CHANDRAYAAN 2 :- THE AMBITIOUS MOON                                                              MISSION OF INDIA

CHANDRAYAAN 1 gives great achievements to ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation ) scientists .

It helps us in achieving many goals like :

·         High-resolution mineralogical and chemical imaging of the permanently shadowed north and south-polar regions .

·         Searching for surface or sub-surface lunar water-ice, especially at the lunar poles

·         Identification of chemicals in lunar highland rocks

·         Chemical stratigraphy of the lunar crust by remote sensing of the central uplands of large lunar craters, and of the South Pole Aitken Region (SPAR), an expected site of interior material

·         Mapping the height variation of features of the lunar surface

·         Observation of X-ray spectrum greater than 10 keV and stereographic coverage of most of the Moon's surface with 5 m (16 ft) resolution

·         Providing new insights in understanding the Moon's origin and evolution

After 11 years ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation ) launches another ambitious mission to moon....

CHANDRAYAAN 2 :-

Chandrayaan 2 is India's second lunar expedition will shed light on a completely unexplored section of the Moon — South Polar region.This mission will help us gain a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon by conducting detailed topographical studies, comprehensive mineralogical analyses, and a host of other experiments on the lunar surface.
















ORBITER :-

The orbiter will orbit the Moon at an altitude of 100 km (62 mi). The orbiter carries eight scientific instruments .The approximate launch mass was 2,379 kg (5,245 lb).The Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC) will conduct high-resolution observations of the landing site prior to separation of the lander from the orbiter. The orbiter's structure was manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and delivered to ISRO Satellite Centre on 22 June 2015.

Vikram Lander :-

The mission's lander is called Vikram which means "valour" named after Vikram Sarabhai , who is widely regarded as the father of the Indian space programme.The Vikram lander will detach from the orbiter and descend to a low lunar orbit of 30 km × 100 km (19 mi × 62 mi) using its 800 N (180 lb_f) liquid main engines. It will then perform a comprehensive check of all its on-board systems before attempting a soft landing , deploy the rover, and perform scientific activities for approximately 14 days. The approximate combined mass of the lander and rover is 1,471 kg (3,243 lb).





The payloads on the Vikram lander are: 

• Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) Seismometer by LEOS for studying Moon-quakes near the landing site

• Chandra's Surface Thermo-physical Experiment (ChaSTE) Thermal probe for estimating the thermal properties of the lunar surface

• RAMBHA-LP Langmuir probe for measuring the density and variation of lunar surface plasma

• A laser retroreflector array (LRA) by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for taking precise measurements of distance between the reflector on the lunar surface and satellites in lunar orbit. The micro-reflector weighs about 22 grams and can not be used for taking observations from Earth-based lunar laser stations.

Pragyan Rover :-

The mission's rover is called Pragyan  which means "Wisdom" . The rover's mass is about 27 kg (60 lb) and will operate on solar power. The rover will move on 6 wheels traversing 500 meters on the lunar surface at the rate of 1 cm per second, performing on-site chemical analysis and sending the data to the lander, which will relay it to the Mission Control on the Earth.

 For navigation purpose , the rover uses:
#  Stereoscopic camera-based 3D vision. 
#  Control and motor dynamics .






















Pragyan rover carries two instruments to determine the abundance of elements near the landing site: 

• Laser induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) from Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems (LEOS), Bangalore.

• Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscope (APXS) from PRL, Ahmedabad.

GSLV-MK3 launcher :-

The GSLV-MK3 is a 3-stage rocket, consisting of a pair of S-200 solid boosters that are lit at the time of liftoff, a core liquid L-110 stage that burns hypergolic liquid fuel, and a CE-20 cryogenic upper stage that uses liquid hydrogen as fuel.

 Chandrayaan-2 will be the first interplanetary mission for this powerful launcher.

 

PROCESS OF LAUNCHING :-

Chandrayaan 2  will be injected into an earth parking 170 x 39120 km orbit. A series of maneuvers will be carried out to raise its orbit and put Chandrayaan-2 on Lunar Transfer Trajectory. On entering Moon's sphere of influence, on-board thrusters will slow down the spacecraft for Lunar Capture. The Orbit of Chandrayaan-2 around the moon will be circularized to 100x100 km orbit through a series of orbital maneuvers. On the day of landing, the lander will separate from the Orbiter and then perform a series of complex maneuvers comprising of rough braking and fine braking. Imaging of the landing site region prior to landing will be done for finding safe and hazard-free zones. The lander-Vikram will finally land near South Pole of the moon on Sep 7, 2019. Subsequently, Rover will roll out and carry out experiments on Lunar surface for a period of 1 Lunar day which is equal to 14 Earth days. Orbiter will continue its mission for a duration of one year.

Key payloads:-

• Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer
• For Elemental composition of the Moon.
• Imaging IR Spectrometer
• For Mineralogy mapping and water-ice confirmation.
• Synthetic Aperture Radar L & S Band
• For Polar-region mapping and sub-surface water-ice confirmation.
• Orbiter High Resolution Camera
• For High-resolution topography mapping Chandra's Surface .
• Thermo-physical Experiment
• For Thermal conductivity and temperature gradient.
• Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope
• For In-situ elemental analysis and abundance in the vicinity of landing site

* Further updates will be posted soon...