manoeuver of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was carried out at 05:48 hrs IST this morning (October 25, 2008) when the spacecraft’s 440 Newton Liquid Engine was fired for about 16 minutes by commanding the spacecraft from Spacecraft Control Centre,” an ISRO statement said. “This is the first time an Indian spacecraft has gone beyond the 36,000 km high geo-stationary orbit and reached an altitude twice that height. In this orbit Chandrayaan 1 takes about 25 hours and 30 minutes to go round the earth once,” ISRO officials said. ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair has called it a ‘record breaking’ day for the mission.
Chandrayaan 1’s initial launch by the PSLV-XL launch vehicle on October 22 placed it in an elliptical orbit around the earth with a perigee (closest point to earth) of 255 km and an apogee (farthest point from earth) of 22,860 km. To reach the moon the spacecraft has to cover a total distance of 3,86,000 km and it is expected to settle into a lunar orbit, 100 km from the Moon on November 8.
“When you go further and further, the earth’s influence comes down. The influence of the Moon and Sun becomes predominant. Even other planets will have an influence on it,” Nair said. ISRO has reported good conditions for all systems on board Chandrayaan-1.
Five days after Chandrayaan-I shot off successfully into space
Five days after Chandrayaan-I shot off successfully into space from Sriharikota, the spacecraft is now a step closer to the moon.According to the command control at ISRO, Chandrayaan's liquid engine was fired for 550 seconds on Sunday morning at approximately 7am. ( Watch )
The firing was meant to put the satellite closer to its destination -- that is the moon's elliptical orbit. The spacecraft which is reportedly in good health has covered 1,64,600km since it was launched.
In a historic feat, Chandrayaan-I was launched on October 22, 2008 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Shiv Kumar, Director of ISTRAC said, "Chandrayaan's liquid engine was fired for 550 seconds this morning at 7.08am. Everything went on really well. The firing was meant for putting the satellite into an elliptical orbit which will take it closer to the moon. Chandrayaan has covered 1,64,600km since it was launched.”
Chandrayaan crossed 150,000 km from the earth on way to the moon
India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 on Sunday entered deep space after crossing 150,000 km from the earth on way to the moon, a space agency official said.
"Chandrayaan entered deep space after its third orbit-raising manoeuvre was completed earlier in the day. The exercise involved firing its 440 Newton liquid engine, lasting 9.5 minutes," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S Satish said in Bangalore.
"Antennas of the Deep Space Network at Byalalu (40 km from Bangalore) are tracking and communicating with Chandrayaan-1 in such a high orbit. The spacecraft performance is normal," Satish pointed out.
"The signals from the spacecraft are strong and everything is progressing as expected," S K Shivakumar, director ISRO Telmetry, Tracking and Command Network, said in Chennai.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Chandrayaan completes 4 orbits around Earth
India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 is doing fine and has completed four orbits around the Earth, a top space official said Thursday, a day after it was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
"The health of the spacecraft is normal and (it is) doing fine. Spinning in elliptical orbit once in every six hours and 30 minutes, it has completed four orbits and is in the fifth orbit,"
Chandrayaan-1's orbit raised- Status Normal
The first orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 lunar spacecraft was performed on Thursday and the health of the satellite is normal, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.
The orbit-raising operation was performed at 0900 hours when the satellite's 440 Newton Liquid Engine was fired for about 18 minutes by commanding the spacecraft from Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here.
"With this engine firing, Chandrayaan-1's apogee (farthest point to earth) has been raised to 37,900 km, while its perigee (closest point to earth) has been raised a little, to 305 km," the space agency said in a statement.
"In this orbit, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft takes about 11 hours to go round the earth once."
Chandrayaan-1, India's first moon mission, was successfully launched by PSLV-C11 yesterday from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
The launch vehicle placed Chandrayaan-1 in an elliptical orbit with a perigee of 255 km and apogee of 22,860 km. In this initial orbit, Chandrayaan-1 orbited the earth once in about six and a half hours.
Following its successful launch, the SCC acquired the first signals and conducted preliminary operations on Chandrayaan-1. The Deep Space Network at Byalalu, near here, tracked the spacecraft in this orbit and received signals in S and X band and has sent commands to the spacecraft.
"All systems onboard the spacecraft are functioning normally. Further orbit raising manoeuvres are planned in the coming days," the ISRO said.
Celebrations @ VSSC today
The big celebrations at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), which has played a crucial role in the Chandrayaan I Mission, will be held on Thursday. VSSC Director K. Radhakrishnan and other top officials are expected to reach here on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday morning, several of the staff were present at the VSSC auditorium to witness the launch at 6.20 a.m. on a special screen. But as TV channels were telecasting the launch live from Sriharikota from 5.30 a.m. onwards, most of the staff chose to view it from their homes.
`Usually, if the launch is during our working hours, then all of us view it together. As the Chandrayaan I launch was set for 6.20 a.m., most of us watched it from home,’’ a VSSC staff member said.
Also, all the top brass of the VSSC and the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiyamala - from deputy directors upwards - were at Sriharikota to be on hand in case of any emergency.
After the launch, the craft was continuously tracked from the VSSC during its flight from afternoon onwards and upto Wednesday evening, sources said.
Celebrations @ VSSC today
The big celebrations at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), which has played a crucial role in the Chandrayaan I Mission, will be held on Thursday. VSSC Director K. Radhakrishnan and other top officials are expected to reach here on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday morning, several of the staff were present at the VSSC auditorium to witness the launch at 6.20 a.m. on a special screen. But as TV channels were telecasting the launch live from Sriharikota from 5.30 a.m. onwards, most of the staff chose to view it from their homes.
`Usually, if the launch is during our working hours, then all of us view it together. As the Chandrayaan I launch was set for 6.20 a.m., most of us watched it from home,’’ a VSSC staff member said.
Also, all the top brass of the VSSC and the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiyamala - from deputy directors upwards - were at Sriharikota to be on hand in case of any emergency.
After the launch, the craft was continuously tracked from the VSSC during its flight from afternoon onwards and upto Wednesday evening, sources said.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
ISTRAC gets first signal from Chandrayaan-1
ISTRAC gets first signal from Chandrayaan-1BANGALORE: With the Chandrayaan- 1 taking off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, the action has shifted to Bangalore.
The ground facilities of Chandrayaan- 1, located in Bangalore, received the first signal from the spacecraft at around 6.40 am, confirming the health of the spacecraft.
A senior ISRO official told to this website's newspaper: “The ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), near Peenya, received the first signal from the spacecraft when it detached from the rocket. It confirmed the health of the spacecraft. The Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) located in Byalalu, Bangalore, has not been put to use as yet, since it needs to be energised only after the spacecraft is more than one lakh kilometres away from the earth’s surface.” Two ground facilities - IDSN and ISTRAC - will perform the task of receiving the health information as well as scientific data from the spacecraft.
