ISRO News and Discussion

[Junoon]

Thread to discuss about Indian Space Research Organisation

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ISRO to launch Chandrayaan-I in September

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch Chandrayaan-I, India’’s maiden mission to the moon, in September.

Talking to ANI , Chairman of ISRO G. Madhavan Nair said that the final tests have been on to launch the spacecraft to moon.

Chandrayaan-I will be launched atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), India’’s workhorse rocket with a streak of nine consecutive flawless missions.

The spacecraft would be loaded with six instruments including a high-resolution stereo camera capable of imaging objects about 16 feet in diameter.

It will also carry near-infrared and X-ray spectrometers and a laser altimeter to determine the altitude of the lunar craft for spatial coverage of various instruments.
These payloads will enable researchers to ascertain the composition and topography of the lunar surface.

The engineers have also built a 64-pound impactor that will be dropped from the orbiting spacecraft for a suicidal nosedive into the moon.

The probe will relay video imagery, altitude information and spectral data back to Earth through the Chandrayaan mothership, which will be in a lunar orbit 100 kilometres away.
The remote sensing satellite will weigh 1304 kg (590 kg initial orbit mass and 504 kg dry mass). (ANI)

 

[Raajveer]

Moon Mission To Give Global Footing To Indian Scientists

The 'Chandrayaan mission' will give Indian scientists an oppurtunity to become international players in space expedition, giving them an equal footing with their global partners, a top space scientist has said.
"We must go to the moon and this is important because it gives an opportunity for Indian scientists to become international players," K Kasturirangan, Rajya sabha memeber and former Chairman of Indian space Research Organisation (ISRO) said adressing students at Centre for Basic sciences (CBS) here last evening.

"We must become equal global partners just as we are in the Antarctic expeditions," he said.

'Chandrayaan I' is expected to be launched next month.

Highlighting the basic reasons for which India was sending unmanned mission to the Moon, he said, the scientists will have a chance to study the science behind origin of moon, the Moon-Earth-Sun system.

"The mission is also a technological challenge for interplanetary missions in the future that will be undertaken by ISRO," he told students pursuing the five-year integrated MSc course at CBS.

Such missions also gives inspiration to scientists besides students, teachers and other people who have lot of interest in space science and astronomy and astrophysics, he said.

The Moon mission is also promoting international cooperation in a big way enabling production and integration of all types of instrumentations and systems, Moon mission to give global footing to Indian scientists.


Source: Press Trust of India

 

[Preeti999]

Chandrayaan-I set for launch: ISRO chief

by : Zee News

India's maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-I is set for a late October or an early December launch, noted space scientist and former ISRO chairman Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan said.

The spacecraft, which will carry five Indian and six international experiments, has been assembled and undergoing a series of tests, he said.

0 The unmanned mission, which will orbit the moon for two years, is expected to be launched in by late October or early December by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), said Kasturirangan, a Rajya Sabha member who is also the Director of National Institute for Advances Sciences, Bangalore.

He was speaking at a function here last evening to release a book titled, "Destination Moon: India's Quest for the Moon and Beyond" authored by science writers Pallava Bagla and Subhadra Menon.

The spacecraft, which is no bigger than a typical office cubicle, is currently undergoing tests for its ability to handle the extreme thermal and vacuum environment experienced in a lunar orbit. These assessments will be followed by vibration and acoustic tests.

"The thermovac test will continue about three weeks which takes us to a late October launch otherwise it would be in December as satellite launches do not take place in November, a cyclone season," Kasturirangan said.

Meanwhile, India has already begun work on the next lunar mission in which space scientists plan to land a rover on the surface of the moon to collect rock and dust samples.

Chandrayaan-II will be developed as a joint venture project with Russia and a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed in that regard.

 

[Sumanta]

Central Chronicle - Madhya Pradesh's News Portal

ISRO's static test of largest solid booster successful
Category » News Flash Posted On Sunday, January 24, 2010
United News of India
Chennai, Jan 24:
The Indian Space Research Organisation's yet another indigenous programme got a boost, with the successful conduct of the static test of its largest solid booster ''S200'' at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota today.
The S200 solid booster would form the strap-on-stage for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle--Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) which was currently under advanced stage of development for launching four-tonne class of communication satellites.
The successful test of S200 makes it the third largest solid booster in the world, next to the RSRM solid booster of Space Shuttle and P230 solid booster of ARIANE-5.
During the test, the S200 booster was fired for 130 seconds and generated a peak thrust of about 500 tonnes, an ISRO release here said. ''The performance of the booster is exactly as predicted. Nearly 600 health parameters were monitored during the test and the initial data indicates normal performance,'' the release added.
Today`s successful test of S200 was a major milestone in the solid rocket motor programme of ISRO and a vital step in the development of GSLV-Mk III.
The release said S200 solid booster contains 200 tonnes of solid propellant in three segments. The motor measures 22 meter long and 3.2 meter in diameter.
The design, development and successful realisation of S200 solid booster was purely an indigenous effort involving Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and the SDSC with the participation of Indian Industries.