Tuesday, October 21, 2008

India launches first Moon mission

India has successfully launched its first mission to the Moon.

The unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft blasted off smoothly from a launch pad in southern Andhra Pradesh to embark on a two-year mission of exploration.

The robotic probe will orbit the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of elements and minerals.

The launch is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia.

It was greeted with applause by scientists gathered at the site.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says there has been a lot of excitement about the event, which was broadcast live on national TV.

Competitive mission

An Indian-built launcher carrying the one-and-a-half-tonne satellite blasted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at about 0620 local time (0050 GMT).


Indian views on the country's first space mission

In pictures

One key objective will be to search for surface or sub-surface water-ice on the Moon, especially at the poles.

Another will be to detect Helium 3, an isotope which is rare on Earth, but is sought to power nuclear fusion and could be a valuable source of energy in future.

Powered by a single solar panel generating about 700 Watts, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) probe carries five Indian-built instruments and six that are foreign-built.

The mission is expected to cost 3.8bn rupees (£45m; $78m).

The Indian experiments include a 30kg probe that will be released from the mothership to slam into the lunar surface.

CHANDRAYAAN 1
Infographic (BBC)
1 - Chandrayaan Energetic Neutral Analyzer (CENA)
2 - Moon Impact Probe (MIP)
3 - Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM)
4 - Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC)
5 - Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)
6 - Chandrayaan 1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS)
7 - Solar Panel

India sets its sights on the Moon
In Pictures: India Moon mission
The Moon Impact Probe (MIP) will record video footage on the way down and measure the composition of the Moon's tenuous atmosphere.

"Chandrayaan has a very competitive set of instruments... it will certainly do good science," said Barry Kellett, project scientist on the C1XS instrument, which was built at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory in the UK.

C1XS will map the abundance of different elements in the lunar crust to help answer key questions about the origin and evolution of Earth's only natural satellite.

Researchers say the relative abundances of magnesium and iron in lunar rocks could help confirm whether the Moon was once covered by a molten, magma ocean.

"The iron should have sunk [in the magma ocean], whereas the magnesium should have floated," Mr Kellett told BBC News.

"The ratio of magnesium to iron for the whole Moon tells you to what extent the Moon melted and what it did after it formed."

HAVE YOUR SAY

Any Indian with a shred of intelligence would denounce this as an immoral waste of money

Derek Hopper, Dublin, Ireland
Send us your comments

The instrument will look for more unusual elements on the Moon's surface, such as titanium. This metallic element has been found in lunar meteorites, but scientists know little about its distribution in the lunar crust.

Chandrayaan will also investigate the differences between the Moon's near side and its far side. The far side is both more heavily cratered and different in composition to the one facing Earth.

Infographic (BBC)

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket will loft Chandrayaan into an elliptical "transfer orbit" around Earth.

The probe will later carry out a series of engine burns to set it on a lunar trajectory.

The spacecraft coasts for about five-and-a-half days before firing the engine to slow its velocity such that it is captured by the Moon's gravity.

Chandrayaan will slip into a near-circular orbit at an altitude of 1,000km. After a number of health checks, the probe will drop its altitude until it is orbiting just 100km above the lunar surface.

India, China, Japan and South Korea all have eyes on a share of the commercial satellite launch business and see their space programmes as an important symbol of international stature and economic development.

Last month, China became only the third country in the world to independently carry out a spacewalk.

But the Indian government's space efforts have not been welcomed by all.

Some critics regard the space programme as a waste of resources in a country where millions still lack basic services.

