Chandrayaan 1

                                         Chandrayaan 1
Chandrayaan was Indians first lunar probe. It is launched by the Indian Space Research Organization in 22 October 2008, and operated until august 2009. The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor. India launched the spacecraft using a PSLV-XL rocket, serial number C11, on 22 October 2008 at 00:52 UTC from Satish Dhawan Space Center about 80km (50 mi ) north of  Chennai. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the project on course in his Independence Day speech on 15th august 2003. The mission was a major boost to India space program, as India researched and developed his own technology in order to explore the Moon. The vehicle was inserted into lunar orbit on 8th November 2008.

On 14th November 2008, the Moon impact probe separated from the Chandrayaan orbiter at 14:36 UTC and struck the South Pole in the controlled manner, making India the fourth country to place its flag on the moon. The probe hit near the crater Shackleton at 15:01 UTC, ejecting sub-surface soil that could be analyzed for the presence of lunar water ice. The estimated cost for the project was ₨.386 crore. The remote sensing lunar satellite had a mass of 1,380 kg at launch and 675 kg in lunar orbit. It carried high resolution remote sensing equipments for visible, near infrared ,soft and hard X-ray frequencies. Over a two year period, it was intended to survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and three - dimensional topography. The polar regions are of special interest as they might contain ice. The lunar mission carried five payloads from other space agencies including NASA, ESA and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which were carried free of cost. Among its many achievements was the discovery of widespread presence of water molecules in lunar soil. After almost a year, the  orbiter started suffering from several technical issues including failure of the star sensors and poor thermal shielding. Chandrayaan stopped sending radio signals about 20:00 UTC on 28th august 2009, shortly after which of ISRO declared the mission over chandrayaan operated for 312 days and opposed to the intended two years but the mission achieve 95 percentages of its planned objectives. On 2nd July 2016, NASA used ground-based radar systems to relocate chandrayaan 1 in its lunar orbit, more than seven years after its shut down. Repeated observations over the next three months allowed a precise determination of its orbit which varies between 150 and 270km (93 and 168mi) in altitude every two years.
Major Information
Mission type: Lunar orbiter
Operator: ISRO
COSPAR ID: 2008-052A
SAT CAT Number: 33405
Mission duration, planned: 2years
Final: 10 months, 6 days
Space craft properties
Launch mass: 1,380kg
Launch orbit: 675kg
Start of mission
Launch date: 22nd October 2008
Rocket: PSLV-XL C11
Launch site: Satish Dhawan Pad
Contractor: ISRO
End of mission
Last contact: 28th august 20:00 UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference  system: Selenocentric
Semi-major axis: 1758kms
Periselene: 200km
Aposelene: 200km
Epoch: 19 may 2009
Lunar orbiter
Orbital insertation: 8th November 2008
Launch vehicle: PSLV-C11
Total cost: Rs. 386 crore
Alternate names
Chandrayaan 1
2008-052A
Chandrayaan 1 orbiter
Important points
The aim of chandrayaan was to find detailed maps of the surface of the moon and the parts of the helium and water.
Chandrayaan 1 was the India first mission to the moon.
We are proud to be an Indian.
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