Tuesday, September 1, 2009

WHAT HAPPEN TO CHANDRAYAN ?



Though India’s first moon mission “Chandrayaan-1 ’’ was officially “retired’ ’ on Sunday after lost its contact with the deep space network at the Byalalu on Saturday at 1.30 am, the lunar craft will continue to go around the moon for about 1,000 days more before it crashes on its surfaceThis means that it will remain in orbit till the end of 2012 until preparations get under way for the “Chandrayaan-2 ’’ mission slated for lift-off in 2013. The 1,000-day countdown for Chandrayaan-1 ’s crash on the lunar surface began on Sunday. Isro spokesperson S Satish told TOI from Panaji on Monday that in the next 1,000 days “Chandrayaan-1 ’’ will not be operating with its propellants, but will be just going around the moon on its own without doing any workThe 1,000-day countdown for Chandrayaan-1 ’s crash on the lunar surface began on Sunday. Isro spokesperson S Satish told TOI from Panaji on Monday that in the next 1,000 days “Chandrayaan-1 ’’ will not be operating with its propellants, but will be just going around the moon on its own without doing any work.
He said that since it will be in orbit for 1,000 days Isro will explore the possibility of using the high-powered radars of the US and Russia to locate the spacecraft. “Discussions with these two countries have been initiated ,’’ he said.

Space expert Pradeep Mohandas said that “Chandrayaan-1 ’’ will be slowly pulled in by the gravity of the moon until it crashes on the lunar surface after 1,000 days. “After this it will spiral towards the moon’s surface and crash,’’ he said, while adding that it will slowly begin to lose its altitude. He cited the example of a Nasa spacecraft which was abandoned years ago, but was still in orbit.

Nasa and US government agencies have recommended placing retired spacecraft into an orbit at least 300 km above the geosynchronous orbit so that there is no danger of colliding with operating spacecraft.

Even as the space agency is trying to trace the cause of the communication breakdown, space scientists are divided on the issue regarding the lifespan of the “Chandrayaan-1 ’’ mission. There is a strong opinion that right from the beginning it should be have been declared a one-year mission and not a two-year project.

1 comment:

  1. In scientific research, things should be crystal clear in mind, there should be no point of confusion. just like in this case, one-year mission & two year project??

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