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Botnst · #1 10-21-2008, 09:04 PM

India Moon probe ready for launch
By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News

India is counting down to the launch of its first mission to the Moon.

On Wednesday, the unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft will blast off from a launch pad in Andhra Pradesh to embark on a two-year mission of exploration.

The robotic probe will orbit the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of elements and minerals. The launch is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia.

An Indian-built launcher carrying the one-and-a-half-tonne satellite is due to blast off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at about 0650 local time (0050 GMT) on Wednesday.

Competitive mission

"Everything is going perfectly as planned," the centre's associate director MYS Prasad told the AFP news agency, after the official countdown began in the early hours of Monday.

One key objective will be to search for surface or sub-surface water-ice on the Moon, especially at the poles. Another will be to detect Helium 3, an isotope which is rare on Earth, but is sought to power nuclear fusion and could be a valuable source of energy in future.

Powered by a single solar panel generating about 700 Watts, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) probe carries five Indian-built instruments and six that are foreign-built. The mission is expected to cost 3.8bn rupees (£45m; $78m).

The Indian experiments include a 30kg probe that will be released from the mothership to slam into the lunar surface. The Moon Impact Probe (MIP) will record video footage on the way down and measure the composition of the Moon's tenuous atmosphere.

"Chandrayaan has a very competitive set of instruments... it will certainly do good science," said Barry Kellett, project scientist on the C1XS instrument, which was built at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory in the UK.

C1XS will map the abundance of different elements in the lunar crust to help answer key questions about the origin and evolution of Earth's only natural satellite.

Researchers say the relative abundances of magnesium and iron in lunar rocks could help confirm whether the Moon was once covered by a molten, magma ocean.

"The iron should have sunk [in the magma ocean], whereas the magnesium should have floated," Mr Kellett told BBC News. "The ratio of magnesium to iron for the whole Moon tells you to what extent the Moon melted and what it did after it formed."

The instrument will look for more unusual elements on the Moon's surface, such as titanium. This metallic element has been found in lunar meteorites, but scientists know little about its distribution in the lunar crust.

Chandrayaan will also investigate the differences between the Moon's near side and its far side. The far side is both more heavily cratered and different in composition to the one facing Earth.

On Wednesday, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket will loft Chandrayaan into an elliptical "transfer orbit" around Earth. The probe will later carry out a series of engine burns to set it on a lunar trajectory.

The spacecraft coasts for about five-and-a-half days before firing the engine to slow its velocity such that it is captured by the Moon's gravity. Chandrayaan will slip into a near-circular orbit at an altitude of 1,000km. After a number of health checks, the probe will drop its altitude until it is orbiting just 100km above the lunar surface.

India, China, Japan and South Korea all have eyes on a share of the commercial satellite launch business and see their space programmes as an important symbol of international stature and economic development.

Last month, China became only the third country in the world to independently carry out a spacewalk.

But the Indian government's space efforts have not been welcomed by all. Some critics regard the space programme as a waste of resources in a country where millions still lack basic services.

pj67coll · #2 10-21-2008, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

But the Indian government's space efforts have not been welcomed by all. Some critics regard the space programme as a waste of resources in a country where millions still lack basic services.

And always will... I say good luck to them. The bennefits of the "high frontier" will accrue exponentially to the nation or nations, that have the resolve to explore and eventually colonise it. Those who turn their backs on it, for whatever reason, deserve the ignominy that will result.

- Peter.

Gurkha · #3 10-21-2008, 10:53 PM

Millions continue to reproduce selfishly and add to the ever burgeoning exchequer, why should progress stop for these fodders who have only desire for self and not for the nation. Naysayers are everywhere, they would rather feed and reproduce and lead a mundane daily grind, science be damned. Indian government has made radical progress in literacy and poverty reduction even though there is a long way to go. Remember, we are not talking millions here, we are talking a billion. The numbers are exponential in every sense. Should progress stop for that.........never. Things like population control would be far easier to implement if India followed its mighty neighbor's path, unfortunately such luxuries can not be afforded in a sub continent with different races, regions and the D word called democracy.

tankdriver · #4 10-21-2008, 11:08 PM

Good luck to 'em. They developed nukes on their own and supercomputers on their own. They are certainly capable.

Gurkha · #5 10-21-2008, 11:13 PM

They have to, just see how nice neighbors they have, 62 Chinese war, 65, 71 2002 Indo Pak war. 1988 severe Sino Indian border clash.......Mujaihadeens from Afghanistan and Pakistan, terrorists from North East.......list goes on.

Mistress · #6 10-22-2008, 09:43 AM

Did you know the Russians where the first ones to successfully put a land rover on the Moon in the 60's? Wonder why we never heard about it until now.

Carleton Hughes · #7 10-22-2008, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mistress

Did you know the Russians where the first ones to successfully put a land rover on the Moon in the 60's? Wonder why we never heard about it until now.

Not that successful as it still had Lucas electrics and crapped out from a faulty ignition coil...

OldPokey · #8 10-22-2008, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carleton Hughes

Not that successful as it still had Lucas electrics and crapped out from a faulty ignition coil...

Nope - they're smarter than that! They made sure its engine ran on Diesel!

Mistress · #9 10-22-2008, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carleton Hughes

Not that successful as it still had Lucas electrics and crapped out from a faulty ignition coil...

I thought it had something to do with the solar panel getting stuck shut.

Carleton Hughes · #10 10-22-2008, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mistress

I thought it had something to do with the solar panel getting stuck shut.

No,you're thinking of the moonroof.

cmac2012 · #11 10-22-2008, 11:07 AM

Space: the final shiny bauble.

Mistress · #12 10-22-2008, 11:15 AM

No seriously, there was a special on the Science Channel the other night that documented this rover. Pretty neat stuff.

LUVMBDiesels · #13 10-22-2008, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carleton Hughes

Not that successful as it still had Lucas electrics and crapped out from a faulty ignition coil...

You are thinking of the Beagle that crashed on Mars.
The Soviet probe was made up of parts from old DeSotos and Fords that had been shipped to the USSR plus parts from the reverse engineered B29.It was put together at the LADA Factory. It crashed due to the weight of all the posters describing Kruschev and the Worker's Paradise making the probe unstable

LUVMBDiesels · #14 10-22-2008, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pj67coll

And always will... I say good luck to them. The bennefits of the "high frontier" will accrue exponentially to the nation or nations, that have the resolve to explore and eventually colonise it. Those who turn their backs on it, for whatever reason, deserve the ignominy that will result.

- Peter.

Space belongs to the Chinese and now the Indians. We and the Europeans will never go back in any real way. Space is not going to be about exploration but exploitation and we don't have the stomach for mining the moon or Mars. Look what the Indians are doing with this probe. They are the first ones to look for minerals that can be expolited and brought back as raw materials. We go up there for purposes of knowing how the universe was formed and they go up there with miner's hats on. Who is going to win THIS race?

Medmech · #15 10-22-2008, 04:32 PM

I wonder who they will use for technical support.