It also transmits the radio commands to be sent to the spacecraft during all the phases of its mission. Besides, it processes and stores the scientific data sent by Chandrayaan-1
Security at Indian Deep Space Network Antenna System for Chandrayaan-I Mission, at Byalalu near Bangalore.
The flawless take-off gives a push to its global power ambitions
NEW DELHI: India yesterday launched its first mission to the moon, reinforcing its claim to be considered as a global power.
The successful blast-off of the unmanned spacecraft gained it immediate membership of a select international club: To date only the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China have sent missions to the moon.
As the rocket carrying the moon-orbiter roared into the sky, scientists at command control at Sriharikota, 80km from Chennai, clapped and cheered. Minutes later the rocket disappeared into the overcast sky.
The launch went flawlessly, with the craft injected into a transfer orbit around the globe within 19 minutes.
'This is a historic moment for India,' said ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair.
'We have started our journey to the moon and the first leg has gone perfectly well,' he said.
Barring any technical failure, the spacecraft will enter the moon's orbit in 15 days, and spend the next two years studying the moon's surface for evidence of water and precious metals.
ISRO scientists say the 1,400kg lunar probe will carry out one of the most intense explorations of its kind, with the mission's objectives including a high-resolution mapping of the lunar surface and the minerals below.
The orbiting probe will also explore the availability of water and helium, a clean source of energy, while a smaller probe will be dropped onto the planet's surface to analyse the composition of dust there.
Unlike China, which works on its space programme alone, India's moon mission represents an international technological collaboration.
The mission is carrying 11 payloads - five Indian, three from the European Space Agency, two from the US and one from Bulgaria, while two of the mapping instruments on board are the result of a joint project with Nasa.
But Indian scientists emphasised that the rocket technology used for the launch was almost entirely home-grown, and had had to be developed from scratch.
India was forced to work largely alone, as it faced stringent technological export regimes after testing nuclear devices in 1974 and 1998, although the signing of a nuclear cooperation agreement with the US earlier this month will open up the import of high technology.
Chandrayaan-1 has become a beacon of scientific collaborations between space agencies worldwide
Chandrayaan-1 has become a beacon of scientific collaborations between space agencies worldwide Chandrayaan-1 has become a beacon of scientific collaborations between space agencies worldwide, with six of the 11 payloads it is carrying having been developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, Bulgaria, Sweden, and Germany. Chandrayaan-1 as a mission will focus on high-resolution remote sensing of the lunar surface in visible, near-infrared, X-ray and low energy gamma rays.
One of the payloads the lunar mission is carrying is the particle instrument SARA (Sub-Kev Reflection Atom Analyzer), which has been co-developed by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) at Kiruna, Sweden, and the Space Physics Laboratory of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (SPL-VSSC), at Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The project has contributions from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Sagamihara, Japan.
A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday said he will keep his fingers crossed till the spacecraft reaches its lunar orbit after 15 days
Hailing the successful launch of India’s first moon mission Chandrayaan-I, former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday said he will keep his fingers crossed till the spacecraft reaches its lunar orbit after 15 days.
Kalam was one of the leading scientists who laid the foundation for the ambitious Indian moon mission which came to reality on Wednesday with the copybook launch of Chandrayaan-1 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
In a statement, Kalam said “launching of the mission is first step and I hope every step of the mission falls at the right place.”
India’s unmanned mission to the earth’s only satellite - Moon - was put successfully in the earth’s orbit.The spacecraft was injected in elliptical transfer orbit with a perigee of about 250 km and apogee of about 23,000 km. It will continue to orbit the earth for fifteen days before entering into the Moon’s gravitational area and entering the Lunar orbit.
Britain has hailed India's successful launch of Chandrayaan
Britain has hailed India's successful launch of Chandrayaan, the first Moon Mission, as a sign of growing technological prowess of the country.
"Bravo, we are delighted to see it (the successful launch of India's first mission to the Moon)," Lord Malloch Brown, Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister in charge of Africa, Asia and UN told PTI.
"India has now joined the 1000 mile high Club and it is the demonstration of India's growing technological prowess," Lord Brown, who paid a two-day visit to India last week, said.
The unmanned Chandrayaan I spacecraft blasted off smoothly from Sriharikota launch paid in Andhra Pradesh yesterday to embark on a two-year mission of exploration.
The robotic probe will orbit the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of elements and minerals.
Terming his two-day visit to New Delhi on Oct 16 and 17 as "fruitful", Lord Brown said he held discussions on issues of bilateral, regional and international importance.
On the conflict between India and Pakistan over the Indus water treaty, he said the National Security Advisers of India and Pakistan had met over the issue and New Delhi had told Islamabad that it had not withheld water.
"India told Pakistan that there was no intention to withhold water and water level itself is low," Brown said.
On the question of Kashmir, he said "India was pleased by the recent statement of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and it is waiting to see whether the assurances were carried through."
Terming it a "tragedy for the people of Kashmir", Brown hoped that the two "parties are going to sort it out."
The official, who had also visited Bangladesh, said he had come back "rather confident," with preparations for the electoral rolls done in a fair and appropriate way.
He, however, said it would be better if the election was held without the state of emergency.
Asked about difficulties faced by Bangladeshi hoteliers in the UK in getting semi-skilled hotel workers from the country, Brown said, "We are determined to find a way out. The door is not closed for Bangladeshi curry cooks but they have to come under the Point-based system."
Modi congratulates Space Applications Centre scientists
The launch termed a major milestone in Indian space programme
Chief Minister Narendra Modi visited the Space Applications Centre (SAC) here on Wednesday and congratulated scientists for the successful launch of the country's first lunar mission — Chandrayaan-1.
Mentioning Gujarat's contribution to the Indian space programmes right from Vikram Sarabhai's era, Modi said, “The benefits of India's space programme for the common man are immense, especially the data recorded by remote sensing. The catch identification for fishermen is a classic example."
G. Madhavan Nair and Team
On cloud nine: An elated ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair (centre) after the PSLV-C11 (left), which lifted off from the Sriharikota space centre on Wednesday, put Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit. Rejoicing with him are (from left) George Koshy, Mission Director; K. Radhakrishnan, Director, VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram; T.K. Alex, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore; and M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
India has successfully launched its first unmanned moon mission, in an effort to catch up with rivals like China and Japan.Claire Mackay from our South Asia bureau reports the Indian unmanned spacecraft, Chandrayaan 1, was launched this morning from a space centre north of Chennai.
Officials say the rocket will orbit the moon for two years collecting detailed information about its mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics.
India has spent about $US80 million on the lunar mission and is hoping it will bring its space program into the same league as space programs in Japan and China.
The Chandrayaan 1 is expected to reach the moon and begin orbiting in two days.
