indian lunar space exploration - chandrayaan i and ii missions

Credit: ISRO

AIAA SPACE 2012 CONFERENCEBy

Prasad Sundararajan

Indian Lunar Exploration Program – Chandrayaan I & II Missions

Indian Lunar Exploration Program- Chandrayaan I & II Missions

Indian Space Program - ISRO Earth Observation - Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellites Telecommunication – INSAT Satellites Meteorology & Navigation Satellites

Indigenous Launch Vehicles PSLV GSLV – MK II & III

Space Science/ Exploration Astronomy Missions Planetary Missions

Human Spaceflight Program

International Collaboration


Objectives: Place an unmanned spacecraft in polar orbit around the moonConduct mineralogical and chemical mapping of the entire lunar surface (95% completed)Upgrade national technological base for future planetary missions

Orbit: Lunar Polar Circular Orbit at 100 KM / 200 KM. Launched by Indian PSLV XL.

Timeline: Oct 22, 2008 - Aug 29, 2009 (more than 3400 lunar orbits)

Spacecraft: Basic architecture derived from the IRS satellite bus, Spacecraft weight 1380 kg.

Single solar panel generated 700 W power.

Onboard liquid engine with 440 N performed orbit raising maneuvers.

Eleven Science Instruments (six foreign)

Chandrayaan–I Spacecraft

Credit: ISRO


Detection of Water (OH/ H2O) Molecules NASA M3 Instrument, Mini-SAR instrument CHACE payload of MIP from ISRO

Lunar Mineral/ Topography Mapping Possible detection of Sodium (Na) Regional mapping of Apollo 14, 15 and 17 sites

Interaction of Solar Wind with Lunar Regolith SARA Experiment found ~ 20% of incident solar wind get backscattered (high hydrogen reflection) Explains low abundance seen by Apollo 17 samples

Lunar Radiation Environment Average flux and dose increased from 100 km to 200 km orbit Total radiation dose accumulated during CH-I transfer from Earth to Moon found to be ~ 1.3 Gy.

Chandrayaan–I Science Findings

Credit: ISRO


Reasons for failure before the planned two year mission

Power Converter Failure for loss of communication Loss of Star Sensors early in the mission

Thermal & Power Management Radiation tolerance for electronic components Power management among the 11 instruments Effect of dependency among instruments/ bus mgt. unit

New Materials & Miniaturization Development and incorporation of new materials Core components redundancy and Instruments miniaturization

Orbital perturbation corrections

Communication/ Public Relations Management

Chandrayaan–I Lessons Learned


Chandrayaan–II MissionObjectives: Investigate the origin and evolution of the Moon with improved versions of Chandrayaan-1 instruments for imaging, mineralogy and chemical analysis Study of lunar radiation environment with alpha and neutron spectrometers

Timeline: 2014-15 (Launch by Indian GSLV MK II)

Spacecraft:

Lunar Orbiter basic architecture derived from the IRS satellite bus.

Russian Lunar Lander

Indian Lunar Orbiter & Rover

In-situ analysis of lunar regolith by instruments carried by rover and lander.

Credit: Roscosmos/ ISRO


Indian Orbiter Three-dimensional map to study lunar mineralogy and geology TMC-2, IIRS, SAR, CLASS and ChASE-2 (all Indian)

Russian Lunar Lander Neutron and Gamma-ray Analyzer to study the physical and chemical properties of landing site by in-situ analysis Communication Hub – with Rover/ Orbiter, with Earth stations

Indian Rover Alpha Particle induced X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Navigation – pair of cameras to provide 3-D Digital Elevation Model Wireless Sensor Network

Chandrayaan–II Science Instruments


The Indian Space Program entered a new phase with the successful launch and completion of a dedicated lunar mission – Chandrayaan-I

Chandrayaan-I was a scientific success and proved ISRO capability for deep space missions but also provided ISRO several lessons learned to be incorporated in CH-II and future planetary missions

Provided a boost for international collaboration in space science for humanity, especially between developed/ developing space powers

On Aug. 15,2012 (Indian Independence Day] Prime Minister officially announced launch of an Indian Mars Orbiter Mission by Nov. 2013

Successful development/ flight-test of GSLV MK-II & III crucial for future deep space missions and planned Human Spaceflight program

Technology/ Industrial development and ground infrastructure needs priority (national space ecosystem]

Sustained Space science/ Planetary missions program essential to capture the imagination and tap creativity of Indian scientists/ youth.

CONCLUSION