ISRO to build orbiter for NASA

[Mech]

ISRO to build orbiter for NASA

SRIHARIKOTA: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has asked the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to build an orbiter that will provide the communication between the soil samples collected from the far side of the moon and the earth, according to ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan.

This joint venture between the ISRO and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, would be part of the Moonrise missions planned by the NASA.

“This project is in the planning phase, alongside India's lunar mission programme centred on Chandrayaan-2,” he said.

The ISRO would provide an orbiting communicator to the NASA for this mission, scheduled for 2016.

Chandrayaan-2 would be put in an orbit around the moon by a Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in 2013 and the project would cost Rs.462 crore, Mr. Radhakrishnan said. It would be a joint mission with Russia: while the spacecraft and the rover would be built by India, the lander would be from Russia.

The two-member committee the Centre had appointed to go into the allocation of the S-band spectrum to private company Devas by ISRO's commercial arm Antrix Corporation had submitted its report. The government would give it to the ISRO, which would act on it, he said.

SOURCE: The Hindu : National : ISRO to build orbiter for NASA

 

[Mech]

A Brief idea about Chandrayaan - 2

 

[Mech]

Moon Rover.

 

[Mech]

The lander.

 

[Mech]

It’s interesting to note that, unlike on the Chandrayaan-1, none of these seven instruments are international: they’re all ISRO, even on the Russian-built rover.

A quote from a September 5th interview with former ISRO chairman Srinivas Laxman (TOI):


QUESTION: “A significant aspect of Chandrayaan-2 is that the orbiter, unlike in Chandrayaan-1, does not have any foreign payloads even though NASA and the European Space Agency showed interest. Is there any reason why foreign payloads have been removed?"

ANSWER: "As per the present plan we do not have any weight in the orbiter for foreign payloads. We were keen on giving an opportunity to our scientists.”- “‘We’re Launching Chandrayaan-2 for a Total Coverage of the Moon"

 

[Mech]

Orbiter

1. Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer and Solar X-ray monitor (XSM).

•Similar to a payload on the first Chandrayaan, these will map major elements on the lunar surface—namely magnesium, aluminium, silicon, calcium and iron.

2. L and S band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).

“…for probing the first few tens of metres of the lunar surface for the presence of different constituents, including water ice. SAR is expected to provide further evidence confirming the presence of water ice below the shadowed regions of the moon…” – “Payloads for Chandrayaan-2 finalised, to carry 7 instruments”, The Times of India

•Icing on the lunar water cake…and, of course, potentially valuable ($$$) info on what deposits there are and where.

3. Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS).

“…for mapping of lunar surface over a wide wavelength range for the study of minerals, water molecules and hydroxyl present…”- The Times of India
•This will confirm the levels of water that is collected in the soil and minerals, as opposed to the water ice (as payload 2 above will investigate). This should be a comparatively tiny amount of water, but any in situ amount is both helpful and potentially valuable.

4. Neutral Mass Spectrometer (ChACE-2)

“…to carry out a detailed study of the lunar exosphere.” -The Times Of India

•The lunar exosphere is what little ‘atmosphere’ the moon has, and pertains to the interactions of ions and the solar wind. Japan’s Kaguya was the first craft to detect the Moon originating ions outside of the solar wind, so this is an area really just beginning to be dug into.

5. Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2)

“…for preparing a three-dimensaional map essential for studying the lunar mineralogy and geology.” -The Times of India

•Lunar orbiters love their Terrain Cameras, and after seeing the amazing images that the LRO’s been churning out in spades, to have a potentially next-gen set of imagery in 2013 could make for a spectacular view.


Rover

1. Laser induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS).

•As the U.S. Army puts it, a LIBS is “simple, straightforward, and powerful”! It ‘atomizes and excites particles‘, and “in principle, LIBS can analyse any matter regardless of its physical state, be it solid, liquid or gas“…which sounds really convenient for detecting helium-3, it being a gas that collects in the lunar soil and that can be released (and therefore collected for use) by heat.

2. Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscope (APIXS).

•Also for determining chemical composition, this instrument (at least, on a Mars rover equivalent) is geared more towards geologic study: formation of rock, crust, etc.

SOURCE: Luna C/I: Moon Colonization and Integration » Chandrayaan-2

 

[Mech]

Interesting Image.

 

[Mech]

2013 promete ser un año muy interesante para la exploración de nuestro satélite. Si todo va bien, nada más y nada menos que dos vehículos explorarán la superficie lunar el mismo año. Por un lado, la sonda china Chang'e 3 posará un pequeño rover en Sinus Iridum. Por otro lado, la agencia espacial india (ISRO) ha anunciado recientemente que también planea lanzar la Chandrayaan 2 en el primer trimestre de 2013. Este anuncio supone un retraso de un año en el proyecto, pues hasta ahora se había anunciado que el lanzamiento de la sonda tendría lugar en 2012.

La misión Chandrayaan 2 está formada por dos naves: un orbitador similar a la Chandrayaan 1 y en un rover de 58 kg de fabricación india con una etapa de descenso rusa fabricada por NPO Lávochkin, muy similar a la de las famosas misiones Ye-8 (Lunojod). La nave de descenso forma parte también de la misión rusa Luna-Grunt 1. Las dos naves serán lanzadas conjuntamente por un cohete GSLV Mk-II.

En definitiva, parece que el proyecto sigue adelante, aunque todavía existen dudas del estado de desarrollo de la contribución rusa a la misión

BLOG:Eureka: Chandrayaan 2 en 2013

 

[Mech]

2013 promete ser un año muy interesante para la exploración de nuestro satélite. Si todo va bien, nada más y nada menos que dos vehículos explorarán la superficie lunar el mismo año. Por un lado, la sonda china Chang'e 3 posará un pequeño rover en Sinus Iridum. Por otro lado, la agencia espacial india (ISRO) ha anunciado recientemente que también planea lanzar la Chandrayaan 2 en el primer trimestre de 2013. Este anuncio supone un retraso de un año en el proyecto, pues hasta ahora se había anunciado que el lanzamiento de la sonda tendría lugar en 2012.

La misión Chandrayaan 2 está formada por dos naves: un orbitador similar a la Chandrayaan 1 y en un rover de 58 kg de fabricación india con una etapa de descenso rusa fabricada por NPO Lávochkin, muy similar a la de las famosas misiones Ye-8 (Lunojod). La nave de descenso forma parte también de la misión rusa Luna-Grunt 1. Las dos naves serán lanzadas conjuntamente por un cohete GSLV Mk-II.

En definitiva, parece que el proyecto sigue adelante, aunque todavía existen dudas del estado de desarrollo de la contribución rusa a la misión

BLOG:Eureka: Chandrayaan 2 en 2013

Can someone tell me what the chang'e probe is? Chinese member preferably...>.>

 

[Mech]

 

[President Camacho]

Can someone tell me what the chang'e probe is? Chinese member preferably...>.>

Chinese Lunar Exploration Program - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Mech]

 

[Mech]

SOFT LANDING SCHEME.

 

[rajusri]

Thank you for the posts.

 

[shaktiman2010]

wow, Indo-Russian mission looks very ambitious. NASA mission sucks in comparison. Looks like NASA is paranoid of India still.