Indian spacecraft Polar Sattelite Launch Vehicle -C11 (PSLV) takes off carring India's first lunar probe Chandrayaan-1
Indian spacecraft Polar Sattelite Launch Vehicle -C11 (PSLV) takes off carring India's first lunar probe Chandrayaan-1 at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, around 110km north of the southern Indian city of Chennai.Scientists have better maps of distant Mars than the moon where astronauts have walked. But India hopes to change that with its first lunar mission.
Chandrayaan-1 - which means "Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit - launched from the Sriharikota space centre in southern India early Wednesday morning in a two-year mission aimed at laying the groundwork for further Indian space expeditions.
Chief among the mission's goals is mapping not only the surface of the moon, but what lies beneath. India joined what's shaping up as a 21st century space race with Chinese and Japanese crafts already in orbit around the moon.
The United States, which won the 1960s race to send men to the moon, won't jump in this race with its new lunar probe until next spring, but it is providing key mapping equipment for India's mission.
As India's economy has boomed in recent years, it has sought to convert its new found wealth - built on its high-tech sector - into political and military clout and stake a claim as a world leader. It is hoping that a moon mission - coming just months after it finalized a deal with the United States that recognizes India as a nuclear power - will further enhance that status.
"It is a remarkable technological achievement for the country," said S. Satish, a spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organization, which plans to use the 3080-pound (1723-kilogram) lunar probe to create a high-resolution map of the lunar surface and what minerals are below. Two of the mapping instruments are a joint project with NASA.
Until now, India's space launches have been more practical, with weather warning satellites and communication systems, said former NASA associate administrator Scott Pace, director of space policy at the George Washington University.
"You're seeing India lifting its sights," Pace said.
To date only the US, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China have sent missions to the moon.
While much of the technology involved in reaching the moon has not changed since the Soviet Union and the U.S. did it more than 4 decades ago, analysts say current mapping equipment allows the exploration of new areas, including below the surface.
In the last year, Asian nations have taken the lead in exploring the moon. In October 2007, Japan sent up the Kaguya spacecraft. A month later, China's Chang'e-1 entered lunar orbit.
Those missions took high resolution pictures of the moon, but aren't as comprehensive as Chandrayaan-1 will be or NASA's upcoming half-a-billion-dollar Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Pace said. The most comprehensive maps of the moon were made about 40 years ago during the Apollo era, he said.
The successful launch of the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft
In a message to the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation congratulating them on the successful launch, the prime minister said: "I congratulate all the scientists associated with this mission for the successful completion of the first step. When completed, the mission will put India in the very small group of six countries which have thus far sent space missions to the moon. Our scientific community has once again done the country proud and the entire nation salutes them.”
Royal salute to ISRO
India has finally joined the US, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China in exploring the moon.
This is India's first lunar mission and seeks to convert its new wealth into political and military clout and join an elite group of nations with the scientific know-how to reach space.
Take an opportunity to congratulate the team behind the success and also express your feelings on the country's remarkable achievement. a two-year mission designed to map the lunar surface and lay the groundwork for further Indian space expeditions.
G Madha van Nair described the launch as "perfect" which was achieved after "fighting against all odds".
"It is a historic moment as far as India is concerned. We have started our journey for the moon and the first leg of the journey has gone perfectly well," Nair said seconds after the successful completion of the launch.
"It is a remarkable performance by the launch vehicle," he said.
It is a perfect launch. Now it will be orbiting the earth, he said, adding that today "what we have started is a remarkable journey for the Indian spacecraft to go to the moon and try to unravel the mysteries of the moon".
"We have been fighting against all odds," the noted scientist said explaining that heavy rains and cloudy skies over the last four days had led to a lot of worries about the launch.
"Fortunately, we had clear skies today and we would be completing the remaining part of the journey within 15 days," Nair said.
Destination Moon, Mars and beyond - Dr. G. Madhavan Nair
Dr. G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) joins us for an exclusive interview in the clean room of the ISRO where they are making the Chandrayaan satellite.
NDTV: So sir, are you hopeful of reaching the moon?
G Madhavan Nair: Well I think we have done our best, we should go there soon.
NDTV: So now we are where? We are in the clean room sir
G Madhavan Nair: No, this is actually a room since the early days- for the Aryabhatta satellite onwards. They are built here and normally the earth observation satellites or any imaging system will have their lenses and other things fitted here, so they have to be in an extremely clean protected environment.
NDTV: Oh, so we can see so this is Chandrayaan (points to the satellite) ?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes.
NDTV: Wow, it really looks very nice .it is indeed small!
G Madhavan Nair: Well, I think if you say, in relative terms it is small, but compared to today, the Nano satellites and all what you are talking about, it is quite big - 1300 kg and almost the size of a Maruti car.
NDTV: Even a Maruti car can travel four hundred thousand kilometers to the moon - it is that size!
G Madhavan Nair: In fact our PSLV and GSLV rocket systems are very powerful. They can carry things about - if you put in the lower earth orbit - it can carry about three tonnes ..that is, including the passenger capacity and so on. So these types of rocket systems are very unique and we are developing and we are going to use the PSLV for taking the spacecraft to the moon.
NDTV: Why is it golden coloured sir?
G Madhavan Nair: You know, as you go into space, sometimes it will be looking at the sun, sometimes it will be looking at a hard vacuum, so temperature extremes are there. So the inside of the spacecraft will have to be maintained at a cool less than 30 degrees and maybe at a lower side of -10 degrees celcius. So in order to ensure that this protection is given
NDTV: So it is like a sweater on top of the satellite?
G Madhavan Nair: A sweater, and also a shield. For example, a lot of charge particles and all will come in. So when they impinge they will get conducted and so on some energy is dissipated. So it is a multipurpose protection shield .
NDTV: So that is why it is golden coloured and this golden thing you have developed here?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, with special filling, which has to be on a plastic coated with gold and sometimes silver and so on. So a special vacuum coating process has been developed and initially of course we were getting from outside but today we have a totally indigenous process.
NDTV: So Chandrayaan, which will be India's maiden craft to the moon, what will it do sir? Is it carrying human beings?
G Madhavan Nair: No. This is actually a totally instrumented system.
NDTV: So it is an unmanned satellite?
G Madhavan Nair: Unmanned satellite, and it is mainly, almost like our earth observation satellite. This is going to observe the moon. So when we are in the lunar orbit it would take the stereoscopic image of the moon and try to see the altitude variations and so on.
NDTV: So it will essentially map the moon, one can say?
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely. In fact today maps are available for certain specific regions with a low resolution. Here we have got imaging systems which will give almost 10m resolution. So it will be a precise image of the entire surface.
NDTV: Okay, so this will map the whole moon surface, and it will give us a map of .what resolution did you say?
G Madhavan Nair: About 10m and of course fine resolution 5m.
NDTV: 5m resolution is almost as good as our own IRS satellites?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, IRS-P Resourcesat series is almost the same.