Advertisement

A look at the rocket launching Chandrayaan-1

India set for mission to moon

India Moon Mission


In this undated photo provided by the Indian Space Research
Organization, Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden lunar mission, is taken to the
launch pad in this undated photo at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in
Sriharikota, about 100 kilometers (63 miles) north of Chennai, India. India was
set to launch its first lunar mission from the center in southern India at 06:20
a.m (0050 GMT) WednesdayOct. 22, 2008, putting the country in an elite group of
nations with the scientific know-how to reach the moon, but also heating up a
burgeoning Asian space race. The 3,000 pound (1,400 kilogram) satellite
Chandrayaan-1 (Moon Craft in ancient Sanskrit) will join Japanese and Chinese
crafts currently in orbit around the moon for a two-year mission designed to map
out the whole lunar surface. (AP Photo/ Indian Space Research Organization, HO)

In this undated photo provided by the Indian Space Research
Organization, Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden lunar mission, is taken to the
launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 100
kilometers (63 miles) north of Chennai, India. India was set to launch its first
lunar mission from the center in southern India at 06:20 a.m (0050 GMT)
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008, putting the country in an elite group of nations with
the scientific know-how to reach the moon, but also heating up a burgeoning
Asian space race. The 3,000 pound (1,400 kilogram) satellite Chandrayaan-1 (Moon
Craft in ancient Sanskrit) will join Japanese and Chinese crafts currently in
orbit around the moon for a two-year mission designed to map out the whole lunar
surface.(AP Photo/ Indian Space Research Organization, HO)


In this undated photo provided by the Indian Space Research
Organization, Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden lunar mission, sits on the launch
pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 100 kilometers (63
miles) north of Chennai, India. India was set to launch its first lunar mission
from the center in southern India at 06:20 a.m (0050 GMT) Wednesday, Oct. 22,
2008, putting the country in an elite group of nations with the scientific
know-how to reach the moon, but also heating up a burgeoning Asian space race.
The 3,000 pound (1,400 kilogram) satellite Chandrayaan-1 (Moon Craft in ancient
Sanskrit) will join Japanese and Chinese crafts currently in orbit around the
moon for a two-year mission designed to map out the whole lunar surface.(AP
Photo/ Indian Space Research organization, HO)

India readies 1st moon mission in Asian space race

NEW DELHI – India readied its first lunar mission on Wednesday, seeking to convert its new wealth into political and military clout and join an elite group of nations with the scientific know-how to reach space.

In the last year Asian nations have taken the lead in exploring the moon: Japan and China both sent up spacecraft last year, and India's Chandrayaan-1 will join them in orbit around the moon for a two-year mission designed to map the lunar surface. Chandrayaan means "Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit.

The moon mission comes just months after it finalized a deal with the United States that recognizes India as a nuclear power.

"It is a remarkable technological achievement for the country," said S. Satish, a spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organization, which plans to launch the 3,080-pound satellite from the Sriharikota space center in southern India.

To date only the U.S., Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China have sent missions to the moon. The United States is the only nation to have landed a man on the lunar surface, doing so for the first time in 1969.

In 2003, China became the first Asian country to put its own astronauts into space. It followed that last month with its first spacewalk.

More ominously, last year China also blasted an old satellite into oblivion with a land-based anti-satellite missile, the first such test ever conducted by any nation, including the United States and Russia.

The head of India's space agency believes it can quickly catch China, its rival for Asian leadership.

"Compared to China, we are better off in many areas," Indian Space Research Organization chairman G. Madhavan Nair said in an interview with India's Outlook magazine this week, citing India's advanced communication satellites and launch abilities.

India lags only because it has chosen not to focus on the more expensive manned space missions, he said. "But given the funds and necessary approvals we can easily catch up with our neighbor in this area."

The mission is not all about rivalry and prestige. Analysts say India stands to reap valuable rewards from the technology it develops.

"Each nation is doing its own thing to drive its research technology for the well-being of that nation," said Charles Vick, a space analyst for the Washington think tank GlobalSecurity.org.

"Traditionally, for every dollar put into space research, we get that much more back," he said.

India is also collaborating closely with other countries on the mission.

Of the 11 instruments carried by the satellite, five are Indian, three are from the European Space Agency, two from the U.S. and one from Bulgaria.

Among the goals of the $80 million mission are mapping the moon, scanning for mineral deposits under the surface and testing systems for a future moon landing, according to the Indian space agency.

