"INCREDIBLE INDIA"

Chandrayaan-1 enters Lunar Transfer Trajectory

November 4, 2008



The fifth and final orbit raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was successfully carried out today (November 4, 2008) morning at 04:56 am IST. During this manoeuvre, the spacecraft’s 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about two and a half minutes. With this, Chandrayaan-1 entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory with an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of about 380,000 km (three lakh eighty thousand km).

The health of the spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Byalalu. Since its launch on October 22 by PSLV-C11, all systems onboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft are performing normally. Chandrayaan-1 will approach the Moon on November 8, 2008 and the spacecraft’s liquid engine will be fired again to insert the spacecraft into lunar orbit.




Today, India is one of the very few countries that have significant achievements to their credit in the arena of space. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has designed, developed and built a variety of satellites. And, it has successfully launched many of them into their intended orbits. More importantly, the country has used its satellites for the rapid expansion of its national infrastructure including telecommunications, TV broadcasting, weather monitoring, education, public health, agriculture and rural development. More recently, India has provided many space-based services including launch services to foreign customers on a competitive basis. With ample experience and many successes in Earth orbit, ISRO has now taken up Chandrayaan-1, its first bold step beyond Earth orbit into deep space.


The primary objectives of Chandrayaan-1 are:
To place an unmanned spacecraft in an orbit around the moon
To conduct mineralogical and chemical mapping of the lunar surface
To upgrade the technological base in the country



Chandrayaan-1: The Goals

The primary objectives of Chandrayaan-1 are:
1. To expand scientific knowledge about the moon
2. To upgrade India's technological capability
3. To provide challenging opportunities for planetary
research to the younger generation of Indian scientists

Information gathered from <www.isro.org/Chandrayaan/>
<http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/Nov14_2008.htm>