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India wll launch the spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 (lit. moon craft) on Wednesday, Oct 22nd Sriharikota ready to Chandrayaan-1,Countdown from Monday . ISRO’s website says it will map a 3-dimensional atlas of the moon and conduct a mineralogical mapping of the moon. This is the first step - Chandrayaan-2, which will be launched in a couple of years, will have a rover.
India wll launch the spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 (lit. moon craft) on Wednesday, Oct 22nd Sriharikota ready to Chandrayaan-1,Countdown from Monday . ISRO’s website says it will map a 3-dimensional atlas of the moon and conduct a mineralogical mapping of the moon. This is the first step - Chandrayaan-2, which will be launched in a couple of years, will have a rover.
Chandrayaan-1 will orbit the moon for 2 years at a distance of 100 kms (62 miles) from the moon’s surface. ISRO’s website has lots of photos of Chandrayaan-1 and the PSLV rocket- here is one of them (picture courtesy ISRO.org).
PSLV C-11 on Launchpad. Picture courtesy ISRO.org
India has big future plans as well; cabinet has given the green signal for the Chandrayaan 2 mission in 2011, just three years from now. If that was not enough, current plan indicates a manned space mission in 2014 followed by a manned lunar mission in 2020 - which happens to be four years before China's 2024 deadline. India also seems to be better placed than China as far as the moolah spent on these missions is concerned. The Chandrayaan -1 mission for example, with a budget of $86 million cost only half as much as China's Chang'e 1 mission.
A space mission and that too a lunar mission is not just about sending a satellite across to the moon and the scientific intent it has. It is also a matter of national pride for most Indians who sit glued to their television screens during these launches. It is expected to be no different tomorrow.
India's maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, will carry two instruments from the American space agency NASA which will assess mineral resources and map the polar regions and look for ice deposits.
The American agency said the data from the two instruments Mineralogy Mapper and Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini-SAR) will contribute to its understanding of the lunar environment and are part of its implementation of its space exploration policy which calls for robotic and human missions to the moon.
"The opportunity to fly NASA instruments on Chandrayaan-1 undoubtedly will lead to important scientific discoveries," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said.
"This exciting collaboration represents an important next step in what we hope to be a long and mutually beneficial relationship with India in future civil space exploration." The Moon Mineralogy Mapper is a state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer that will provide the first map of the entire lunar surface at high spatial and spectral resolution, revealing the minerals that make up the moon's surface.
India's maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, will carry two instruments from the American space agency NASA which will assess mineral resources and map the polar regions and look for ice deposits.
The American agency said the data from the two instruments Mineralogy Mapper and Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini-SAR) will contribute to its understanding of the lunar environment and are part of its implementation of its space exploration policy which calls for robotic and human missions to the moon.
"The opportunity to fly NASA instruments on Chandrayaan-1 undoubtedly will lead to important scientific discoveries," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said.
"This exciting collaboration represents an important next step in what we hope to be a long and mutually beneficial relationship with India in future civil space exploration." The Moon Mineralogy Mapper is a state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer that will provide the first map of the entire lunar surface at high spatial and spectral resolution, revealing the minerals that make up the moon's surface.
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