NDTV: And with that we will be able to get a complete map of the moon?
G Madhavan Nair: Right. It just goes around the moon and it takes almost two years to get the surface. In between some eclipse periods are there, so all put together we can cover in less than two years.
NDTV: And we don't have a complete map of the moon?
G Madhavan Nair: Not to this precision. People are attempting, you know that US satellite is going to be launched next year; and then we have the Chinese satellite which is already there, Japanese satellites are there, so all of them are trying to make a similar thing, but a different class. But uniqueness of this is not only the terrain, it is also trying to look for minerals.
NDTV: So there are various instruments on this which are these .. this is a ranging instrument here?
G Madhavan Nair: You can see this is a laser here which will send laser beams down to the surface which will reflect from the surface from where you will get the relative height and this can measure up to few centimeters.
NDTV: This means the height it will measure
G Madhavan Nair: But at the same time you know inaccuracies will come because of orbit etc. All put together a few meters we can resolve with this.
NDTV: And in this?
G Madhavan Nair: This is a unique instrument which is developed here.
NDTV: This is an Indian instrument?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes.
NDTV: And you also have some instruments from overseas; maybe we can go around and check that?
G Madhavan Nair: These are small tiny thrusters for altitude and so on.
NDTV: This is meant for keeping it in orbit in the correct place?
MN: This is actually used to boost the trajectory from the initial earth orbit of around 23,000 km to four hundred thousand km. So this will be turned in three sequences cumulatively for almost two hours and then that will give the energy to go to the moon.
NDTV: So this is powered by petrol or do you have some special fuel?
G Madhavan Nair: No, this is actually special, N2O4 and UDMH.
NDTV: So some special kinds of rocket fuels are there?
G Madhavan Nair: Rocket Fuel and oxidizer stored inside and there is a pressurization tank and so on and these are ones used in our INSAT satellites and they are well proven ones.
NDTV: So it has enough fuel to go these four lakh km? No problems?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes.
NDTV: No problems about that?
G Madhavan Nair: There are sufficient margins on that. And here you see the antenna this is actually a synthetic aperture radar.
NDTV: Oh this is the MINI SAR which has come from America?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes.
NDTV: This is what you are flying free for America?
G Madhavan Nair: Actually I will not say free. We will get the data out of that.
NDTV:You will get the data from this which will be shared by the Indians and the rest of the scientists?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, that is right. And this instrument is going to look for moisture and water ice of course we have no proof yet, but we are just trying to search.
NDTV: So this is what will tell us if there is water on the moon or not?
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely.
NDTV: So which is one of the big challenges - you are looking for water on the moon?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, actually that is also one of the major experiments.
NDTV: So if you find water, what does it mean for us? What does it mean for say Kalavati or Rekha - somebody who is a normal human being in India? What does it mean if you find water?
G Madhavan Nair: I don't think it will be affordable to bring water from the moon to here.
NDTV: No, but what does it mean from there?
G Madhavan Nair: If you are thinking of establishing lunar colony, water is essential element for that and if from it you can generate oxygen, and also if you can decompose and generate into fuel which is required for interplanetary travel, so the presence of water is a very-very important element for further exploration.
NDTV: So for future missions if there is water you don't have to carry from here?
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely.
NDTV:So you will save a lot of travel cost of water, cargo costs
G Madhavan Nair: See, today if you want, every drop of water that is required, it has to be carried from here, which is impossible, so this becomes a very important finding.
NDTV: You are also looking for some elements which generate energy there, Helium-3, I am told. What is that?
G Madhavan Nair: Basically you know this has got a general map - one instrument has come from the US, one is ours. Various emissions from the lunar surface, from there we will try to see what kind of elements are there on the surface, and one of the things which we are looking for is Helium-3. It is ejected from the solar system, and it is believed that it will come and impinge on our home and then absorb into some of the compounds and so on, and if it is there, Helium 3 as you know is used for fusion reaction, and even one ton of that can sustain the entire country's energy for one year.
NDTV: One ton for the entire country!
G Madhavan Nair: Yes.
NDTV: And you think there is Helium-3 there?
G Madhavan Nair: Definitely there is Helium-3, but is it in abundant quantity; whether we can exploit, these are question marks.
NDTV: So you are hoping to, if it works out in coming years, do some mining on the moon?
G Madhavan Nair: Certainly. See, not only Helium-3, if any other precious metal is there, so it provides an opportunity for mining and bringing here.
NDTV: I believe you are carrying the largest spate of instruments as carried to moon by any other aircraft till date?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, as compared to other countries, we have a good combination. Primarily it is an Indian mission. Six instruments are developed by the Indian community, then we have provided the opportunity for some of the foreign scientists to co-operate. Two instruments have come from USA and four from Europe. So it means a dozen instruments, perhaps the largest which is carried by a spacecraft.
NDTV: Sir, earlier this year you created a world record by placing ten satellites in space. So we are hoping to create another world record by carrying these number of instruments?
G Madhavan Nair: Not only number of instruments, this is a fine example of international cooperation in space exploration. We have brought almost six countries from outside India to be working with our scientists in the entire mission.
NDTV: There is also on this spacecraft I am told, some instrument which will land on the moon. What is that and what will it do?
G Madhavan Nair: Basically, you go to a new territory, we want to establish presence you drop your flag it has been conceived along that line, this particular box which you see here is roughly about 40 kg, it will detach from the main spacecraft and it will send you the trajectory which will impact the moon surface.
NDTV: When will this happen?
G Madhavan Nair: Once the orbit is stabilized around 100 km then we will give a nudge, then a small rocket which you see here will give it a nudge there is another set of engines which will reduce the speed so that it can get into a trajectory.
NDTV: So when Chandrayaan is going around the moon, this particular box, what is called a Moon Impactor Probe, will detach from the mother craft and separate and land on the moon?
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely. So it will land on the moon. But of course it will throw up dust but as it is impacting, it will kick up dust. So there is an analyzer .
NDTV: So there are some instruments on this?
G Madhavan Nair: Some instruments which will look at the fine elements out of this. There is a mass spectrometer and also there is a camera which will be taking closer pictures. So it is a very unique experiment and I must tell you that our ex president, Dr. Kalam, he is the person who triggered this process. When I made a presentation on the scope etc, he said, "What! You are not doing anything on the surface of the moon?" This is the question he asked. Then obviously we said okay, we will come back and within a few months our scientists had come up with the beautiful idea and we are finally
NDTV: So this is not just science, if you tell me, there is also geo politics here. Sir, we are carrying a flag inside this?
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely. The Indian flag is very much there, and it will be on the surface of the moon when it reaches there.
NDTV: So if we put the flag there sometime this year, then I am told India becomes the fourth country there after USA, Russia, and Japan possibly with Hiten spacecraft. India becomes the fourth country to do this?
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely. India becomes the fourth country to do this.
