India's first moon mission is world's 68th

Chandrayaan-1, that lifted off in morning of October 22nd from Sriharikota, is India's first and the world's 68th mission to the moon, the earth's closest celestial body which has fascinated children, scientists and poets alike.
The world's first moon mission was by the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on Jan 2, 1959, followed two months later by the US on March 3.Between them, the two countries have sent 62 missions to probe the moon with the US stealing a march over the then cold war rival USSR by landing a man on the moon on July 20, 1969.Japan broke the monopoly of the two superpowers on Jan 24, 1990 by sending its spacecraft Hiten to orbit the moon. The European Space Agency launched its probe in September 2003. China sent its spacecraft Chang-e last year. The Indian mission to the moon was proposed at a meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999.Then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the project was on course in his Independence Day speech on Aug 15, 2003.

Chandrayaan-1, journey to moon is an unmanned lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India's national space agency. It is also India's first mission to the moon. The mission includes a lunar orbiter and an impactor. The spacecraft was launched by a modified version of the PSLV Xl on 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh

Mission Definition and Goal

Chardrayaan-1 is the first Indian Mission to the Moon devoted to high-resolution remote sensing of the lunar surface features in visible, near infrared, X-ray and low energy gamma ray regions. This will be accomplished using several payloads already selected for the mission. In addition a total of about 10 kg payload weight and 10 W power are earmarked for proposals, which are now solicited. The mission is proposed to be a lunar polar orbiter at an altitude of about 100 km and is planned to be launched by 2007-2008 using indigenous spacecraft and launch vehicle of ISRO. The mission is expected to have an operational life of about 2 years.

The remote sensing satellite weighs 1,380 kilograms (3,042 lb) (590 kilograms (1,301 lb) initial orbit mass and 504 kilograms (1,111 lb) dry mass) and carries high resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infrared, soft and hard X-ray frequencies. Over a two-year period, it is intended to survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional topography. The polar regions are of special interest, as they might contain ice.

Objectives

The stated scientific objectives of the mission are:
To design, develop and launch and orbit a spacecraft around the Moon using Indian made launch vehicle.
Conduct scientific experiments using instruments on-board the spacecraft which will yield the following results:
To prepare a three-dimensional atlas (with high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10 m) of both near and far side of the moon.
To conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of mineral and chemical elements such as Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium as well as high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium with high spatial resolution.
To Impact a sub-satellite ( Moon Impact Probe -MIP ) on the surface on the Moon as a fore-runner to future soft landing missions.

Specific areas of study

High-resolution mineralogical and chemical imaging of permanently shadowed north and south polar regions.
Search for surface or sub-surface water-ice on the Moon, specially at lunar poles.
Identification of chemical end members of lunar high land rocks.
Chemical stratigraphy of lunar crust by remote sensing of central upland of large lunar craters, South Pole Aitken Region (SPAR) etc., where interior material may be expected.
To map the height variation of the lunar surface features along the satellite track.
Observation of X-ray spectrum greater than 10 keV and stereographic coverage of most of the Moon's surface with 5m resolution
To provide new insights in understanding the Moon's
Cost Structure

The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is cuboid in shape, weighs 1,304 kg at launch and 590 kg at lunar orbit. It will carry 11 payloads, including six from abroad.
Chandrayaan-1 costs Rs.3.86 billion (about $76 million): Rs.530 million (about $11 million) for Payload development, Rs.830 million (about $17 million) for Spacecraft Bus, Rs.1 billion ($20 million) for Deep Space Network, Rs.1 billion ($20 million) for PSLV launch vehicle, and Rs.500 million ($10 million) for scientific data centre, external network support and programme management expenses.
Men behind the mission
The scientists considered instrumental to the success of the Chandrayaan-1 project are
G. Madhavan Nair – Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation
T. K. Alex – Director, ISAC (ISRO Satellite Centre)
Mylswamy Annadurai – Project director
S. K. Shivkumar – Director - Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network.
George Koshi –Mission Director
Srinivasa Hegde – Mission Director
M Y S Prasad – Associate Director of the Sriharikota Complex and Range Operations Director
J N Goswami – Director of the Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory and Principal Scientific Investigator of Chandrayaan-1
Narendra Bhandari – Head, ISRO`s Planetary Sciences and Exploration program
Chandrayaan II

Future

The ISRO is also planning a second version of Chandrayaan named Chandrayaan II. According to ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, "The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hopes to land a motorised rover on the Moon in 2009 or 2010, as a part of its second Chandrayaan mission. The rover will be designed to move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, do in site chemical analysis and send the data to the mother-spacecraft Chandrayaan II, which will be orbiting above. Chandrayaan II will transmit the data to Earth."Chandrayaan II