OceanSat II to aid Sea Fishing

ISRO is planning to launch it’s second in OceanSat series this year. OceanSat  II is more advanced than OceanSat I which was launched into space in 1999. ISRO is also planning to launch a number of satellites to help agriculture also.

The OceanSat-II will have two instruments – ocean colour monitor and scatterometre. The ocean colour monitor would detect the colour of the ocean indicated by phytoplankton (marine organisms including fishes). This information will aid in fishing. The scatterometre will study the interaction between ocean and atmosphere, sea surface temperature, wave height and this information will help the weathermen in forecasting the weather.

The OceanSat-I also has an instrument for monitoring ocean colour and a multi-frequency scanning microwave. The OceanSat-I has been giving information for aiding fishing in the sea fishing zones.

Isro also has plans to launch Insat-3D for monitoring meteorological data, G-SAT-4 for communication facility with experimental navigation payload, Insat-4D with communication facility with transponders and ResourceSat for remote sensing. All these satellites would be launched with the help of indigenous polar satellite launch vehicles (PSLVs).

Satellites for accessing meteorological data and remote sensing will help agriculture as meteorological data are effective tool for weather prediction and crop production and crop production and soil and water conditions can be monitored through remote sensing. ISRO had earlier launched remote sensing satellites and remote sensing operations have been able to estimate crop production particularly that of wheat and rice to near accuracy.

ISRO also has plan to launch AstroSat for gathering astronomical information and MeghaTropics with French collaboration for tropical atmospheric studies within a year.

Images of far side of the Moon by Chandrayaan

The far side images of moon captured by Chandrayaan 1 is released on ISRO’s website. Click the thumbnail images below to download it on your computer.

TMC Far Side NADIR – Courtesy ISRO

HySI 24 November Farside – Courtesy ISRO

HySI 24 November Farside – Courtesy ISRO

HySI 24 November Farside – Courtesy ISRO

TMC 24 November Farside – Courtesy ISRO

TMC 24 November Farside – Courtesy ISRO

ISRO developing next generation Launch Vehicles for heavy satellites

Indian Space Research Organisation scientists are now developing next generation hi-tech Launch Vehicles or  Rockets for heavy satellites. This project will cut the cost of launching satellites by more than half the present.

This year, we will see series of tests and research works on GSLV Mark III. GSLV Mark III is said to completed by 2010-2011. The present GSLV can put only 2.2 tonnes of payloads into space. But, Mark III can put upto 4 tonnes of payloads into space. This will help Antrix Corporation (ISRO’s commercial wing) to offer the cheapest space launches in the world.

Mr. K Radhakrishnan, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said that ISRO is going to test the solid booster, followed by liquid stage and cryogenic engine will be tested this year. He also said that they are planning to conduct a test flight by 2010 or 2011. Radhakrishnan said ISRO will be able to pack more transponders in one space flight. “This makes it a cost effective solution and will give us a niche in the world in launching four tonne satellites,” he said.

GSLV is also planning to apply Mark III for human space missions. But, as far as the mission in 2015 is concerned, normal GSLV will be used which will put 2 Indians into space. But, GSLV Mark III has the capacity to put 3 astronauts at the same mission.

Two more Chandrayaan instruments to be activated in the middle of December

Two of the 10 remaining scientific instruments onboard India’s first unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 will be activated in mid-December for conducting experiments.
The sub-kiloelectronvolt (keV) atom reflecting analyser (SARA) and the high-energy x-ray spectrometer (HEX) are scheduled to be activated in mid-December as they need favourable condition from the sun angle. The remaining eight payloads have been energised and are functioning well.
Of the 11 payloads, the moon impact probe (MIP) was successfully lowered onto the lunar surface Nov 14 with excellent results. The other eight instruments are – mini synthetic aperture radar (MiniSAR), moon mineralogy mapper (M3), radiation dose monitor (RADOM), terrain mapping camera (TMC), hyper-spectral imager (HySI), lunar laser ranging instrument (LLRI), imaging x-ray spectrometer (C1XS) and smart near infrared spectrometer (SIR-2).
The MIP camera took about 3,000 images during its 25-minute descent. Some of the images include the ridge of the Shackleton crater and a vivid picture of the field where the probe crash-landed, thus confirming the execution was precise and at the designated place. They are a valuable catch.
The data, received from the mother spacecraft at the deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40 km from Bangalore, is being caliberated and studied by ISRO scientists.The data is so voluminous that it will take three months to analyse by our experts. The third instrument – the c-band altimeter gave the trajectory of the descent and confirmed whatever we have done was on target. The MIP experiment is unique as the Chinese and Japanese lunar missions did not have such a one.

Only two more instruments to be made operational, says Madhavan Nair

ISRO Chairman Mr. G. Madhavan Nair meet the press people yesterday at the Airport. He said that all the major operations related to Chandrayaan 1 Mission is completed. 9 of 11 payloads has been successfully turned on. The remaining two payloads will be activated this week.

The two science instruments of the U.S. aboard the spacecraft had become operational and they would start sending data within a week. He also said that everything is going as planned.

Mr. Nair said that with the terrain mapping camera of the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), stereoscopic pictures of the moon would be available, which, in turn, would help to have a better understanding of the height and shape of craters on the lunar surface.

“We are the only country to obtain pictures from such a closer distance. We have got pictures with a resolution of five metres followed by a Japanese probe which secured pictures only with a resolution of 10 metres,” he said.Mr. Nair said the ISRO was planning to launch Chandrayaan-2 in 2012, a mission in which a robot would be sent to collect samples from the lunar surface and conduct tests. In 2015, it would conduct a spacewalk and the man mission to the Moon would be launched only after it. After completing the Chandrayaan series, the ISRO would be going in for a mission to Mars and the steps for it had started. A blueprint of this project was expected to be out only after four or five years, he added.