Chandrayaan-II to be in orbit by 2011-12

 COIMBATORE: Even as India’s maiden lunar probe circles the moon, the Centre has given its approval for Chandrayaan-II and it would be in orbit by 2012. 

ISRO has started necessary research workfor the next mission for which the Centre has sanctioned necessary funds, Chandrayaan-I Project Director Mylswamy Annadurai told reporters. The second mission would be a fully indigenous one, he said.  

Chandrayan-I is the best thing to happen to Indian space research and is designed to study the water availability and fertile standards of moon, he said.

The moon mission has proved that India is on par with any other nation which ventured to the earth’s satellite, he said.

Stating that the pictures being received from moon were giving very valuable inputs, he said steps are being made to get continuous pictures by making some technical corrections.

Earlier, the Scientist was felicitated by the public at different places in Coimbatore district for the successful launch of the country’s moon mission.

Accepting the felicitations, Annadurai exhorted the students to shelve their foreign dreams as opportunities were available within India.

The days of foreign students coming to India in pursuit of research works and higher studies were not far away, he said. 

source:www.indiatimes.com

IMAGES OF CHANDRAYAN-1

Photo Gallary of Chandrayaan-1 and PSLV-C11

 

 

	Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft undergoing pre-launch tests
	Moon Impact Probe integration with Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft
	Moon Impact Probe
	Readying Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft for Thermovac test
	Fully integrated Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft (left) and loading it to Thermovac Chamber (right)

PSLV-C11 Liftoff

	PSLV-C11 Liftoff
	PSLV-C11 Liftoff
	PSLV-C11 Lift0ff

PSLV-C11 On Launch Pad

	PSLV-C11 on Launch Pad
	PSLV-C11 on its way to launchpad
	PSLV-C11 on its way to launchpad from Vehicle Assembly Building
	PSLV-C11 comming out from Vehicle Assembly Building
	PSLV-C11 at Vehicle Assembly Building

PSLV-C11 Third and Fourth Stages

	Close-up view of PSLV-C11 fourth stage
	PSLV-C11 Vehicle stacked up to fourth stage
	Hoisting of third and fourth stages of PSLV-C11

PSLV-C11 Second Stage

	Hoisting of PSLV-C11 Second Stage
	PSLV-C11 Second Stage with its VIKAS engine

PSLV-C11 First Stage

	Loading of PSLV-C11 First Stage Nozzle End Segment
	PSLV-C11 First Stage Nozzle End Segment on its way to Vehicle Assembly Building
	Positioning of PSLV-C11 First Stage Nozzle End Segment over launch pedestal

PSLV-C11 Strap-on

	Unloading a PSLV-C11 strap-on from transporter at Vehicle Assembly Building
	Fully Assembled First Stage surrounded by strap-ons of PSLV-C11

 

 

 

source: www.isro.org

CHANDRAYAAN-1 “INDIA’s MOON mission”

SRIHARIKOTA: On November 10 or 11, the national flag will be hoisted on the Moon. When the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), bearing the Tricolour, ejects from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and crashlands on the lunar surface, it will mark India’s leap into the club of countries aiming for the Moon.“A small Indian flag (4 inches by six inches) has been painted on the moon impact probe. This is a matter of pride and honour, and when the MIP lands on the Moon, it will signal India’s entry into one of the intriguing aspects of the universe,’’ ISRO officials told TOI. 
The 29-kg MIP, which was not part of the project initially, was inducted into the spacecraft at the insistence of former President A P J Abdul Kalam. The payload developed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram will help identify future landing sites on the Moon and will also aid scientific exploration of the lunar surface. When the MIP crash-lands on the Moon, it will kick up dust. The mass spectrometer on the payload will gather scientific details from the dust and send them back to the earth. The MIP is one of the 11 payloads on Chandrayaan-I and one of the five instruments indigenously designed anddeveloped in India. 

On October 22, the PSLVC 11, also called PSLV-XL because of the increased weight of the six strap-on motors, will soar into the sky from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota . It will travel to the vicinity of the Moon by following the lunar transfer trajectory (LTT). 

When the spacecraft reaches the vicinity of the Moon, it will be slowed down through a process to enable the gravity of the Moon to capture it into its elliptical orbit. 

When the orbital height of Chandrayaan-I is lowered to its intended 100-km height from the lunar surface , the MIP will be ejected from Chandrayaan-I at the earliest on to the lunar surface in a chosen area. “About 20 days from the date of launch, Chandrayaan-I will be in the required Moon orbit. So we are looking at November 8, around noon,’’ SSDC director M C Dathan said. 

The spacecraft, which is being readied at another building , will be moved to the vehicle building by October 14, following which another four days of work will be carried out to couple Chandrayaan-1 with the launch vehicle. On October 18, the vehicle with the payloads will be moved to the launch pad. 

Dathan allayed fears of the launch not taking place on October 22 because of rains. “Only if a cyclone occurs will there be a problem. Otherwise, even with rains, the launch will take place,’’ he said.