Author Topic: Chandrayaan-1 launch - First Indian mission to the Moon - October 22, 2008  (Read 136940 times)

Offline astrowiki

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More info about the 2nd image:

"The caption on the ISRO website says that the crater in the lower left is Torricelli; thanks to Phil Stooke I know that it's actually a satellite crater of Torricelli called Torricelli C"

"The entire image is approximately 20 kilometers across. "

http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001743/



Offline morgen

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ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair says Chandrayaan-1's payloads are facing overheating problem.

Offline s^3

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The report says that it affected MIP. The MIP thing is already a history. It worked nicely and it acquired some 3000+ images. So 10 deg thing has not hampered the MIP.

The space qualified components should not get affected with just a 10 deg rise.. even the imaging array which IS sensitive to temp should work ok after cooling.. even at 10 deg higher temp it could give degraded S/N and not affect the resolution so at the most the dynamic range of brightness variation capture will be affected.

A serious problem does exist if the temperature rise is due to the operation of payload. however if the temp rise is due to solar heating in certain attidudes then the yaan can be cooled by reorientation and ISRO has ample experience of attending to such circumstances.

They should boldly tell what is the real problem.. and such things are excusable in the first attempt.

Offline jacqmans

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The Indian Space Research Organisation's lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1 released a probe that impacted close to the lunar south pole on 14 November. Following this, the instruments on the spacecraft are being switched on to get the science observations started.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMMVL5DHNF_index_0.html
Jacques :-)

Offline morgen

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New images and RADOM data posted on ISRO's Chandrayaan site.

Offline hop

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Offline Shturmanskie

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A new Lunar Flyby video has been released on ISRO website -

http://www.isro.org/pslv-c11/videos/tmca.htm

Wonder if this was made before the so called "Heat" issues.

Offline jacqmans

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IMAGE ADVISORY: 2008-239                            Dec. 16, 2008

NASA Instrument Inaugurates 3-D Moon Imaging

PASADENA, Calif. – Different wavelengths of light provide new information about the Orientale Basin region of the moon in a new composite image taken by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, a guest instrument aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper is the first instrument to provide highly uniform imaging of the lunar surface. Along with the length and width dimensions across a typical image, the instrument analyzes a third dimension – color.

This two-image figure, and other data from NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper Instrument can be found at: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11727.

The composite image consists of a subset of Moon Mineralogy Mapper data for the Orientale region. The image strip on the left is a color composite of data from 28 separate wavelengths of light reflected from the moon. The blue to red tones reveal changes in rock and mineral composition, and the green color is an indication of the abundance of iron-bearing minerals such as pyroxene. The image strip on the right is from a single wavelength of light that contains thermal emission, providing a new level of detail on the form and structure of the region's surface. 

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper provides scientists their first opportunity to examine lunar mineralogy at high spatial and spectral resolution. 

"The Moon Mineralogy Mapper provides us with compositional information across the moon that we have never had access to before," said Carle Pieters, the instrument's principal investigator, from Brown University in Providence, R.I. "Our ability to now identify and map the composition of the surface in geologic context provides a new level of detail needed to explore and understand Earth’s nearest neighbor."

The Orientale Basin is located on the moon's western limb. The data for this composite were captured by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper during the commissioning phase of Chandrayaan-1 as the spacecraft orbited the moon at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles).

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper was selected as a Mission of Opportunity through the NASA Discovery Program. Carle Pieters of Brown University is the principal investigator and has oversight of the instrument as a whole as well as the Moon Mineralogy Mapper Science Team. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., designed and built the Moon Mineralogy Mapper and is home to its project manager, Mary White. JPL manages the project for NASA's Discovery Program in the Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was constructed, launched, and is operated by the Indian Space Research Organization.

More information about Chandrayaan-1 is at : http://www.isro.org/Chandrayaan . More information about NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper is at : http://m3.jpl.nasa.gov .

Jacques :-)

Offline Shturmanskie

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The heat problems on the craft are reported as fixed -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7791816.stm

Offline morgen

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ISRO has released pics of the Coulomb C crater.