NASA is sending up a Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar that can search for ice — an important resource for any human settlements — under the lunar poles.

India plans to follow up this mission with landing a rover on the moon in 2011 and eventually a manned space program, though this has not been authorized yet.

Vick, the space analyst, said an Indian landing was inevitable.

"Where the unmanned goes, man will ultimately follow," he said.

And the Indian space agency was already dreaming of more.

"Space is the frontier for mankind in the future. If we want to go beyond the moon, we have to go there first," said Satish.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Indian, US navies begin sea exercises to tackle piracy


ON BOARD INS MUMBAI, OFF THE INDIAN COAST (AFP) – The Indian and US navies on Saturday began a week-long series of joint exercises, looking to increase cooperation at a time of heightened fears about maritime piracy.

Codenamed "Malabar", the sea exercises in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Goa state in western India include the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, and a nuclear-powered US Navy submarine.

"With piracy becoming an international concern, such exercises attain much significance wherein two nations learn each others' procedure," Rear Admiral Anil Chopra told reporters on board the destroyer INS Mumbai.

Some 8,500 personnel are involved in the exercises, the Indian Navy said.

Indian naval officials said on Friday that they were deploying one of the country's latest warships to protect its merchant vessels in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.

The move comes after the Hong Kong-registered MT Stolt Valor carrying mainly Indian crew was hijacked by Somali pirates on September 17, the latest in a string of similar incidents in the area.

Friday, October 17, 2008

India sends warship to pirate-infested Gulf of Aden


NEW DELHI (AFP) – India is deploying one of its latest warships to the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia to protect its merchant vessels, officials said Friday.

A "stealth frigate is being diverted to these waters," Indian navy spokesman Nirad Sinha said. The Russian-designed vessel can evade radar and is armed with guided missiles and cannons, naval officials said.

The move comes after the MT Stolt Valor carrying mainly Indian crew was hijacked on September 17 by Somali pirates in the gulf.

"The government has approved the deployment of one warship with immediate effect to patrol the route followed by Indian flagships between Oman and Yemen," another defence ministry official said.

The number of warships could be increased later, the officer added.

The other warships could carry heavily armed marine commandos and combat helicopters, officials said.

"Currently, our mandate is general patrol and escort duties but we are prepared in case the profile changes to engagements, pursuits and combat in the region," a senior naval commander who did not wish to be named told AFP.

The deployment follows weeks of protests by shipworkers and families of the detained crew who have been demanding rescue efforts for the MT Stolt Valor's crew of 22.

Eighteen crew members are Indians while there are two Filipinos, a Bangladeshi and a Russian.

"The presence of Indian Navy in the area will help to protect our seaborne trade and instil confidence in our seafaring community, as well as function as a deterrent for pirates," a statement said.

The Gulf of Aden is a "major strategic choke point in the Indian Ocean region and provides access to the Suez Canal through which the sizeable portion of India's trade flows," the statement noted.

Warships from several other nations patrol the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

The International Maritime Bureau reported more than 24 attacks off the Somali coast between April and June and more have been committed in recent months.

Maritime experts say many attacks go unreported along Somalia's 3,700-kilometre (2,300-mile) coast where pirates operate high-powered speedboats and carry heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Date set for Indian Moon mission

India will launch its first unmanned mission to the Moon on 22 October, the country's space officials say, weather conditions permitting.

The spacecraft, named Chandrayaan-1, will orbit the Moon, surveying its surface with high-resolution equipment.

The launch had been scheduled for April, but was pushed back due to technical problems.

The project will cost $83m and has the direct involvement of six other countries, including the US and Europe.

Over the next two years, it will survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and its three-dimensional topography.

The European Space Agency (Esa) is supporting the mission, supplying three instruments.

These will investigate the Moon's surface and near-surface composition, and the way the lunar body interacts with the fast-moving particles streaming away from the Sun.

Chandrayaan-1 will also drop a small impact probe on to the lunar surface to test its properties.

