Nozette with a model of Chandrayaan-1. Credit: NDTV
Written by Nancy Atkinson
EXCLUSIVE
India aims for the moon
Bangalore, India
September 17, 2008
Dr. Stewart Nozette from the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston explains how NASA?s instrument MiniSar or the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar being flown atop Chandrayaan-1 will be the most extensive search for water ever on the lunar poles which if found will make it easier for humans to colonize the moon.
The countdown has literally begun for the launch India?s maiden satellite to the moon.
Named Chandrayaan-1 or Moon Craft1 it has now been fully integrated and it is undergoing final tests before it can be sent in the next few weeks to the country?s space port Sriharikota to be hoisted moon wards. This will make India the sixth country in the world to attempt such a challenging mission. Wrapped in this Golden foil are the dreams of a billion people. These are the very first pictures of India?s maiden moon craft as it stands fully assembled at the Satellite center in Bangalore. Engineers from ISRO are fussing over last minute checks of the satellite before it is sent to be placed atop the rocket at the end of the month.
Chandrayaan-1 is an unmanned scientific satellite and it will be hoisted into space using an Indian rocket the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. In its two year life it will map the lunar surface in detail like never before and also search for water. In a unique experiment it will also attempt to place India?s tri color flag on the moon surface through a special impactor probe. In few weeks this will be launched from Srihariokota in southern India using the Indian workhorse rocket the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
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Filed under: Astronomy
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