NDTV: Are you delighted with that? Excited?
G Madhavan Nair: It is really a thrilling experience to think our national flag, to be put up there.
NDTV: So the Indian flag will go on the moon?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, but it will not flutter it is only a solid piece.
NDTV: It will not flutter. Obviously it can't flutter, there is no atmosphere there?
G Madhavan Nair: You know the controversies created with respect to the landing and they found that .
NDTV: (Laughs) So that is why we are not doing any fluttering, we will keep it there?
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely.
NDTV: And it will remain there
G Madhavan Nair: Right.
NDTV: So whenever the moon resources are shared India would have a right to all that?
G Madhavan Nair: Well, today, as per the international charter, the moon belongs to the global community. Nobody can make special claim on the surface. But in due course, we don't know how things will change. But our presence will be established through this mission.
NDTV: So like the Antarctica we created a base, and if ever the resources are shared India is party to that. So the Moon Impactor Probe is also a way of establishing India's presence on the moon?
G Madhavan Nair: That is one part of it and also our scientific community will have a comprehensive map of the moon in terms of terrain as well as minerals. This is a very unique opportunity and we will be able to globally contribute to it.
NDTV: So we will put our flag there. We will do that.
G Madhavan Nair: Yes
NDTV: I was told when you were a little boy your grandmother used to promise you the moon. What is that story sir?
G Madhavan Nair: Well, I think it is a very common one, you ask anybody they will say the same thing, when especially as a child you will always be mischievous and may not be .
NDTV: You were mischievous eh?
G Madhavan Nair: Like anybody else. Then the first offer would be, just point at the moon and say I will give you the moon, if you take one more spoon of food and so on. So that used to be my ..I lost my mother very early ..so my grandmother looked after me those days.
NDTV: I am so sorry
G Madhavan Nair: And she has promised the moon to me in those days. And today, after six decades .
NDTV: So she used to call you a nallakutty - if you will be a nallakutty you will get the moon. Nallakutty means good boy?
G Madhavan Nair: Good boy, that is right. Always used to call like that. And even today, to my grandson, my wife always tells, okay I will get you the moon. So now I have an opportunity to take something at least very close to the moon. Of course one thing you know, the poets and all, right from the early days, they are so much enthused by the lunar presence. A lot of romance and all that, but I don't know, when you go and have a close look at it, whether that moon is going to be that beautiful, charming- we have to wait and see. There are a lot of pock marks and things like that, but they are very interesting you know. That will be because of the impact of some asteroids and so on, and the type of elements which are deposited there and how the moon itself, it spun off from the earth at some point of time of evolution. And it is not affected by atmospheric phenomenon and so on. So we get a fundamental knowledge about the universe out of this. So our exploration is meant towards that.
NDTV: So it is exploration. It is a scientific mission?
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely. So we want to learn more about the moon and the evolution of the planetary system through this thing and very beautiful combination of 12 sets of instruments flying on board will throw a lot of challenges to the scientific community and enough volumes of data for them to work for almost a decade to come.
NDTV: So what your grandmother promised six decades ago, you have remained a good boy all along and hoping to go to the moon this year?
G Madhavan Nair: I don't know whether I have been a good boy. See, of course I have committed myself to the space program right from the beginning. Dr Vikram Sarabhai started my career in the mid sixties and Dr Kalam was my guru in the initial phases. I have learnt while I worked in this organization and I am happy that I am able to make a contribution.
NDTV: Let us take a little round while you tell us a little more about ..
G Madhavan Nair: Before that I would like to introduce two of my colleagues, Dr M Annadurai- he is another key person, the project director for Chandrayaan-1.
NDTV: He is the project director. He looks very proud and happy!
G Madhavan Nair: He has just made the spacecraft and all the tests are over; he has got a tremendous task. He doesn't sleep for more than a few hours every day and drives every team members to the goal. Dr T K Alex here is the director of the ISRO satellite centre.
NDTV: Hello Dr Alex, pleasure meeting you. You also have an instrument flying on this? You have one of the instruments flying on this?
Dr. Alex :Yes
NDTV: Which is your instrument? The ranging instrument which we saw here? This laser ranging instrument? This will get the height
Dr. Alex : height, and all the cameras are made in India, including the lenses. This is the first time Indian optics is going into space
NDTV: Are you happy?
Dr. Alex : Extremely happy
NDTV: You worked very long
G Madhavan Nair: You know this three meters distance, how difficult it is .
NDTV: Three meters is about my height double my height
G Madhavan Nair: These would take the images in our observation satellite from 600 km above and then try to design objects as small as one meter. So that is the kind of challenge you know, huge mirrors, optical systems, then the sensors, electronics, all of them put together - it is a fantastic development as far as our country is concerned. We have a world class technology.
NDTV: Dr Alex has played a big role in that?
G Madhavan Nair: Right
NDTV: In the instrumentation, and you have played a big role in getting the satellite together
G Madhavan Nair: No, he himself is a specialist in satellite technology. But mostly it is a very complex system. You have hundreds of sub-systems and parts here to ensure their performances are okay, their subsystems are okay, they survive all the environment that is coming in.
NDTV: It is a hostile environment!
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely. Space environment is not that friendly so we have to make things work in that. So that really becomes a challenge. One has to be always alert, looking for problems, solving them in near real time and the fact that this whole spacecraft took shape in about two years time from T-zero to now. So that also is perhaps a good record as far as such complex systems are
NDTV: So shall we take a little we'll take a little parikrama around the satellite - our homage to Chandrayaan, your effort
G Madhavan Nair: You have seen the ground tracking system, a huge antenna you know, 32m - a counterpart of that is what you are seeing here - a small antenna.
NDTV: Oh this is what will pick up the signal or send the signal?
G Madhavan Nair: Send the signal.
NDTV: Send the signal, okay
G Madhavan Nair: Whatever is processed here, that is converted into digital data and transmitted over a microwave link. So this parabolic antenna is now covered.
NDTV: Sure. That you are covering so dust should not go in
G Madhavan Nair: Not only dust you know, here the particle impingement and all is dangerous, plus the thermal control is also so you know to avoid thermal radiation, heating up.
NDTV: Okay, shall we go around a little bit so our viewers get a full view of what Chandrayaan was and is .
G Madhavan Nair: Of course power is generated through solar energy.
NDTV: Oh that is the solar the one which is covered there?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, that is a set of solar panels
NDTV: So that is the powerhouse for this satellite?
G Madhavan Nair: 2.5 Kilowatt power is generated.
NDTV: Maybe we can go around this too many cables there and this is a very delicate place. This is 400 crores worth of equipment?
G Madhavan Nair: Not exactly. This is about 200 crores.
NDTV: That is a lot of money.
G Madhavan Nair: Not just 200 crores, it is also three years' effort. If something goes wrong ..
