India's first mission to the Moon: Chandrayaan-1 , was successfully launched the morning of October 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) in Sriharikota, India.
The spacecraft was launched into the orbit of earth by PSLV-C11 which is an upgraded version of the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO's) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The launch took place at 02:52 Central European Summer Time.
With this launch Chandrayaan-1 started its journey to the Moon, which will culminate with a major manoeuvre - the lunar orbit insertion - in about two weeks. Once the spacecraft is orbiting the Moon, further manoeuvres will progressively lower its altitude to the final 100 km-high circular orbit.
Mission of Chandrayaan-1
This spacecraft will eject the 'Moon Impact Probe' to provide information about the lunar surface. After that mission will be continued from orbit. The spacecraft is equipped with 11 scientific instruments for lunar surface study. Three of these 11 instruments were provided by Europe (UK, Germany, Sweden) through ESA.
The European instruments are:
The Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer (C1XS) for measuring abundance of magnesium, aluminium, silicon, iron and titanium over the surface of the Moon.
The Smart Near-Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2) to explore the mineral resources of the Moon, the formation of its surface features and the different layers of the Moon's crust.
The Sub-kiloelectronvolt Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) to study the way the Moon's surface interacts with the solar wind, and the surface's magnetic anomalies.
Collaboration of India and Europe
Indo-European collaboration on space ventures is 30 years old when ESA and ISRO signed a cooperation agreement in 1978. In 1981, an Ariane 1 launcher carried India's first geostationary satellite, Apple. So far, 13 of India's INSAT satellites have flown on Europe's Arianes.
Now with Chandrayaan-1 which is ISRO's first mission beyond Earth orbit, marks the beginning of a new era of collaboration between ESA and ISRO in space science.
According to Prof. David Southwood, ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration: "In an era of renewed interest for the Moon on a world-wide scale, the ESA-ISRO collaboration on Chandrayaan-1 is a new opportunity for Europe to expand its competence in lunar science while tightening the long-standing relationship with India - an ever stronger space power".
This mission is a big success not only for ISRO but for whole India. This mission is a milestone in India's space missions and now India is among those very few countries that have launched lunar missions in past.