'Over ambitious'

India announced its Moon mission in 2003.

It has also announced plans to send a man to the Moon in the next few years.

The government's lunar activities have not been welcomed by all, however.

Critics say it is "over ambitious" and a "waste of resources" in a country where millions still lack basic services.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was founded in 1969, and launched its first satellite in 1975.

Since then, it has developed a number of launch vehicles as well as satellites for Earth observation, telecommunications and weather forecasting.

Together with China and Japan, it is part of a fast-developing Asian space sector.

Monday, October 6, 2008

India to launch unmanned lunar mission this month

BANGALORE, India (AFP) – India will launch its first lunar mission on October 22 from southern India, a top official from the country's space agency said Monday.

The announcement came a week after Asian rival China said it was setting its sights on a manned trip to the moon after completing a historic mission that included the country's first space walk.

"We have set October 22 as the tentative date for the launch of lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1, though the launch window will be kept open till October 26," Indian Space Research Organisation director S. Satish told AFP.

"Weather permitting, the launch will take place around 6:30 am (0100 GMT)."

The launch of the unmanned robotic mission was originally planned for April but was postponed because of technical reasons, local news reports said earlier this year.

India will join Japan and China in moon exploration with the planned mission. The spacecraft will conduct a lunar orbit at a distance of 385,000 kilometres (240,000 miles) from Earth.

Last year, China's Chang'e I lunar satellite took off on October 24 after Japan launched its Kaguya lunar orbiter on September 14.

Last month, millions in China watched as astronaut Zhai Zhigang, 41, embarked on a 15-minute space walk, during which he waved a Chinese flag in the weightlessness of low orbit some 340 kilometres (210 miles) above the Earth.

India's first robotic mission, budgeted at 90 million dollars, will be followed by another in 2012, ISRO has said. A timetable for a manned mission will be announced this year.

Spacefaring nations are accelerating their quest to reach the moon more than three decades after the last human landing, and use it as a springboard to explore planets beyond.

The US Apollo programme resulted in the only manned spaceflights to the moon, with six landings from 1969 to 1972.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

US approves Indian nuclear deal

The US Senate has approved a nuclear deal with India, ending a three-decade ban on US nuclear trade with Delhi.

The 86-13 vote was the last legislative hurdle in a process that began when an agreement was reached in 2005.

The deal will give India access to US civilian nuclear technology and fuel in return for inspections of its civilian, but not military, nuclear facilities.

India says the accord is vital to meet its rising energy needs. Critics say it creates a dangerous precedent.

They say it effectively allows India to expand its nuclear power industry without requiring it to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as other nations must.

The US restricted nuclear co-operation with India after it tested a nuclear weapon in 1974.

'Bipartisan support'

The US House of Representatives passed the agreement on Saturday, and the Senate's vote now means President Bush can sign it into law.


NUCLEAR POWER IN INDIA
India has 14 reactors in commercial operation and nine under construction
Nuclear power supplies about 3% of India's electricity
By 2050, nuclear power is expected to provide 25% of the country's electricity
India has limited coal and uranium reserves
Its huge thorium reserves - about 25% of the world's total - are expected to fuel its nuclear power programme long-term
Source: Uranium Information Center

Indian firms eye nuclear business

Before the Senate vote, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the agreement had "strong bipartisan support" and called it a "landmark" deal.

Although India has said it retains the right to conduct nuclear tests, the US has said the deal would be cancelled in such an eventuality.

The House of Representatives passed the agreement by 298-117 votes late on Saturday.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the deal will help India to liberate itself from "the constraints of technology denial of 34 years".

It was first agreed three years ago and is regarded as a key foreign policy priority for both the Indian and US governments.

Earlier this month, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) lifted a ban that had denied India access to the international nuclear market.

On Tuesday, India and France signed a major co-operation pact which paves the way for the sale of French nuclear reactors to Delhi.

France is the world's second largest producer of nuclear energy after the United States. Russia has also been lobbying the Indian government hard on behalf of its firms.