Since the past few days, there has been a buzz around everywhere, Not only in India but the world around. For some, it’s a challenge for others its pride. So, what’s it all about? You are right, for every Indian, it’s a moment of great pride and honour to launch our next moon mission Chandrayaan-2. But before discussing it, let us brush up our knowledge on the whole series of Indian Lunar Mission “THE CHANDRAYAAN PROGRAMME”.
Why Moon?
Since childhood we have been witnessing the white round moon ‘our chandamama’ grow big and small daily. Many of us had dreamt to go to the moon and play with the stars. But growing up we realise that the moon is not our neighbour next window but yes somewhere closer to our childhood. So, let’s fulfil our childhood dream and fasten our seatbelts to go to moooooooon!!!!!!
Being Earth’s only natural satellite moon provides the best linkage to Earth’s early history. It had witnessed each and every moment of our existence. It offers a great historical record of the inner Solar system environment. Though there are a few explained models, the origin of the Moon still needs further explanations. Extensive mapping of the lunar surface, to study variations in lunar surface composition is essential to trace back the origin and evolution of the Moon and this can further be helpful to study the origin and evolution of solar system and universe.
Chandrayaan programme is India’s Lunar Exploration Program. It is a series of outer space missions under the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The program consists of different parts which are a lunar orbiter, impactor, future lunar lander and rover spacecraft.
The Chandrayaan project was announced on 15 August 2003 by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This program was launched to boost Indian space programs and embarking India’s name in history.
Chandrayaan is a multi-phase mission-
- The first phase includes the launch of CHANDRAYAAN – 1 which was a lunar orbiter.
- The second phase includes the launch of soft lander/Rover Vikram and Pragyan as CHANDRAYAAN-2.
- The third phase is planned to be an in-situ sampling collection expected in 2024 as CHANDRAYAAN-3.
CHANDRAYAAN-1
Launched on 22 October 2008 Chandrayaan 1 was the first milestone for Indian lunar programme. It was launched by ISRO from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. It was unique in its sense that it was researched and developed fully in India by Indian scientists and researchers. The vehicle was inserted in the lunar orbit on 8 November 2008. On 14 November 2008, the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) separated from the Chandrayaan orbiter at 14:36 UTC and struck the south pole in a controlled manner, making India the fourth country in the world to place its flag on the Moon. The probe hit near the crater Shackleton at 15:01 UTC (20:31 IST). The location of impact of the probe was named as Jawahar Point.
The estimated cost of the project was around ₹386 crore (USD 56 million). Along with other objectives, the area around polar regions was of high interest as it may contain ice and may result in the discovery of water on the moon. The lunar mission in total carried 11 payloads, five of them were ISRO payloads and six payloads from other space agencies including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency. The payloads form these agencies were carried free of cost.
The stated objectives of this mission were: –
- perform high-resolution remote sensing of the moon in – visible, near-infrared (NIR), low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions
- survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics
- prepare a three-dimensional atlas of both near and far side of the moon
- conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of mineral and chemical elements such as Magnesium, Aluminium, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium and also high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium.
- test the impact of a sub-satellite (Moon Impact Probe – MIP) on the surface of the Moon as a forerunner for future soft-landing missions
The mission carried five scientific payloads from India, according to the ISRO these were:
- Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), which provided a high-resolution map of the moon.
- Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI), which performed the mineralogical mapping.
- Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), which returned information about the moon’s topography (height of certain features).
- High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX), which examined radioactive elements on the surface.
- Moon Impact Probe (MIP), which was intentionally crashed into the moon’s south pole. Its impact helped Chandrayaan-1 in its search for lunar water.
What happened when: Timeline of Chandrayaan – 1
15th August 2003: Chandrayaan programme was announced by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
22nd October 2008: Chandrayaan-1 takes off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota
8th November 2008: Chandrayaan-1 enters the Lunar Transfer Trajectory
14th November 2008: The Moon Impact Probe ejects from Chandrayaan 1 and crashes near the lunar South Pole — confirms the presence of water molecules on Moon’s surface
28th August 2009: Chandrayaan-1 programme ends
What we Achieved from this mission?