NDTV: Sir you are looking at this is called Chandrayaan-1. So are there going to be more missions like this?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, I think while this is getting realized, we have worked on a project that is the next phase. If you see that there is going to be some regions of interest where - Helium or water or maybe a special mineral is there. Next right approach is to send an instrument which can land on the lunar surface, pick up the sample, do the chemical analysis and confirm our finding. Because these are all indirect measurements.
NDTV: Yes, this is looking from top, 100 km away?
G Madhavan Nair: Unless you go and take some samples we cannot really confirm that ..so follow-on mission is required. So we are going to have Chandrayaan-2 which will have a similar orbiter.
NDTV: But you have something which is actually landing and moving there?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, the second mission will have a lander and a rover and the rover will be able to pick up samples and do the chemical analysis and transmit the data. So this project we have submitted to the government and they have given approval for it and if all operations go all right, then 2011-2012 timeframe we will be able to have Chandrayaan-2 mission.
NDTV: So is there a Chandrayaan-2, or will there be 3,4,5?
G Madhavan Nair: If the scientists come out with ideas yes, we will definitely support. In fact these missions what we have conceived is really cost effective; see for example the entire ground setup plus on board systems put together is only about 400 crores. I don't think any other country has done in this amount.
NDTV: I know the the Japanese mission is four times more costly
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, so we are cost effective means of taking the mission to moon .but I am looking for the scientists to come forward with good ideas so we can have more and more missions. In addition, we are looking for a Mars mission.
NDTV: Indian mission to Mars?
G Madhavan Nair: Yes. For example the GSLV can take nearly five hundred kg spacecraft to Mars. So if there are good ideas about experimental exploration of that system we can have the Mars mission and in about 3-4 years we can have such missions.
NDTV: So moon is where we are going first, but you have your eyes on Mars as well?
G Madhavan Nair: That is a logical step to go.
NDTV: And you don't want to miss that opportunity. You are ready for it?
G Madhavan Nair: As you see India has really established itself in space technology. Today we are as good as anybody else in the world in terms of making our satellite, sending them into the orbit, having our orbit system and so on. And with this technology we have to maintain our leadership. If we want to maintain our leadership naturally we have to have the scientific goals which is set ahead so that we can be really either at par or ahead of the others in some of the fields. So this is a really challenging task. We believe that India, such a big nation, huge resources, both natural and human resource we should be in leadership position as far as our space technology is concerned.
NDTV: All we have talked about till now is unmanned. There is no human being which is going to sit in the satellite and go to the moon. But you are also dreaming of putting .
G Madhavan Nair: I wish I could do that of course instruments can do quite a lot with instrumented systems. But if certain finer observations are to be made, online decisions have to be made, the presence of man becomes important. The man behind the instrument. And also the reaction time for any decision will be a fraction of a second, whereas you know it takes almost eight seconds for the data to come from the moon to the earth and then again sent back and so on, and here also somebody has to analyse. So ultimately if you want to do a perfect experiment, man behind the instrument is a must and we have, sort of completed, conceptual studies, that is about a year back. Since then we have progressed to trying to define what type of capsule should be
NDTV: So you are looking at putting man in space?
G Madhavan Nair: I think we cannot afford to be lagging behind the other countries like USA, China and Russia in having access for human to the space. So from that point of view the technology development, and then trying to have our own rockets carrying Indian astronauts into space should be a reality in the near future.
NDTV: So you are saying, we'll have Indian people on indigenous Indian rockets going to space from Sriharikota?
G Madhavan Nair: This is the ambitious goal we have defined for ourselves. We have really identified the tasks which needs to be done, the type of facilities to be established, the technologies to be developed and also the funding which is required. Government has already given some pre-project funding, we have initiated some activities, but I hope formal project approval will be available soon. And once that is there by 2015 we will have this dream come true.
NDTV: 2015! That is barely seven or eight years from now. You are willing to take an Indian in space from an Indian rocket?
G Madhavan Nair: We have the competence to do it and if approval from the government is available we will do it
NDTV: How expensive or cheap is it to put human beings in space?
G Madhavan Nair: It is really expensive if you look from the Indian context but at the same time if you look at the type of space budget, space program .
NDTV: How much will it cost sir? What is your projection?
G Madhavan Nair: This is about Rs. 10,000 crores.
NDTV: 10,000 crores!!! That is a lot of money sir! I don't pay that much tax
G Madhavan Nair: No, you look at it this way. If you look at US, the Japanese, their annual budget is much more than this.
NDTV: More than 10,000 crores, which you want to do
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, whereas in the Indian context we are committed to taking the space technology for grass root applications. We have done that and we will continue to do so. So nearly 80 per cent of the budget is going to be spent on programs which are relevant to the common man.
NDTV: So you will continue to do what you are doing, which is looking at earth.
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely.
NDTV: You will not fly into space and remain there?
G Madhavan Nair: As long as we are on the planet earth we have to service the human beings who are here and we are fully committed to that in our Earth observation system, the environment monitoring system, the climatic change monitoring, the communication system
NDTV: So you will continue looking for drinking water on the earth while you are looking for water on the moon, both?
G Madhavan Nair: There is plenty of water on the earth, but how to manage the water here on the earth very well and how to use the natural resources in an effective manner, that will be our priority. So the major part of our budget is going to be utilized for that. But a small fraction of that, roughly it comes to about 16 per cent of our budget if we spend on the manned mission, we can have the leadership established
NDTV: A lot of people say this - Rs 10,000 crores is a lot of money. These instruments for putting those rockets are really toys for big boys, and you have been a good boy so you are getting these toys. How do you justify that we need to spend this money?
G Madhavan Nair: I cannot subscribe to this view at all. First of all you take the space program. If you bill it to 2003, that is when we made the benchmark study, we have spent nearly 2 billion dollars - that is equivalent to 8000 crores for us, on the space program. Then this study which is conducted in terms of the benefits given to the country, it adds to more than 12,000 crores. Leave alone that, we have the technologies what is established.
NDTV: So for every rupee spent, how much does ISRO give back to Indian society?
G Madhavan Nair: Average benefit is 1 rupee.
NDTV: So for every rupee spent, ISRO is giving Re 1.50 back to the Indian society?
G Madhavan Nair: That's right. That is the first part of it.
NDTV: That is a good rate of return
MN: The second part is, the human resource and the technology we create, that is not valued. That is tremendous.
NDTV: Meaning your value?
G Madhavan Nair: Like me there are thousands of engineers, so many people are here.
NDTV: Annadurai, Alex
G Madhavan Nair: And you cannot put a price tag on them .the technology we have developed - if you sell that in the global market, that itself will get five times more then this. So that way I think our space program has been done really on a shoe string budget and we are able to give the returns. And at the same time ..
NDTV: The people who say, the people who say this is ISRO wasting money, that is not a good argument?
G Madhavan Nair: No.
NDTV: You are not wasting money?
