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| Credits: ISRO |
After nine months of operation, Chandrayaan-1 failed to communicate with the base. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) abruptly lost contact with the spacecraft on Saturday, September 29, 2009.
If this is the end of Chandrayaan-1, the mission covered only nine months of its scheduled two-year operational life. I really hope that this is a minor obstacle that the ISRO will be able to overcome. ISRO stated that the Chandrayaan-1 mission was able to meet most of its scientific objectives.
The Chandrayaan-1 scientific payload contains a diverse collection of instruments. The instruments were designed and developed by ISRO, ESA, NASA, and the Bulgarian Space Agency.
There are two instruments that are used to map the surface of the Moon: the Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) and the Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI). The X-ray spectrometer onboard the spacecraft measures the concentration of certain elements on the lunar surface and monitors the solar flux in order to normalize the results of the measurements taken. The mineralogical configuration of the surface is mapped by four instruments: the Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI), the Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer (SARA), the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), and the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2). The Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM-7) records the radiation levels in the lunar orbit.
You can find out more about Chandrayaan-1 on the ISRO’s dedicated web page.
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Truly it is a sad news for India and for me . But we have to face it. I was very optimistic about chandrayaan.Anyway most of its scientific goals have been met.
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