Chandrayaan 1

Date – 22 October 2008 12.52am to 28 August 2009

Location – Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh

Mission Duration – Planned = 2 years: Final = 10 months 6 days

Operator – ISRO

The Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the Chandrayaan 1 project.
The mission was a major boost to India's space program.

Objectives:

 to design, develop, launch and orbit a spacecraft around the Moon using an Indian-
made launch-vehicle
 to conduct scientific experiments using instruments on the spacecraft which would
yield data:
o for the preparation of a three-dimensional atlas (with high spatial and altitude
resolution of 5–10 m or 16–33 ft) of both the near and far sides of the Moon
o for chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface at high spatial
resolution, mapping particularly the chemical
elements magnesium, aluminium, silicon, calcium, iron, titanium, radon, uranium,
and thorium
 to increase scientific knowledge
 to test the impact of a sub-satellite (Moon Impact Probe – MIP) on the surface of the
Moon as a fore-runner for future soft-landing missions
Goals

 Mass
1,380 kg (3,042 lb) at launch, 675 kg (1,488 lb) at lunar orbit,[33] and 523 kg
(1,153 lb) after releasing the impactor.
 Dimensions
Cuboid in shape of approximately 1.5 m (4.9 ft)
 Communications
X band, 0.7 m (2.3 ft) diameter dual gimballed parabolic antenna for payload data
transmission. The Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TTC) communication operates
in S band frequency.
 Power
The spacecraft was mainly powered by its solar array, which included one solar panel
covering a total area of 2.15 × 1.8 m (7.1 × 5.9 ft) generating 750 W of peak power,
which was stored in a 36 A·h lithium-ion battery for use during eclipses.[34]
 Propulsion
The spacecraft used a bipropellant integrated propulsion system to reach lunar orbit
as well as orbit and altitude maintenance while orbiting the Moon. The power plant
consisted of one 440 N engine and eight 22 N thrusters. Fuel and oxidiser were stored
in two tanks of 390 litres (100 US gal) each.[33][34]
 Navigation and control
The craft was 3-axis stabilised with two star sensors, gyros and four reaction wheels.
The craft carried dual redundant bus management units for attitude control, sensor
processing, antenna orientation, etc
Payloads:

A. Indian Instruments
1. Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC)
2. Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI)
3. Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument
(LLRI)
4. High Energy X - ray Spectrometer
(HEX)
5. Moon Impact Probe(MIP)
B. Instruments from Other Countries
6. Chandrayaan-I X-ray Spectrometer (CIXS)
7. Near Infrared Spectrometer (SIR - 2)
8. Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer (SARA)
9. Miniature Synthetic Aperature Radar (Mini SAR)
10. Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)
Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM)
 Chandrayaan 2

Date – 22 July 2019 9:13am

Location – Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Second Launch Pad

Mission Duration – Planned = 7.5 years

Launch Vehicle: GSLV-Mk III - M1

Operator – ISRO

Objectives:

 The primary objectives of the Chandrayaan-2 lander were to illustrate the ability
to soft-land and operate a robotic rover on the lunar surface.
 The scientific goals of the orbiter are:
 to study lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, the lunar exosphere,
and signatures of hydroxyl and water ice.
 to study the water ice in the south polar region and thickness of the lunar regolith on
the surface.
 to map the lunar surface and help to prepare 3D maps of it
Payloads:

A. Orbiter payloads
1. Terrain Mapping Camera 2 (TMC 2)
2. Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS)
3. Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM)
4. Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC)
5. Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS)
6. Dual Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR)
7. Chandrayaan 2 Atmospheric Compositional Explorer 2 (CHACE 2)
8. Dual Frequency Radio Science (DFRS) experiment

B. Vikram payloads
1. Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere
(RAMBHA)
2. Chandra's Surface Thermo-physical Experiment (CHaSTE)
3. Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA)

C. Pragyan payloads
1. Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS)
2. Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS)
3. Passive Experiment
4. Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA)

D. Passive Experiment
1. Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA)

ISRO lost all contact with the Vikram lander which was expected to make contact with the
moon. The space agency lost contact with the lander just 400 meters away from the
landing surface. The reason behind Vikram lander’s crash-landing was that it tilted 410
degrees instead of the planned 55 degrees.

When the Vikram lander tilted from its set trajectory, the scientists could do nothing but
be silent spectators. According to ISRO officials, the velocity of the lander was suppose to
slow down from 6000 kmph to 0 kmph in four phases, but the space agency lost contact
with it minutes before its touchdown.

Due to the change in trajectory and the lack of speed reduction, the Vikram lander along
with the moon rover Pragyan crash-landed on the Moon.
 Chandrayaan 3

Date – 14 July 2023

Location – Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh

Mission Duration – 14 days

Launch Vehicle: LVM3 M4 vehicle

Operator – ISRO

Objectives:

ISRO's mission objectives for the Chandrayaan-3 mission are:

1. Engineering and implementing a lander to land safely and softly on the surface of the
Moon.
2. Observing and demonstrating the rover's driving capabilities on the Moon.
3. Conducting and observing experiments on the materials available on the lunar surface
to better understand the composition of the Moon.

