SCIENCE SPECIAL

New Delhi, 22 November 2008

India Over The Moon

ISRO EYES OTHER PLANETS

By Radhakrishna Rao

The successful insertion of India’s first lunar probe Chandrayaan-1 launched on 22 October into the critical lunar orbit after a series of challenging maneouvers has come as a shot in the arm for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).As many lunar probes of leading space-faring nations including USA and Russia were lost during the process of insertion into lunar orbit where the gravity of the earth and moon cancels each other.

Against this backdrop, India’s success in the first attempt testifies to the excellence of our space scientists and technologists who left nothing to chance while nudging Chandrayaan-1 into lunar orbit. The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) onboard Chandrayaan-1 has already transmitted beautiful imageries of the earth and the moon.

Buoyed up by the success of Chandrayaan-1 mission, ISRO has now set its sights on far-off planets the exploration of which not long back was the exclusive domain of advanced industrialized countries. After the moon, it is now the sun for ISRO which has unveiled an ambitious plan to launch a satellite mission designed to probe in depth the dynamics of the solar corona, the outermost and most active region of the sun.

Named Aditya, the Indian solar mission will study the dynamics of the solar corona and its impact on atmosphere and ionosphere. This first Indian solar probe aimed at studying the coronal mass ejection and associated space weather processes is expected to provide important information on solar activity conditions.

Capable of observing the corona in both visible and near infrared bands, Aditya meaning Sun in Sanskrit is planned to be launched well in time for the next high solar activity period during 2012. The last solar maximum took place in 1989.

The ISRO has also hinted that it is well equipped to send a probe to the Red Planet, Mars. The ISRO Chairman G.Madhavan Nair revealed that inputs for the Mars mission are awaited from the country’s scientific community. This would help give a specific shape to the proposed I Mars probe. In all probability, ISRO would go in for an orbiter to explore Mars which is expected to be the next outpost of the human civilization.

According to S.Ramakrishnan, Projects Director at India’s largest space establishment, Thiruvananthapuram’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) the Mars probe studies have already started and the three-stage cryogenic fuel-driven Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) could carry a one tone heavy spacecraft to Mars. ISRO has also a well conceived plan for exploring the inner asteroid belt and comets.

Meanwhile, as a follow up to Chandryaan-1, ISRO has initiated work on the Chandrayaan-II mission which will be a lander/rover mission. The Rs.42,000m Chandrayaan-II, which has received the green signal from the Central Government is planned to be launched during 2011-12.  It will be launched by means of a GSLV flight.

However, unlike the Chandrayaan-1 mission, the Chandrayaan-II probe will be a joint Indo-Russian mission. Russia will provide the lander/rover and India will build the main spacecraft. The rover equipped with wheels will land on the lunar surface and perform the in situ chemical analysis of the collected rock and soil samples. The data will subsequently be transmitted to the main spacecraft.

Like its predecessor, Chandrayaan-II is expected to accommodate foreign payloads along with Indian instrumentation systems for studying various aspects of the moon. “We are looking at having a soft-landing for Chandrayaan-II instead of a hard landing .We should be working on technologies that will be part of the proposed moon base. If we were to become a developed country by 2020, it will be crucial for us to develop such technologies” asserted M.Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-1 mission.

Meanwhile, ISRO scientists are looking at the possibility of going in for a sample return mission to the moon after the completion of the Chandrayaan-II project. But the proposal is still in an embryonic stage.

However, Chairman Nair had made it clear that for the time being a manned mission to the moon is not on ISRO’s radar. He pointed out that a project for launching a manned flight to the moon would be taken up only if it was fully justified. Adding that for such a challenging mission ISRO would need to develop many new and novel technologies including a gigantic space booster.

Interestingly, China has hinted that it is working towards sending a manned mission to the moon by 2020. As such, ISRO could be under pressure to pursue a project for a manned mission to the earths nearest celestial neighbor.

Of course, India’s plan for sending a manned vehicle near the earth’s orbit by 2015 is slowly assuming a concrete shape. Nair asserted that efforts were on to put in place facilities to realize the manned flight dream.

As part of the manned mission, ISRO in tie-up with the Bangalore-based Institute of Aviation Medicine, under the Indian Air Force is working towards setting up an advanced training facility to help future Indian astronauts withstand the rigors of space flight. This facility will come up on over 100 acres land on Bangalore’s outskirts.

To complement this, a crew management facility is also to be set-up at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota Island on India’s eastern coast. “This will be the last-minute training facility for astronauts,” said SDSC’s Director MC Dathan.

On another front, also on the anvil is a third launch pad at SDSC to support the manned mission. Currently, the SDSC has two launch pads. The Chandrayaaan-1 was launched from the second launch pad of SDSC.

While ISRO has several technologies already available for the manned mission, there would be need to develop many innovative technologies to ensure fool-proof life support system, safety, reliability and an escape system for the crew.

According to the Indian Space Department’s latest Annual Report the manned mission aimed to build and demonstrate the capability for carrying humans to a low earth orbit and their safe return to earth. The programme now envisages developing a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or three crew members around the 400km earth orbit and their safe return to earth. --- INFA

(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)