The GSLV Mark III-M1 vehicle launched Chandrayaan-2 satellite in the Earth Parking Orbit with an apogee (farthest distance from the earth) of 45,475 km, which is about 6,000 km more than originally envisaged. As a result, the number of orbit-raising manoeuvres needed to take the satellite to the highest orbit has been reduced from six … Continue reading Chandrayaan-2: GSLV Mark III-M1 vehicle reduces number of orbit-raising exercises, saves fuel
Chandrayaan-1
Chandrayaan-2 soars to the Moon
Earlier this year, China landed a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, which is a first ever attempt by any country. Now, India is attempting a similar feat — to land its rover Pragyan in the Moon's South Polar region, a place that no country has attempted so far. A decade after … Continue reading Chandrayaan-2 soars to the Moon
Editorial: Space observatory takes wing
With the successful launch of the space observatory, Astrosat, the Indian Space Research Organisation has put India in a select group of countries that have a space telescope to study celestial objects and processes. The ability to simultaneously study a wide variety of wavelengths — visible light, ultraviolet and X-ray (both low- and high-energy) bands … Continue reading Editorial: Space observatory takes wing
Unambiguous evidence of water on Moon found
Published in The Hindu on September 24, 2009 The moon does contain water on its surface. This has been the conclusion of three studies published online in the journal Science. One of the papers is based on data gathered by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, a NASA instrument, on Chandrayaan-1. Unlike what was inferred by studying … Continue reading Unambiguous evidence of water on Moon found
Chandrayaan-1: imaging the moon in 64 colours
Published in The Hindu on November 20, 2008 If the Terrain Mapping Camera (TRC) can collect topographical data that will help compile a 3D lunar atlas with a 5 metre resolution, the Hyper-Spectral Imager (HySI) will enable the mineralogical mapping of the moon’s surface. HySI, along with other instruments, will also help in understanding the … Continue reading Chandrayaan-1: imaging the moon in 64 colours
How Chandrayaan-1 will help compile a 3D atlas
Published in The Hindu on November 6, 2008 The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on-board Chandrayaan-1 is a unique demonstration of space scientists’ ingenuity. It will be able to produce a 3D atlas of the moon using a single camera. The resolution will be 5 metres. This will help to prepare a 3D atlas with a … Continue reading How Chandrayaan-1 will help compile a 3D atlas
How Chandrayaan-1 is raised to higher orbits
Chandrayaan-1 could have been fired to reach the moon, which is about 3,84,000 km from earth, in one shot. But that was not done. Instead the spacecraft is being moved towards the moon in increasingly elliptical orbits with an apogee (farthest point from the earth) increasing many times more than the perigee. “We could have … Continue reading How Chandrayaan-1 is raised to higher orbits
Chandrayaan-1: Why ISRO changed the orbit-transfer strategy
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had earlier planned two earth-bound orbits for the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft before it moved towards the moon. Much like in the case of the earth orbits, two lunar orbits were planned for before the spacecraft reached the final lunar orbit destination — circular orbit of about 100 km from the … Continue reading Chandrayaan-1: Why ISRO changed the orbit-transfer strategy
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