September 22, 2023

Efforts to establish communication with lander and rover are underway.

September 04, 2023

The lander and rover are in sleep mode. Awaiting their awakening around September 22,
2023.

August 31, 2023

ILSA listens to the movements around the landing site

RAMBHA-LP on-board Chandrayaan-3 measures near-surface plasma content

August 30, 2023

APXS on-board Ch-3 rover detects the presence of minor elements

August 28, 2023

LIBS confirms the presence of Sulphur (S) on the lunar surface through unambiguous in-
situ measurements.

August 27, 2023

The first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander

August 24, 2023

Chandrayaan-3 ROVER: Made in India. Made for the MOON! The Ch-3 Rover ramped down
from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon ! More updates soon.

August 23, 2023

'I reached my destination and you too!': Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon. Congratulations, India!

August 20, 2023

The Lander Module is in 25 km x 134 km orbit. Powered descent is expected to commence

on August 23, 2023, around 1745 Hrs. IST

August 19, 2023

The Lander Module is in 113 km x 157 km orbit around the moon. Second de-boosting is
planned for August 20, 2023

August 17, 2023

Lander Module is successfully separated from the Propulsion Module. Deboosting planned
for August 18, 2023

August 16, 2023

The spacecraft is in an orbit of 153 km x 163 km after the firing on August 16, 2023

August 14, 2023

The mission is in the orbit circularisation phase. The spacecraft is in 151 km x 179 km
orbit

August 09, 2023

Chandrayaan-3's orbit is reduced to 174 km x 1437 km following a manuevre performed

on August 9, 2023

August 06, 2023

LBN#2 is successfully completed. The spacecarft is in 170 km x 4313 km orbit around the
moon

Chandrayaan-3 Video: The Moon, as viewed by Chandrayaan-3 during Lunar Orbit

Insertion

August 05, 2023

Chandrayaan-3 is successfully inserted into the lunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 164 km x
18074 km, as intended.

August 01, 2023

The spacecraft is inserted into the translunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 288 km x 369328
km. Lunar-Orbit Insertion (LOI) is planned for Aug 5, 2023.

July 25, 2023

Orbit-raising maneuver performed on July 25, 2023. Next firing (TransLunar Injection), is
planned for August 1, 2023.

July 22, 2023

The fourth orbit-raising maneuver (Earth-bound perigee firing) is completed. The

spacecraft is now in a 71351 km x 233 km orbit.

July 17, 2023

The second orbit-raising maneuver performed. The spacecraft is now in 41603 km x 226
km orbit.

July 15, 2023

The first orbit-raising maneuver (Earthbound firing-1) is successfully performed at

ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. Spacecraft is now in 41762 km x 173 km orbit.

July 14, 2023

LVM3 M4 vehicle successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 into orbit. Chandrayaan-3, in its

precise orbit, has begun its journey to the Moon. Health of the Spacecraft is normal.

July 11, 2023

The 'Launch Rehearsal' simulating the entire launch preparation and process lasting 24
hours has been concluded.

July 07, 2023

Vehicle electrical tests completed. Citizens are invited to witness the launch from the
Launch View Gallery at SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota, by registering at here

July 06, 2023

The launch is scheduled for July 14, 2023, at 14:35 Hrs. IST from the Second Launch Pad,
SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota.
Payloads:

Sl.
Lander Payloads Objectives
No

To measure the near surface

Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound
Langmuir plasma (ions and electrons)
1. Hypersensitive ionosphere and
probe (LP) density and its changes with
Atmosphere (RAMBHA)
time

Chandra’s Surface Thermo To carry out the measurements of thermal

2.
physical Experiment (ChaSTE) properties of lunar surface near polar region.

To measure seismicity around the landing

Instrument for Lunar Seismic
3. site and delineating the structure of the lunar
Activity (ILSA)
crust and mantle.

It is a passive experiment to understand the

4. LASER Retroreflector Array (LRA)
dynamics of Moon system.

Sl.
Rover Payloads Objectives
No

Qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis & To

Sl. LASER Induced
Propulsion Module
derive the chemical Composition and infer mineralogical
Objectives
1. Breakdown
No Payload
composition to further our understanding of Lunar-
Spectroscope (LIBS)
Future discoveries of smaller planets in reflected light
surface.
Spectro-polarimetry of
would allow us to probe into variety of Exo-planets
1. HAbitable Planet Earth To determine the elemental composition (Mg, Al, Si, K,
Alpha Particle X-ray which would qualify for habitability (or for presence of
2. (SHAPE) Ca,Ti, Fe) of Lunar soil and rocks around the lunar
Spectrometer (APXS) life).
landing site.