1. Water on the Moon
On 18 Nov 2008, the Moon Impact Probe was released from Chandrayaan at a height of 100km. During its descent to the moon surface, Chandra’s Altitudinal Composition Explorer (CHACE) recorded evidence of water on the moon. This discovery was later confirmed by JPL-Brown University payload – Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), a payload by NASA. M3 detected spectral lines near the wavelengths in the range of 2.8 – 3.0 microns, a property attributed to water and Hydroxyl ions. It is believed that the formation of Hydroxyl ions and water molecules on the lunar surface is an ongoing process.
According to European Space Agency (ESA) scientists, the lunar regolith (a loose collection of irregular dust grains making up the Moon’s surface) absorbs hydrogen nuclei from solar winds. The hydrogen nuclei and oxygen present in the dust grains interact and are expected to produce hydroxyl (HO−) and water (H2O).
2. Imaging of North and South Pole of the Moon
This was done by two different devices namely –
- Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC)
- Hyper Spectral Images (HySI)
3. 3-D profile of Clavius (one of the largest craters on moon)
Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) mapped Clavius, the third largest crater on the near side of the moon, a feature observable with little aid and even with the naked eye.
The mineral content on the lunar surface was mapped with the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), a NASA instrument on board of the orbiter. The Oriental Basin region of the Moon was mapped, and it indicates an abundance of iron-bearing minerals.
Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-ray Spectrometer: The purple arrow shows the spacecraft track over the Moon; the different coloured rectangles show the area of the Moon that C1XS was looking at. The yellow and red areas show strong X-ray signals that correspond to Silicon, Aluminium and Magnesium, at the right hand end the green/turquoise area shows X-rays due to Calcium.
4. Mapping of various minerals
The mineral content on the lunar surface was mapped with the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), a NASA instrument on board of the orbiter. The Oriental Basin region of the Moon was mapped, and it indicates an abundance of iron-bearing minerals.
Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-ray Spectrometer: The purple arrow shows the spacecraft track over the Moon; the different coloured rectangles show the area of the Moon that C1XS was looking at. The yellow and red areas show strong X-ray signals that correspond to Silicon, Aluminium and Magnesium, at the right hand end the green/turquoise area shows X-rays due to Calcium.
5. Mapping of Apollo landing sites
In January 2009, ISRO announced the completion of the mapping of the Apollo Moon missions landing sites by the orbiter. Six of the mapped sites included landing sites of Apollo 12, 14 and 16 (can be referred in the previous image).
6. Radiation environment around the Moon
Radiation Dose Monitor or RADOM-7 (a payload from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) examined the radiation environment around the moon.
End of the mission
The mission was launched on 22 October 2008 and was expected to operate for two years. However, around 20:00 UTC (11:00 IST) on 28 August 2009 communication with the spacecraft was suddenly lost. Chandrayaan-1 made 3,400 orbits of the moon and continued transmitting data until 28 August 2009, when controllers permanently lost communication with the spacecraft. The probe had operated for 312 days. Earlier it was expected that the craft crashed into the lunar surface but in 2016 it was found still to be in the orbit. Although the mission lasted less than its expected duration, but a team of scientists from ISRO stated the mission to be successful as it had achieved 95% of its desired objectives in this time duration.
Chandrayaan 1 was a major success not only for Indian fraternity but also to Space Science as a whole. It expanded India’s footprint in space and proposed a whole together new dimensions to space. Chandrayaan-1 was lauded with a number of awards and recognitions as below –
- The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has selected ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 mission as one of the recipients of its annual AIAA SPACE 2009 awards.
- The International Lunar Exploration Working Group awarded the Chandrayaan-1 team the International Co-operation Award in 2008.
- US-based National Space Society awarded ISRO the 2009 Space Pioneer Award in the science and engineering category.
So, this was the first Lunar mission of India, tricolour for the first time fluttered on the moon’s surface. Stay tuned for the upcoming section on Chandrayaan-2, which will surely set new heights to the Indian Space Research and fill us with immense pride and honour.
Thank you!
Keep reading, keep learning!
TEAM CEV