India’s first mission to the Moon, namely, Chandrayaan 1, was launched on October 22, 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, by India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C11 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It made 3,400 orbits around the Moon and transmitted data, but controllers lost communication with the spacecraft on August 28, 2009. While the satellite continues to move around the Moon, it was rendered inoperable due to failure of sensor near about one year after its launch. The spacecraft was originally designed to orbit the Moon for a two-year period. Its primary objective included upgrading and testing India’s technological capabilities in space and returning scientific information on the lunar surface besides the study of the chemical, mineralogical and photogeologic mapping of the Moon.
Payloads Carried by Chandrayaan 1
Chandrayan1 carried 11 scientific instruments built in Bulgaria, Germany, India, Sweden, UK, and USA—five scientific payloads [Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI), Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX), and Moon Impact Probe (MIP)] from India and six [Chandrayaan-I X-ray Spectrometer (CIXS), Near Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2), Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer (SARA), Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini SAR), Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), and Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM)] from abroad.
Apart from that, it also carried a 35-kg Moon Impact Probe (MIP), consisting of a video camera, a radar altimeter, and a mass spectrometer. India’s flag was painted on the side panels of the box-like probe.
Discovery Made by Chandrayaan
The spacecraft was put into a 7502×504 km lunar polar orbit and then lowered into a 100 km circular polar orbit on November 8. The MIP was released on November 14 into a small deorbit and hit the lunar surface 27 minutes after its release from the spacecraft. Thereafter, it went into freefall, sending ‘back readings from its three instruments’ every 4 seconds until it deliberately crashed onto the lunar surface after returning data on the Moon Impact Probe from CHandra’s Altitudinal Composition Explorer (CHACE), which showed the existence of water molecules in the lunar atmosphere.
What Happened to Chandrayaan
According to ISRO, Chandrayaan 1 began experiencing abnormally high temperatures, probably due to the overheating, and for a time, it could only run one scientific instrument at a time in late November 2008. Therefore, it was delivered to a higher (200-km) orbit to keep the temperatures aboard the satellite at tolerable levels. However, it suffered a star sensor failure, followed by the failure of a backup sensor in 2009. Chandrayaan 1 was last contacted on August 28, 2009 though it still circles around the Moon.
Courtesy: India Today