G Madhavan Nair: I can confidently stand in front of anybody and justify every paisa spent on the space program and how the returns are being given to the country. In addition, it is a national prestige. And the second part is, with respect to the challenges we are bringing to the scientific community - you know our scientists are really brainy chaps and they can .
NDTV: Yeah absolutely.
G Madhavan Nair: So you provide them with an opportunity; through this Chandrayaan mission, I am going to have at least a few hundred scientists in the researchers level, they will access this data and do fundamental research on the planetary system .
NDTV: Origin of the moon, where you came from ..everybody wants to understand that
G Madhavan Nair: So you don't have to depend on any foreign data for this purpose. You have got your own data. And that will be more than a few hundred crores what we are giving back.
NDTV: You mentioned a little earlier this issue of national prestige - in this is it national prestige or science which is taking precedence, or both?
G Madhavan Nair: First of all as far as ISRO is concerned it is a scientific challenge. But a country like ours, when we are talking about reaching developed status, the technology, that only can give you the strength. In this field of space technology whether it is rocket or satellites or applications, we are at par with anybody else in the world.
NDTV: So are we developing or developed?
G Madhavan Nair: As far as space technology is concerned we are developed, and we can stand shoulder to shoulder with anybody in the world.
NDTV: You are developed and you can stand shoulder to shoulder to NASA and ESA?
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely. In fact NASA chief himself has come here and he has seen these things. In the end what he told was, see this is like 1/10 of the NASA budget. We are doing much more than what NASA is doing. This is exactly what he has told us. And I wish I could have such a program. You know when we talked about recoverable and reusable systems and everything, he was really thrilled. And so much of encouragement. And of course he himself is a technologist.
NDTV: So are you looking for collaboration with America?
G Madhavan Nair: Well, in some areas definitely collaboration is possible, especially in the scientific front, exploration of the moon, planetary system and all. You know .
NDTV: So India and America can hope to go to the moon together?
G Madhavan Nair: Well you know the US systems. They have their own legislation
NDTV: Constraints they have, technology denial, control, yes .
G Madhavan Nair: Those things have to be overcome, we are slowly moving forward, for example in spacecraft related activities, scientific exploration .but there are many other areas still, embargoes continue .but I am sure by working together for future missions we will be able to work out these things.
NDTV: Sir you have mentioned about national prestige. Sir we have seen this new race to the moon; in the earlier decades it was America and Russia which were doing it. Are the Asians leading now?
G Madhavan Nair: Well, you know in the sixties and the seventies actually it was cold war era and there was a competition between Russia and America on this and the real show of strength was having access to the moon. Of course the Russians followed with instrumental exploration. But they are all concentrated on specific regions on the lunar surface. But at the same time today if you look at the origin of the earth ..
NDTV; Last one year, see we have seen a mission first by Japan, then by China and now India is doing .so the second race to the moon is in a way an Asian race?
G Madhavan Nair: Well, I think the Asian countries happened to coincide in their thinking but the instruments are of different types. So perhaps this data will become complementary. There is nothing like a race. It is an interest ..
NDTV: So you are not racing with China? They did it earlier.
G Madhavan Nair: No, I think we are not into any competition in this .it is actually the absolute requirement of the scientific community we met with our scientific program. In fact India always believed our space program has to be based on national needs, rather than any competition with any other country. So we have really maintained that status and of course, the renewed interest has come mainly because of the possibility of exotic minerals including Helium 3 on the surface and also the possibility of colonization of the moon in due course. Already US and China have declared they will have the manned mission to moon by 2020. So that means they are thinking of establishing the base and .
NDTV: And then a future colony there
G Madhavan Nair: Yes, so that is the kind of race which is going to be in future
NDTV: So can India have a colony on the moon sometime?
G Madhavan Nair: We cannot lag behind others in this race. We have to really catch up and we should have our own technology for the manned capsule. Of course initial thing would be around earth itself, then from there how to send a man to the moon etc has to be considered. And today with the economic growth what you are seeing in the country this is affordable. And a very small fraction of the national budget we spend on space technology. It is really worth it. In fact if you take the entire budget for the space program it is like 0.2-0.3 of the national budget. So it is very small compared to . others are using even up to 2 per cent or 3 per cent.
NDTV: So are you nervous, are you anxious, are you getting butterflies in your stomach? Chandrayaan will fly to the moon?
G Madhavan Nair: Well, as you know, any space mission is really complex, highly demanding and it will not tolerate even the slightest error. From that point of view yes, we have always our worries.
NDTV: It is an experiment
G Madhavan Nair: We are going to travel first time from 36,000 km orbit geosynchronous to almost ten times more than that .almost four lakh km ..travel itself how precisely we can reach there how we can make the orbit, that itself gives us lot of worries. Everything has to work with a clockwork precision and every instrument has to work, then only we can
NDTV: Have you put in the best effort you can?
G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely. ISRO makes no compromises on any of these things we go through previews at various stages, have tests carried out and also we carried out stimulations and so on .computer stimulations of the mission and all these are done ..still you know there is an element of doubt ..of course, yes.
NDTV: Are you worried at all?
G Madhavan Nair: No, not overly .but we have to be alert, we have to be active so it should go all right, we have done our best.
NDTV: So there you have it .ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair who says he has hopefully remained a good boy all through these six decades and hopes the good wishes would come through.
He says ISRO has been alert in putting this mission together and hopes that Chandrayaan-2 will fly to the moon, reach the moon, do its objectives, and then there is Chandrayaan-2, a mission to Mars, and hopefully very soon an Indian on an Indian rocket to space and then maybe to moon. And as he said, India can't lag behind, hopefully India will have a colony on the moon.
Chandrayaan-1 placed in transfer orbit
An Interview with NDTV
Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden moon spacecraft, was put into Transfer Orbit around the earth by the Polar Launch Vehicle PSLV-C11 after it blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
The 1,380 kg Chandrayaan-1, carrying 11 payloads, was released into a Transfer Orbit 18.2 minutes after the PSLV-C11 blasted off.
After a series of procedures over the next two weeks, the spacecraft would reach its desired Lunar orbit and placed at a height of 100 km from the Lunar surface, marking the operational phase of the mission which would put India in the elite lunar club.
Earlier, at the end of the 49-hour countdown, the 44.4 meter tall four-stage PSLV-11 lifted off from the second launch pad into a cloudy sky.
This is the 14th flight of ISRO's workhorse PSLV, which had launched 29 satellites into a variety of orbits since 1993, and 13th successive one in a row.
Chandrayaan-1 is carrying 11 payloads, five entirely designed and developed in India, three from European Space Agency, one from Bulgaria and two from US, which would explore the Moon over the next two years.
Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair described the successful launch as a historic moment in India's space programme.
"The launch was perfect and precise. The satellite has been placed in the earth orbit. With this, we have completed the first leg of the mission and it will take 15 days to reach the lunar orbit," Nair announced in the mission control centre.
