India Solar System Exploration
ISRO has its origins in space sciences. ISRO’s Space science programme started with studies of upper atmosphere using sounding rockets. The saga is continuing with scientific missions like AstroSat, Mars Missions, Chandrayaan missions followed by Solar and other planetary missions. Indian space programme encompasses research in multiple areas like astronomy, astrophysics, planetary and earth sciences, atmospheric sciences and theoretical physics supported by scientific balloons, sounding rockets, space platforms and ground-based facilities.
In 1982 the Indian Space Research Organization announced ambitious plans to conduct planetary exploration missions, specifically identifying Mars, Mercury, and Venus as high priority candidates. The missions, which could commence around the turn of the century, would be launched by India's GSLV, now scheduled for its maiden flight in 1998. A proposed 250-kg class Mercury orbiter has already attracted some attention with a suite of scientific instruments which could include high-resolution cameras, magnetometers, and multi-band radiometers and spectrometers. No program commitments had been made by the end of 1994 (References 124-126).
In August 2003 the Prime minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee, made official that which already was known months ago. During the speech of the Day of the Independence of the nation, he stated that India would construct and send in 2008 year the first space probe -- Chandrayan-1 -- towards the Moon. This would be the beginning of a more ambitious program of planetary exploration that would include landings on the Moon and trips to other planets like Mars or Venus.
The ship would have an approximated weight of 525 kgs, would follow a polar orbit 100 kms. on the Moon and would be sent with a modified version of Indian rocket PSLV, with a considered cost of 80 million euros for the mission. Between the main objectives is the obtaining of hi-res images, in infrared and X-rays. In addition, a space in the ship has been arranged to welcome some instrument of the international community. Many critics have arisen around this program, considered unnecessary for a as poor nation as India, with million people without food, home, education or health. The Indian government considered it a question of national prestige.
Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to Moon, was launched successfully on October 22, 2008 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The spacecraft orbited around the Moon at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon. The spacecraft carried 11 scientific instruments built in India, USA, UK, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria. After the successful completion of all the major mission objectives, the orbit was raised to 200 km during May 2009.
A host of sophisticated instruments were included in Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, like Moon Impact Probe (MIP) and Hyper-Spectral Imager (HySI) from ISRO as well as Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini-SAR) through NASA to collect relevant data from the lunar surface. During the mission, excellent quality of data from all these instruments has been obtained. While M3 has covered nearly 97% of the lunar surface, some of the other instruments have covered more than 90%.
A path-breaking finding evolved from the detailed analysis of the data obtained from M3, which has clearly indicated the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface extending from lunar poles to about 60 deg. Latitude. Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, was also found in the lunar soil. The confirmation of water molecules and hydroxyl molecule in the moon's polar regions raises new questions about its origin and its effect on the mineralogy of the moon.
The space science and exploration missions undertaken during the second level of growth of the space programme such as the Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission, AstroSat and Chandrayaan-2 missions have yielded and continue to provide valuable scientific data and are contributing to the global knowledge base of the cosmos. ISRO is also planning a human space flight mission in low earth orbit in near future which will open opportunities for microgravity experiments for various cutting edge scientific investigations.
ISRO is planning a Mars Orbiter Mission 2 or Mangalyaan-2 mission, but it is still on the drawing board, and it will be taken up after the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
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