Offline stanmarsh

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Yes, Finally a semi-3d image..The DEM gradation is at 150 (meters ?) intervals. I expected a higher resolution as TMC is capable of 5 m resolution...Does anyone know why the resolution is this low ? Also check out the wiki page on Coulomb crater : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulomb_(crater)

Offline jacqmans

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RELEASE: 09-010

NASA RADAR PROVIDES FIRST LOOK INSIDE MOON'S SHADOWED CRATERS

WASHINGTON -- Using a NASA radar flying aboard India's Chandrayaan-1
spacecraft, scientists are getting their first look inside the moon's
coldest, darkest craters.

The Mini-SAR instrument, a lightweight, synthetic aperture radar, has
passed its initial in-flight tests and sent back its first data. The
images show the floors of permanently-shadowed polar craters on the
moon that aren't visible from Earth. Scientists are using the
instrument to map and search the insides of the craters for water
ice.

"The only way to explore such areas is to use an orbital imaging radar
such as Mini-SAR," said Benjamin Bussey, deputy principal
investigator for Mini-SAR, from the Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. "This is an exciting first step for
the team which has worked diligently for more than three years to get
to this point."

The images, taken on Nov. 17, 2008, cover part of the Haworth crater
at the moon's south pole and the western rim of Seares crater, an
impact feature near the north pole. Bright areas in each image
represent either surface roughness or slopes pointing toward the
spacecraft. Further data collection by Mini-SAR and analysis will
help scientists to determine if buried ice deposits exist in the
permanently shadowed craters near the moon's poles.

These first images and other information about NASA's Mini-SAR, also
known as Mini-RF, can be found at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mini-rf

"During the next few months we expect to have a fully calibrated and
operational instrument collecting valuable science data at the moon,"
said Jason Crusan, program executive for the Mini-RF Program for
NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington.

Mini-SAR is one of 11 instruments on the Indian Space Research
Organization's Chandrayaan-1 and one of two NASA-sponsored
contributions to its international payload. The other is the Moon
Mineralogy Mapper, a state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer that will
provide the first map of the entire lunar surface at high spatial and
spectral resolution. Data from the two NASA instruments will
contribute to the agency's increased understanding of the lunar
environment as it implements America's space exploration plan, which
calls for robotic and human missions to the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 launched from India's Satish Dhawan Space Center on Oct.
21 and began orbiting the moon Nov. 8. The Applied Physics Laboratory
performed the final integration and testing on Mini-SAR. It was
developed and built by the Naval Air Warfare Center and several other
commercial and government contributors. The Applied Physics
Laboratory's Satellite Communications Facility is Chandrayaan-1's
primary ground station in the Western Hemisphere.

For more information about the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, visit:

http://m3.jpl.nasa.gov


For more information about Chandrayaan-1, visit:

http://www.isro.org/Chandrayaan
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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The Orbit of Chandrayaan-1 Raised
May 20, 2009   
 
http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/May20_2009.htm
   
 After the successful completion of all the major mission objectives, the orbit of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which was at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface since November 2008, has now been raised to 200 km. The orbit raising manoeuvres were carried out between 0900 and 1000 hrs IST on May 19, 2009. The spacecraft in this higher altitude will enable further studies on orbit perturbations, gravitational field variation of the Moon and also enable imaging lunar surface with a wider swath.

It may be recalled that Chandryaan-1 spacecraft launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota on October 22, 2008 by PSLV-C11, was inserted into lunar orbit on November 8, 2008. Over the last seven months, all the 11 payloads onboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft have been operationalised successfully and excellent quality data has been received. The scientific community from India and other participating international agencies are analysing the data and already several interesting results have been obtained.

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft operations are being carried out from the Satellite Control Centre (SCC) of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore and Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu near Bangalore. The science data from Chandrayaan-1 is being archived and disseminated from Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC), also located at Byalalu.
 
Jacques :-)

Offline Svetoslav

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Offline tappa

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Chandrayaan-1 develops critical malfunction

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS-India-Chandrayaan-1-develops-critical-malfunction/articleshow/4787712.cms

Quote
India's ambitious Chandrayaan-I Moon mission might come to a premature end as star sensors on board the spacecraft have failed.

