Thursday, October 23, 2008

Chandrayaan to be launched on October 22


India's maiden lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft that launches on October 22, will orbit about 100 km from the lunar surface for two years, performing remote sensing of the dark side or hidden portion of the moon to unravel its mysteries, scientists working on the project said. About 500 space scientists are working round-the-clock to launch India's maiden lunar mission next week.


The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft will be launched on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C11 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, about 90 km from Chennai and off the Bay of Bengal.

"Moon is the nearest celestial body to earth at a distance of 384,000 km. Formation and evolution of moon are central to understanding the solar system. Though there have been many manned and unmanned lunar explorations, Chandrayaan will be the first spacecraft to explore the dark side or hidden portion of moon and unravel the mystery behind," SDSC deputy director M S N Prasad said at a demo of the lunar mission.

According to ISRO director S Satish, the lunar mission is estimated to cost about Rs.3.86 billion ($80 million), including Rs.1 billion for the launch vehicle, Rs.1 billion for the Deep Space Network (DSN) near Bangalore to receive the radio signals transmitted by Chandrayaan and Rs.1.86 billion for the spacecraft, sub-systems and other components, including payloads.



Chandrayaan Antina To Recieve Signals

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