Speaking to NDTV, Chief of the Indian space program Madhavan Nair gave details about the moon mission.
NDTV: What will it do sir? Is it carrying human beings?
Madhavan: No. This is actually a totally instrumental system
NDTV: So it is an unmanned satellite?
Dr G Madhavan Nair: Unmanned satellite, and it is mainly, almost like our earth observation satellite. This is going to observe the moon.
NDTV:: So it will essentially map the moon one can say?
Dr G Madhavan Nair: Absolutely. In fact today maps are available for certain specific regions with a lower resolution. Here we have got imaging systems which will give almost 10m resolution. So it will be a precise image of the entire surface.
The rocket that is carrying India's first unmanned satellite to moon is as high as a 7-storey building and weighs nearly 300 tonnes.
One after the other, four stages of the rocket will ignite taking Chandrayaan higher into space.
The Chandrayaan will first make a few revolutions around the Earth so that it gathers enough momentum to reach the moon.
But it will take several days before it covers the 4 lakh kilometers to reach its destination.
The satellite will be captured by moon's gravity and initially it will revolve nearly a thousand kilometers from the moon's surface.
But finally it will move closer to nearly 100 kilometers literally over the moon.
Once that's done, it will spend the next two years mapping the moon's surface and sending data to India.
And among the first things it does will be to plant India's national flag on the moon.
Then as part of its many other challenging objectives the multi-continent mission will begin the most intense search ever undertaken for life giving water on the moon.
"We have designed and built this instrument for Chandrayaan-1 to search for the water ice over the lunar poles and will be most extensive search of this type in history," said Dr Stewart Nozette, NASA and Lunar Planetary Institute, Houston, USA.
Once scientific data has been gathered by the satellite, sending it back to Earth will be a big challenge.
Digitally talking to the mooncraft will not be easy as the satellite will be almost 4 lakh kilometers away. And to gather the faint signals a dish antenna that weighs 60 tons has been set up at a small village called Bylalu near Bangalore. Part of the hi-tech data centre is still being constructed at the village where labourers sweat it out without even knowing that their efforts are taking India to outer space.
Chandrayaan on track - historic unmanned flight to the moon
India is all set to launch its historic unmanned flight to the moon, the sixth to do so after the US, former Soviet Union, European Space Agency, China and Japan. The skies cleared on Tuesday evening after a heavy downpour, cheering scientists counting down to the launch on Wednesday morning.
As the fully-loaded 44-metre-tall 316-tonne rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C11) stood at the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, off the Andhra Pradesh coast, 80 km north of Chennai, a meteorogical officer at the spot said: "Though rain is likely at the launch, there is no cyclone threat forecast".
PSLV is all set to lift of from Sriharikota early tomorrow morning
Chandrayaan - Dreams comes true!!!
With barely 24 hours to go for India's maiden lunar mission, it is the most nerve raking period for people behind this Herculean task. The modified PSLV is all set to lift off from Sriharikota early tomorrow morning. If all goes according to plan, India will become the third Asian country to have put a satellite into a lunar orbit after Japan and China -- which managed the feat just last year.
India has big future plans as well; cabinet has given the green signal for the Chandrayaan 2 mission in 2011, just three years from now. If that was not enough, current plan indicates a manned space mission in 2014 followed by a manned lunar mission in 2020 - which happens to be four years before China's 2024 deadline. India also seems to be better placed than China as far as the moolah spent on these missions is concerned. The Chandrayaan -1 mission for example, with a budget of $86 million cost only half as much as China's Chang'e 1 mission.
However, experts point out that India's mission is not just about chest-thumping or an egoistic attempt to increase its clout in the India dominated sub continent. India has as many as 11 communication satellites of its own, which the country has used to its benefit.
The INSAT series of satellites have been instrumental in bringing quality education to remote villages in the heart of rural India. This is apart from the IRS, which has helped farmers indirectly for crop yield modeling.
Four decades ago, when the US and Russia were embroiled in a bitter space-race for reaching the moon , sleeping giants India and China were barely a blip on the radar. No one could have envisaged that these countries will in just 40 years start to dramatically
shift the highly polarized world economy eastwards.
While the US still is the indisputable superpower, India and especially China has been seeing dramatic growth over the past few decades. While India has not ruffled half as many feathers as China has, it has had its share of limelight -- with the Chandrayaan
mission being one of the highly decorated feathers on the proverbial cap.
Chandrayaan's mission is world's 68th
Chandrayaan-1, which lifts off Wednesday morning from Sriharikota, is India's first and the world's 68th mission to the moon, the earth's nearest celestial body which has attracted children, scientists and poets alike.
"Through the ages, the moon, our closest celestial body, has aroused curiosity in our mind, far more than any other objects in the sky," says the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on its maiden moon mission.
The world's first moon mission was by the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on Jan 2, 1959, followed two months later by the US on March 3.
Between them, the two countries have sent 62 missions to probe the moon with the US stealing a march over the then cold war rival USSR by landing a man on the moon on July 20, 1969.
Japan broke the monopoly of the two superpowers on Jan 24, 1990 by sending its spacecraft Hiten to orbit the moon. The European Space Agency launched its probe in September 2003. China sent its spacecraft Chang-e last year.
The first hard landing on the moon was on Sep 12, 1959 by Soviet Union's Luna 2.
Chandrayaan's countdown continues in heavy rain
There was raining heavily at India's spaceport Sriharikota Tuesday morning as scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) didnt stop their countdown for the launch of the country's first mission to the moon.
Though the ISRO scientists have said only a cyclone would put stop their scheduled launch, there were signs of anxiety about the weather, even as the countdown proceeded smoothly.
"The filling of liquid propellant in the fourth stage, charging gas bottles and pressurising them got over at 2 a.m. today (Tuesday). Next major activity is the filling up of the second stage with liquid propellant," M.Y.S. Prasad, associate director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre told IANS from Sriharikota, off the Andhra Pradesh coast and about 80 km from here.
The 40-tonne fuel-filling activity will start at 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon and is scheduled to be completed by 10 p.m.
Speaking about the weather, he said: "It is not what we want. Nevertheless the launch activities are progressing as scheduled."
Monday, October 20, 2008
Chandrayaan-1 earth's only natural satellite - 2-year moon mission tomorrow
Chandrayaan-1 on 2-year moon mission tomorrow - earth's only natural satellite
The lift-off is slated around 0620 hours on board indigenously-built rocket, PSLV-C11, from the spaceport of Sriharikota on the east coast in Andhra Pradesh, some 100 kms north of Chennai.
The event would mark India's entry into select band of lunar explorers -- the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan, China, the US and Russia which have undertaken moon missions.
"Basically, this (Chandrayaan-1) is meant for a comprehensive mapping of the lunar surface," ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI.
