The launch of the next Moon mission could be just four months away. India plans to return to the Moon in a big way with the ambitious Chandrayaan-2, which includes an orbiter, lander, and a small rover. If it all succeeds, it will be India's first soft landing on another world, and only the second such landing since the end of the Apollo and Luna era. For India, landing success would be "a stepping stone for future exploration missions to other planets," according to Indian Space Research Organisation Satellite Centre (ISAC) director M. Annadurai.
Chandrayaan-2 is planned to launch in March from ISRO's Sriharikota launch center aboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 2 (GSLV Mk 2) rocket, making it ISRO's first deep-space launch on its newer, heavier launch vehicle. The combined mass of the three component spacecraft is 3250 kilograms, dramatically larger than the approximately 1300-kilogram mass of both Chandrayaan-1 and Mars Orbiter Mission, both of which launched on smaller Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs).
The GSLV will place Chandrayaan-2 into an elliptical Earth parking orbit, enlarging it over days or weeks with periapsis burns to raise the orbit apogee. Eventually, the apogee will be high enough that a burn can send the spacecraft on to a lunar transfer trajectory. A lunar orbit insertion burn will place Chandrayaan-2 into an elliptical orbit and the spacecraft will begin braking at periapsis to reduce its orbit to a 100-kilometer circle.
Sivan said, "After the Cartosat mission, the subsequent launch will be of Gsat-6A that will be lifted off by a GSLV Mk II rocket". "The launch of navigation satellite IRNSS-1I, which will replace the first navigation satellite IRNSS-1A, whose three atomic clocks (meant to provide precise locational data) had stopped working last year, is planned in February or March," he said, adding, "Next in line will be the Chandrayaan-2 mission, scheduled for launch in March."
Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are set to conduct a breathtaking stunt at Mahendragiri hills in Tamil Nadu. A bungee jump is being planned for Chandrayaan-2 craft as part of soft landing tests using a 100-metre tall crane (as tall as a 10-storeyed building) specially built for the purpose.
Chandrayaan-2 is India’s most ambitious project as yet consisting of an orbiter, lander and a small rover. If it succeeds, it will be India’s first soft-landing on the Moon, and only the second such landing since the end of the Apollo and Luna missions.
He said the craft, weighing about half-a-tonne, will be lowered from 100 metres and ignited in a lower gravity condition like that of the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2 set for bungee jump test in Mahendragiri hills of Tamil NaduQuoteScientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are set to conduct a breathtaking stunt at Mahendragiri hills in Tamil Nadu. A bungee jump is being planned for Chandrayaan-2 craft as part of soft landing tests using a 100-metre tall crane (as tall as a 10-storeyed building) specially built for the purpose.
Further, are the launch window constraints more relaxed, as this is not a direct trans-lunar injection?
Among the innovations and value additions being developed is the augmentation of the GSLV Mark II launch vehicle. Dr. Sivan said its lifting capability would soon be enhanced from 2.2 tonnes to 3.3 tonnes. The capability then would go up by 1.5 times and would reflect in its per-kilo cost, which could make it quite competitive to future commercial users in the launchers market.The first launch of the enhanced GSLV, after necessary tests and confirmations, will be the 3.2-tonne Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, scheduled to be launched in April.
Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 01/31/2018 06:21 amWhere is the 1,100 kg or 50% payload increase (from 2.2 to 3.3 t) for GSLV Mk.II coming from?Most likely from these upgrades: - New high thrust vikas engine- New C-15 cryogenic stage with increased thrust (95kn vs 75kn from old engine)- Overall dry mass reduction - Possible replacement of S139 with S200 to increase core burn time from 100 seconds to 130 seconds
Where is the 1,100 kg or 50% payload increase (from 2.2 to 3.3 t) for GSLV Mk.II coming from?
It will have the same name. It is just a natural evolution of the GSLV MK-2 not a complete new rocket.
Most likely from these upgrades: - New high thrust vikas engine- New C-15 cryogenic stage with increased thrust (95kn vs 75kn from old engine)- Overall dry mass reduction - Possible replacement of S139 with S200 to increase core burn time from 100 seconds to 130 secondsThe last one about S-200 is perhaps unlikely as it would be a major change that will have an impact on the flight characteristics of the vehicle. Moreover, S-200 has a greater diameter than S-139 (3.2m vs 2.8m). What we have heard so far from ISRO sources are inert mass reduction, increased propellant load and increased thrust in CUS, and the thrust upgrade for Vikas engines.
