What is Chandrayaan 1
Definition: Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to moon, was an unmanned spacecraft weighing 1380-Kg along with 11 scientific payloads built in India, UK, USA, Germany, Bulgaria and Sweden. The mission comprised an orbiter and an impactor. Launched successfully by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on October 22, 2008, the spacecraft was designed to study the Moon orbiting around it at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface.
Description: The mission provided a major boost to the Indian space program as India effectively researched and indigenously developed the technology to explore the Moon. The main objectives of the mission were to: * Conduct various scientific experiments by the use of instruments on the spacecraft to yield data for studies * Prepare a 3-D atlas of both the far and near sides of the moon * Provide high-resolution chemical and mineral imaging of the entire surface of the moon * Gather information about lunar volatiles by observing X-ray spectrum in the energy range of 10-200 keV * Detect the presence of water on the moon.
Chandrayaan-1 was launched aboard PSLV-C11 launch vehicle which successfully inserted the spacecraft into the lunar orbit on November 8, 2008. On November 14, 2008, MIP (Moon Impact Probe) was separated which struck the lunar South Pole in a controlled manner and India emerged as the fourth country in the world to hoist its flag on lunar surface. After almost a year due to several technical issues and contact failure on August 29, 2009, the ISRO officially declared the mission over. Chandrayaan operated for 312 days against the planned two years but was successful by achieving 95% of its planned objectives. Chandrayaan-1’s greatest discovery was the widespread presence of water molecules in the lunar soil.
Description: The mission provided a major boost to the Indian space program as India effectively researched and indigenously developed the technology to explore the Moon. The main objectives of the mission were to: * Conduct various scientific experiments by the use of instruments on the spacecraft to yield data for studies * Prepare a 3-D atlas of both the far and near sides of the moon * Provide high-resolution chemical and mineral imaging of the entire surface of the moon * Gather information about lunar volatiles by observing X-ray spectrum in the energy range of 10-200 keV * Detect the presence of water on the moon.
Chandrayaan-1 was launched aboard PSLV-C11 launch vehicle which successfully inserted the spacecraft into the lunar orbit on November 8, 2008. On November 14, 2008, MIP (Moon Impact Probe) was separated which struck the lunar South Pole in a controlled manner and India emerged as the fourth country in the world to hoist its flag on lunar surface. After almost a year due to several technical issues and contact failure on August 29, 2009, the ISRO officially declared the mission over. Chandrayaan operated for 312 days against the planned two years but was successful by achieving 95% of its planned objectives. Chandrayaan-1’s greatest discovery was the widespread presence of water molecules in the lunar soil.
