IPB

Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

34 Pages V  < 1 2 3 4 5 > »   
Reply to this topicStart new topic
Chandrayaan 1, India's First Lunar Probe
Bhas_From_India
post Oct 21 2008, 04:02 AM
Post #31


Junior Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 75
Joined: 19-October 08
From: India
Member No.: 4459



SpaceListener,

1. Check this for Telemetry and Tracking Info: http://www.isro.org/Chandrayaan/htmls/ground_segment.htm
Looks like Existing N/Ws, New DSN at Byalalu and External DSNs would be used.

2. Check here. http://www.isro.org/Chandrayaan/htmls/home.htm
From "http://www.isro.org/Chandrayaan/htmls/mission_sequence.htm" It looks like Equatorial.

3. Mission Objectives at ISRO website says....
=> " To realise the integration and testing, launching and achieving lunar polar orbit of about 100 km "
So, Lunar Polar Orbit it is.




Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Bhas_From_India
post Oct 21 2008, 06:59 AM
Post #32


Junior Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 75
Joined: 19-October 08
From: India
Member No.: 4459



India’s moon mission countdown continues in heavy rain

It was raining heavily at India’s spaceport Sriharikota Tuesday morning as scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) continued their countdown for the launch of the country’s first mission to the moon.Though the ISRO scientists have said only a cyclone would put off their scheduled launch, there were signs of anxiety about the weather, even as the countdown proceeded smoothly.

“The filling of liquid propellant in the fourth stage, charging gas bottles and pressurising them got over at 2 a.m. today (Tuesday). Next major activity is the filling up of the second stage with liquid propellant,” M.Y.S. Prasad, associate director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre told IANS from Sriharikota, off the Andhra Pradesh coast and about 80 km from here.

The 40-tonne fuel-filling activity will start at 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon and is scheduled to be completed by 10 p.m.

Speaking about the weather, he said: “It is not what we want. Nevertheless the launch activities are progressing as scheduled.”

Full Story: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncate..._100109675.html
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
djellison
post Oct 21 2008, 08:02 AM
Post #33


Founder
****

Group: Chairman
Posts: 14431
Joined: 8-February 04
Member No.: 1



QUOTE (SpaceListener @ Oct 21 2008, 02:09 AM) *
for less than 14 days.


Hint for you - radio dishes work when it's daytime smile.gif That dish will have radio visibility for probably a good 10 hours a day I would have thought.

Doug
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Bhas_From_India
post Oct 21 2008, 08:08 AM
Post #34


Junior Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 75
Joined: 19-October 08
From: India
Member No.: 4459



un-necessary quote removed - admin

Also, Looks like NASA is chipping in with tracking ...

In addition to the two science instruments, NASA said it will provide space communications support to Chandrayaan-1.
The primary location for NASA's ground tracking station will be at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

Full Story : http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/21imoon.htm
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Astro0
post Oct 21 2008, 10:32 AM
Post #35


Senior Member
****

Group: Admin
Posts: 3108
Joined: 21-December 05
From: Canberra, Australia
Member No.: 615



FWIW - The Canberra DSN will be using two of its antennas for launch support.
Initial acquisition during spacecraft spin up and booster separation - UTC 0115-0125 nominal.
Acquisition will be tricky, Chandrayaan-1 will be very close to the local horizon and the track will only be for 10 minutes.

We will then provide uplink and downlink support over the following two days for 4-10 hours per day.
We may be called upon again to provide support but as I understand it, the Goldstone DSN will be providing some of the cruise tracking support, along with the JHU antenna.

Looking forward to a successful mission.

Thanks for all the news tips Bhas.

Astro0
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Bhas_From_India
post Oct 21 2008, 10:40 AM
Post #36


Junior Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 75
Joined: 19-October 08
From: India
Member No.: 4459



Glad to share the updates, Astro0.

Fingers crossed at Chandrayaan launch site - October 21, 2008 14:58 IST

Intermittent rains in Nellore district which houses Shriharikota may not affect the launch of India's first moon mission, Chandrayan-1. Indian Space Research Organisation officials told rediff.com that the mission will take off on time and the weather may not be a factor.
Due to bad weather the countdown for the launch of the mission started two hours behind schedule on Monday.