As a part of the three-year short-term action plan, immediate missions that we plan to do this year are the GSLV-F08 that will launch the GSAT-6A communication satellite [around February]. Then we will have a PSLV mission with navigation satellite IRNSS-1I. Then comes the second developmental flight D2 of GSLV-MkIII. It will launch the high throughput satellite GSAT-29. Later, GSAT-11, which will be our heaviest satellite as of now, will be launched from Kourou. The Chandrayaan-2 mission will be launched this year on another GSLV.
Unlike the first lunar mission when a PSLV rocket carried the spacecraft to the moon's orbit, this time heavy-payload lifter GSLV Mk II will launch the spacecraft weighing 3,290kg as the module will carry an orbiter, a rover and a lander to the moon.
Dr Sivan said, "After reaching the moon's orbit, the lander will get detached from the orbiter and do a soft-landing near the south pole of the moon. The 6-wheeled rover fixed within the lander will get detached and move on the lunar surface. The rover has been designed in such a way that it will have power to spend a lunar day or 14 Earth days on the moon's surface and walk up to 150-200 metres. It will do several experiments and on-site chemical analysis of the surface."The Isro chairman said, "The rover will then send data and images of the lunar surface back to the Earth through the orbiter within 15 minutes.
After spending 14 earth days, the rover will go in a sleep mode. We are hoping the rover will again come alive whenever that part of the moon (where the rover will land) gets sunlight and recharges the rover's solar cells. Besides the rover, the orbiter will also capture images of the moon while orbiting it."
On testing of lunar components, Dr Sivan said, "All three components of the lunar module are almost ready. Currently, their integration is going on. Once the module is ready, it will have to go through rigorous tests." On fixing launch date, he said, "The launch date will depend on various factors like the moon's relative position with respect to the Earth.
Once the GSLV is launched, it will put the spacecraft in the 170 km x 20,000 km elliptical orbit. From the elliptical orbit, the craft will be manoeuvred towards the lunar orbit by firing thrusters. Therefore, we expect it to reach the lunar orbit in two months."
In the run-up to the most challenging space exploration programme undertaken ever by India, ISRO chairman K Sivan told Express that integration of all the three components of the spacecraft is nearing completion at ISRO Satellite Centre in Bengaluru. “The next 45-60 days will be crucial as the composite pack, comprising Orbiter, Lander and Rover will go through a series of rigorous tests in disassembled and assembled mode. The outcome of these test results will determine the launch date. If we succeed to achieve the desired results in the first attempt, then the launch would take place in April, but in case any technical problems are encountered, there would be a delay. Since this is the first such attempt being made, there is always an uncertainty,” he said.The chairman said the launch window is fixed between April and October, within which the space agency hopes to accomplish the mission. “The launch date depends on multiple factors like the moon’s relative position with respect to Earth. After the lift-off from Sriharikota, it would take approximately two months to reach the designated moon’s orbit. Another important factor is that when the Lander makes the touchdown on the pre-determined site near south pole of lunar surface, there should be sunlight. In a month, moon sees sunlight for only 14 days,” Sivan said.
With the much-awaited Chandrayaan-2 mission, India's second flight to the moon, Isro is attempting to pull off a daredevil manoeuvre. It will be the first-ever mission to soft land near the moon's south pole, which poses a number of challenges."We have identified two locations and will be choosing one. No other moon mission has landed in this area," said former Isro chief AS Kiran Kumar on Saturday, who retired as Isro chairman last month.
In preparation for this touchdown, landing simulations are currently on at Isro's Liquid Propulsion System Centre at Mahendra Giri in Tamil Nadu. The exercise involves a prototype of the lander simulating a soft landing from a height of 70-80 metres.
Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 01/21/2018 05:31 pmFurther, are the launch window constraints more relaxed, as this is not a direct trans-lunar injection?Presumably, as it takes a certain of amount of time to reach the Moon, regardless of route chosen and that ISRO would like to land early in the Lunar day, this would mean the window would open for a few days each month.
Therefore, just in case something needs an upgrade and we miss this clear visibility window in April, our next chance will be in October. But the activities are in full steam targeting April,” he said.