"Star sensors are malfunctioning," S Satish, spokesperson of the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

Star sensors played the crucial role of orientation towards the Moon.

ISRO said it has devised innovative technology and is using antenna pointing mechanism and gyroscopes to overcome the problem.

But the space agency is not confident on how long they can hold to this mode.

"We are not sure how long we will be able to sustain it. The life of Chandrayaan-I designed for two years may be reduced," Satish said.

He, however, maintained that the mission is not crippled adding, "it is continuing satisfactorily.".

Chandrayaan-I was launched from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on October 22 last year.

Offline jacqmans

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Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft completes 3000 orbits around the Moon
July 17, 2009   
 
http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/Jul17_2009.htm
   
 Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to Moon, launched on October 22, 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, has completed eight months of successful operation and has made 3,000 revolutions around the Moon. Besides sending more than 70,000 images of the lunar surface which provide breathtaking views of lunar mountains and craters, especially craters in the permanently shadowed areas of the Moon’s polar region, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is also collecting valuable data pertaining to the chemical and mineral content of the Moon. Chandrayaan-1’s orbit was raised from 100 km to 200 km circular on May 19, 2009. The high orbital altitude of Chandrayaan-1 reduces the resolution of the imagery but provides a wider swath and the data is of good quality.

The onboard star sensor used for determining the orientation of the spacecraft started malfunctioning on April 26, 2009. To overcome this anomaly, ISRO devised an innovative technique of using redundant sensors – gyroscopes – along with antenna pointing information and images of specific location on the surface of the moon, for determining the orientation of the spacecraft. This method has been validated and based on this information, mission operations are being carried out satisfactorily. Other than the failure of the star sensor and one of the Bus Management Units, health of the spacecraft is normal.

Recent review by scientists has confirmed that all primary mission objectives of Chandrayaan-1 have been successfully realised during the eight months of its operation. The spacecraft continues to send high quality data as per planned sequence to its ground station at Byalalu near Bangalore. Detailed review of the scientific objectives and the performance results on the Chandrayaan-1 mission is scheduled within three months after which further operational procedures will be worked out.

It may be recalled that the primary mission of Chandrayaan-1 were:

To realise the complex spacecraft with 11 scientific instruments
To launch the spacecraft in near earth orbit and to carry out orbit raising manoeuvres of the spacecraft from 22,000 km to 3,84,000 km and place the spacecraft in a circular orbit around the moon
To place the Indian Tricolour on the moon
To carry out the imaging operation of the lunar surface and collect data on the mineral content of the lunar surface
To realise the deep space tracking network and implement the operational procedures for travel into deep space
With the successful realisation of these objectives, additional data that will be derived during the remaining part of Chandrayaan-1’s life will be complementary to already derived information.

The data collected from Chandrayaan-1 instruments have been disseminated to the Indian scientists and also the partners from Europe and USA. The scientific community is extremely happy with the already obtained data and the results of analysis could be expected in about 6 months to 1 year period.
 
Jacques :-)

Offline Svetoslav

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http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/scripts/pressreleasein.aspx?Aug29_2009

ISRO is no able to contact Chandrayaan-1, several other press sources indicate that the director of the mission has declared an end.

Offline robertross

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Too bad. Well, they accomplished quite a lot in this, their first mission to the moon, so my hat's off to them.

Offline iamlucky13

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That seems like a really fast call to end the mission. I guess they're pretty confident this is the cause and there's no chance of recovery:

http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/31/stories/2009083157910100.htm

Offline robertross

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That seems like a really fast call to end the mission. I guess they're pretty confident this is the cause and there's no chance of recovery:

http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/31/stories/2009083157910100.htm

Well NASA probably has a great deal more resources to throw at a problem, and to maintain as a workforce on a project, than India does.

Bottom line is probably cost of having people stand (or sit) around doing nothing. It's unfortunate, but that's the nature of the game. Move on to the next big thing.

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