ISRO officials are optimistic that the launch will take place at 0620 hrs on October 22 as per schedule. Nearly 1000 scientists are working overtime in Shriharikota to ensure that the launch is smooth. The countdown process was also supervised personally by ISRO chairman, Madhavan Nair on Monday.

ISRO officials say that the PSLV rocket can sustain a slight drizzle but there could be a problem in case of a heavy downpour at the time of the launch. Everyone at Shriharikota is keeping their fingers crossed so that the weather remains fine and does not play spoilsport during this historic event. ISRO officials say that they hope that there is fine weather. The meterorology department of ISRO is closely monitoring the situation. Only a cyclonic storm or heavy lightning can hold up the launch, they say.

The successful launch of the Chandrayan-1 will prove to be a major step towards achieving another dream and that is to have a manned mission.

M C Dathan, director at the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, Shriharikota Range says that a preliminary study in this regard has been done and submitted to the Space Commission. Although the proposal has been cleared by the Space Commission, it is pending approval from the government.

Dathan adds that the proposal is likely to be cleared in two months. Sources say that a manned mission to the moon will be a reality by 2015 and ISRO plans to develop a training facility in this regard at Bangalore.

Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Bhas_From_India
post Oct 21 2008, 10:53 AM
Post #37


Junior Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 75
Joined: 19-October 08
From: India
Member No.: 4459



NOTE: Found the following information in one of local sites and was not sure if the link will be active for long time...So posting entire content here.

Chandrayaan-1: The Course It Takes From Sriharikota To The Lunar World
=================================================
India's first lunar orbitor, Chandrayaan-1, will travel about 4,00,000 kilometres outside the Earth's atmosphere to capture the "beautiful secrets" of the Moon. But astrophysicists at ISRO will have to wait for at least 18 days to get the first close-up pictures of the lunar terrain from Chandrayaan-1.

Not until November 8, Chandrayaan-1 will reach its designated orbit around the Earth's only natural satellite, at a safe but close distance of 100 km from the Moon. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C11 blasts off from Sriharikota island in Nellore district in the early morning of October 22 carrying Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. The PSLV-C11 will leave the spacecraft at a point in space, 250 km from the Earth at its closest (perigee) and 23,000 km at its farthest (apogee).

According to the celestial schedule drawn up by ISRO team, after circling the Earth in its initial orbit for a while, Chandrayaan-1 is taken into two more elliptical orbits whose apogees lie still higher at 37,000 km and 73,000 km respectively. "This is done at opportune moments by firing the spacecraft's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) when the spacecraft is near perigee. Subsequently, LAM is fired again to take the spacecraft to an extremely high elliptical orbit whose apogee lies at about 3,87,000 km," says the ISRO's plan of action.

In this orbit, the spacecraft makes one complete revolution around the Earth in about 11 days. During its second revolution around the Earth in this orbit, the spacecraft will approach the Moon's north pole at a safe distance of about a few hundred kilometres since the Moon would have arrived there in its journey round the Earth.

"Once the Chandrayaan-1 reaches the vicinity of the Moon, the spacecraft is oriented in a particular way and its LAM is again fired. This slows down the spacecraft sufficiently to enable the gravity of the moon to capture it into an elliptical orbit. Following this, the height of the spacecraft's orbit around the moon is reduced in steps. After a careful and detailed observation of perturbations in its intermediate orbits around the moon, the height of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's orbit will be finally lowered to its intended 100 km height from the lunar surface," an ISRO release says.

Later, the Moon Impact Probe will be ejected from Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft at the earliest opportunity to hit the lunar surface in a chosen area. Following this, cameras and other scientific instruments are turned on and thoroughly tested. This leads to the operational phase of the mission. This phase lasts about two years during which Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft explores the lunar surface with its array of instruments that includes cameras, spectrometers and its radar system.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Bhas_From_India
post Oct 21 2008, 12:55 PM
Post #38


Junior Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 75
Joined: 19-October 08
From: India
Member No.: 4459



"Chandrayaan: ISRO all set to capture moments live"

“We’ve placed 20 cameras - both video and high-speed still cameras - at strategic points 600 metres away from the Second Launch Pad from where the rocket lifts off. These are remote-operated and will start functioning once the final count-down begins," said K.Chandrasekhar, who heads the photography wing at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. The cameras will be placed inside special protective cases at varying heights on four lightning-towers surrounding the launch pad. The cameras will be recovered after a safety team gives the go-ahead after the launch.

