Chandrayan I: Now in orbit

Chandrayan I: Now in orbit

Jayesh Limaye, Oct 23, 2008 1027 hrs IST

Now in a geostationary orbit, the Chandrayan is orbiting the earth, hovering at an altitude of 3,87,000 km.

India resumed its space program in a big way on Wednesday with the launch of the Chandrayan I moon mission. The liftoff was perfect and India's first spacecraft to the moon entered its planned orbit early Wednesday, making India a coveted member of the select group of six -US, former Soviet Union, European Space Agency, China and Japan, who have already sent spacecrafts to the moon.

G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Agency (ISRO), speaking just minutes after the launch from the spaceport, described that this moment was "historic. India has started its journey to the moon. The first leg has gone perfectly. The spacecraft has been launched into orbit."

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV C11, which is 44 meter tall and weighs 316 tonnes, had a perfect liftoff and has achieved the first mission objective of placing the Chandrayan into the planned orbit around the earth within just 18 minutes.

There was a heavy downpour around the spaceport since the past four days, but that didn't affect the launch in any way. Nair said "We've been fighting the odds for the last four days. But the weather gods relented Tuesday evening and the launch took place in a clear morning sky."

Now in a geostationary orbit, the Chandrayan is orbiting the earth, hovering at an altitude of 3,87,000 km. It will remain there until November 8, when the it will be in a position of apogee to the moon (i.e. nearest distance, so less fuel will be required to reach the moon) and at that point, the liquid apogee motor (LAM) onboard will be fired to take it to a lunar orbit. Once near the moon, its speed will be reduced to allow the lunar gravity to capture and place it in an elliptical lunar orbit.

After this, the Chandrayan will drop its Moon Impact Probe (MIP) to the moon's soil at the earliest possible opportunity. The MIP will carry the Indian tricolor flag along with the many scientific instruments. After landing, the cameras and other instruments onboard the MIP will be activated.

Chandrayan will remain in lunar orbit for two years and will carry eleven experimental payloads of which five are Indian, while three are from the European Space Agency (ESA), two are from the US and one from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The PSLV C1 weighed 22 tonnes more than earlier PSLV models and this is attributed mostly to its six strap-on motors, which were 3.5 meters bigger at 13.5 meters, and the amount of solid propellant in the rocket was 12 tonnes as against the usual 9 tonnes.

Project director George Koshy said, "The vehicle structure was altered to have bigger strap-on motors. The rocket is also padded up with additional thermal insulation."

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(95) Comments

v.venkata ratna

,vijayawada, on Feb 14, 2009 10:31 AM

chandrayaan is ione if achivements of india in this technically developing world.through this we prove in oukr selves as one of the best technology.

Chandrayan I: Now in orbit

Now in a geostationary orbit, the Chandrayan is orbiting the earth, hovering at an altitude of 3,87,000 km.

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