ISRO
readies for Chandrayaan-2's moon trip
15 November 2007
Chennai:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russia's Federal Space Agency
(Roskosmos) have signed an agreement on joint lunar research and exploration.
G Madhavan Nair, chairman, ISRO, and A Perminov, director, Roskosmos, signed the
agreement in Moscow on 12 November 2007 during the visit of prime minister Dr
Manmohan Singh, to Russia. This
cooperation envisages Chandrayaan-2, a joint lunar mission involving a lunar orbiting
spacecraft and a lander / rover on the moon's surface. ISRO
will have the prime responsibility for the orbiter and Roskosmos will be responsible
for the lander / rover. A few scientific instruments from other space agencies
may also be accommodated on these systems. Chandrayaan-2
will be launched on India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) around
2011-12 time frame. This agreement is a major milestone in the long-standing cooperation
between India and Russia in the area of outer space. In
the meantime, sources say that the preparation for launching India's first unmanned
mission to moon Chandrayaan-1 in April 2008 are progressing as scheduled. The
spacecraft is in the final stages of integration and testing, and will be launched
onboard India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). This
mission features a spacecraft orbiting around the Moon for two years at an altitude
of 100km mapping the topography and the mineralogical content of the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-1
will also have a moon impact probe payload for demonstrating the technology needed
towards accurate landing on the moon's surface. Chandrayaan-2 is the next logical
step for more detailed and in situ study of the moon.
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