This apart, photographers will be deployed seven kilometres from the launch pad to snap the 6.20 a.m launch. They will be using cameras with 500 mm to 600 mm zoom lenses.

And it’s not just digital cameras that will be on the job on Wednesday.

The ISRO team is also using conventional 35 mm film-roll cameras.

“In all, we’ve around 22 photographers here for the event. We’ll be using Nikon and Hasselblad cameras to capture the launch"

>> I Hope to upload the pictures as and when they are available.


Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Bhas_From_India
post Oct 21 2008, 01:16 PM
Post #39


Junior Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 75
Joined: 19-October 08
From: India
Member No.: 4459



The launch pad of the Chandrayaan.

Attached thumbnail(s)
Attached Image
 
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
SpaceListener
post Oct 21 2008, 01:48 PM
Post #40


Member
***

Group: Members
Posts: 279
Joined: 19-August 07
Member No.: 3299



QUOTE (djellison @ Oct 21 2008, 03:02 AM) *
Hint for you - radio dishes work when it's daytime smile.gif That dish will have radio visibility for probably a good 10 hours a day I would have thought.

Doug

Yea, I realized I made a pair of mistakes due to reasons a pair points. I forgot the Earth's rotation (you mentioned) and also the spacecraft will be in the Moon polar orbit so its signal to Earth will break every time when it is on the far side. Well, it is all very nice to recognize the mistakes that is the best way to learn. cool.gif
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
djellison
post Oct 21 2008, 01:51 PM
Post #41


Founder
****

Group: Chairman
Posts: 14431
Joined: 8-February 04
Member No.: 1



Well done BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7679818.stm

Talks about the 'dark' side of the moon ( there is no such thing )
and puts a credit of ISRO on the image - when is should be Doug Ellison / RAL.

The still was lifted from page 1 of this thread as well.

rolleyes.gif
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
centsworth_II
post Oct 21 2008, 03:13 PM
Post #42


Senior Member
****

Group: Members
Posts: 2173
Joined: 28-December 04
From: Florida, USA
Member No.: 132



QUOTE (djellison @ Oct 21 2008, 08:51 AM) *
Well done BBC...
Talks about the 'dark' side of the moon ( there is no such thing )

From the article: Chandrayaan will also investigate the differences between the Moon's near side and its "dark side".

"Dark side," put in quotes, just refers to a lack of familiarity, in the same sense that referring to Africa as the "dark continent" was never meant to imply that the sun never rose there. The image accreditation is another matter.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Rakhir
post Oct 21 2008, 08:05 PM
Post #43


Member
***

Group: Members
Posts: 370
Joined: 12-September 05
From: France
Member No.: 495



QUOTE (djellison @ Oct 21 2008, 01:51 PM) *
...puts a credit of ISRO on the image - when is should be Doug Ellison / RAL.

The BBC has now updated the credit on the image.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
djellison
post Oct 21 2008, 08:19 PM
Post #44


Founder
****

Group: Chairman
Posts: 14431
Joined: 8-February 04
Member No.: 1



And tweaked the nearside/darkside text as well smile.gif
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Astro0
post Oct 21 2008, 11:41 PM
Post #45


Senior Member
****

Group: Admin
Posts: 3108
Joined: 21-December 05
From: Canberra, Australia
Member No.: 615



Emily mentioned the webcast in the PS Blog...
Here's the direct link: http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c11/videos/introduction.htm

Astro0

PS: Just adding to post higher above. The Canberra DSN will also be providing tracking support later today between 0600-1130 UTC.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post

34 Pages V  < 1 2 3 4 5 > » 
Reply to this topicStart new topic

 



RSS Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 19th March 2024 - 04:02 AM
RULES AND GUIDELINES
Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting.

IMAGE COPYRIGHT
Images posted on UnmannedSpaceflight.com may be copyrighted. Do not reproduce without permission. Read here for further information on space images and copyright.

OPINIONS AND MODERATION
Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators.
SUPPORT THE FORUM
Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member.