India has achieved a great milestone by accomplishing its Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully, however, in a surprising turn of events, the Vikram lander attained an unexpected milestone when it performed a hop experiment on the Moon’s surface.
Chandrayaan-3
India has achieved a great milestone by accomplishing its Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully, however, in a surprising turn of events, the Vikram lander attained an unexpected milestone when it performed a hop experiment on the Moon’s surface.
India has achieved a great milestone by accomplishing its Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully, however, in a surprising turn of events, the Vikram lander attained an unexpected milestone when it performed a hop experiment on the Moon’s surface.
The Vikram lander, which made a historic landing on the Moon’s surface on August 23, was designed to study various aspects of the lunar environment. The lander and the Pragyan rover performed various experiments in 14 Earth days (one lunar day) before pitch darkness and frigid weather engulfed the lunar surface.
What Is ‘Hop’ Experiment? Chandrayaan-3 Project Director P Veeramuthuvel asserted that the Vikram lander performing a hop experiment on the Moon was unplanned and exceeded its mission objectives. It means the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft again landed on the Moon on command, which was not planned. The ‘hop experiment’ indicates new possible opportunities for future moon missions.
Veerafurther revealed that during the hop environment, the lander fired its engines on command, elevated itself by about 40 centimetres as expected, and landed. It then safely landed about 30 to 40 centimetres away from its original location at Shiv Shakti Point. This successful manoeuvre demonstrated the Chandrayaan-3’s capability to take off from the Moon’s surface, paving the way for future missions that could potentially return lunar samples to India.
The major challenge for ‘Vikram and Pragyan’ was to come back into action after surviving the chilling -200 degrees Celsius of temperature. It was believed that if the onboard instruments survived the low temperature on the Moon, the modules could come back to life and continue their mission to send information from the moon for the next fourteen days.
No Response From Chandrayaan-3’s Lander, Rover As Sun Sets On Moon
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in hopes that the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover could have survived the previous cycle of the lunar night. However, there has been no response from the lunar ambassadors.
The onset of the lunar night, a period of darkness lasting approximately 14 Earth days, signals the end of all the attempts to revive the lander Vikram and rover Pragyan, despite its end of mission a month ago. Sunlight began receding on Shiv Shakti Point (point where Chandrayaan-3 made landing on lunar surface) on September 30.
ISRO’s launch vehicle PSLV-C57 rocket carrying India’s first solar mission, ‘Aditya-L1’, lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. (PTI Photo)
A day after it launched the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, the country’s first mission to study the Sun, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) carried out the first orbit-raising manoeuvre Sunday.
Stating that the satellite is “healthy and operating nominally”, the ISRO said the first Earth-bound manoeuvre has been “performed successfully” from ISTRAC, Bengaluru.
“The new orbit attained is 245 km x 22459 km” and the next manoeuvre, it said, is scheduled for 0300 Hours IST on September 5.
The Aditya-L1 mission was launched from the Sriharikota spaceport shortly before noon Saturday and placed in an Earth orbit, 235 km x 19,500 km, an hour later.
Over the next few days, the spacecraft will continue to move around the Earth, progressively raising its orbit and gaining momentum, before embarking on its four-month journey to the Lagrange-1 point of the Earth-Sun system.
It is from this point, about 1.5 million km from Earth, that the Aditya-L1 spacecraft will observe the Sun and carry out experiments.
The heavier version of the PSLV rocket that put the satellite in orbit Saturday achieved a milestone of its own. This was the first time that the fourth stage of the PSLV was fired two separate times to insert the spacecraft in the intended orbit.
During the firing of the fourth stage of PSLV and the coasting phase in between, there were two instances – one for nearly 25 minutes and another for just over two minutes – when there were no eyes on the satellite. It was only after a ship-based station in the Bay of Bengal and then the Kourou ground station in French Guiana acquired the data that the flight path could be seen.
X-ray Polarimeter satellite (XPoSat) in deployed configuration
In a groundbreaking move aimed at advancing scientific comprehension in the field of astronomy, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced its latest venture, XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite). Following the successful launches of the Chandrayaan-3 Moon lander and Aditya-L1 missions, ISRO is now turning its focus towards unlocking the mysteries of bright astronomical X-ray sources under extreme conditions.
XPoSat marks India’s inaugural dedicated polarimetry mission, with the mission’s core objective being the study of various dynamics within bright astronomical X-ray sources. Positioned in low Earth orbit, the spacecraft will carry two essential scientific payloads designed to collect invaluable data.
The primary payload, known as POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays), is tailored to measure the polarimetry parameters, encompassing the degree and angle of polarisation. It will specifically target the medium X-ray energy range of 8-30 keV photons of astronomical origin. Alongside POLIX, the XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing) payload will play a crucial role by offering spectroscopic information in the energy range of 0.8-15 keV.
ISRO emphasises that the emission mechanisms observed in various astronomical sources, including black holes, neutron stars, active galactic nuclei, and pulsar wind nebulae, stem from complex physical processes that challenge our understanding. While spectroscopic and timing data collected from space-based observatories provide significant insights, the precise nature of these emissions remains enigmatic, as acknowledged by ISRO officials.
Aditya-L1 mission: Aditya-L1 will stay Earth-bound orbits for 16 days, during which it will undergo five manoeuvres to gain necessary velocity for its journey.
A combo of photos shows the launch of India’s first solar mission ‘Aditya-L1’ at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Saturday, (PTI)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the first Earth-bound firing to raise Aditya-L1’s orbit is scheduled at around 11:45 am on Sunday, a day after the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV-C57.1 rocket carrying the orbiter lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota.
The successful launch of ISRO’s first solar mission came a week after its historic lunar landing mission — Chandrayaan-3.
Top updates on Aditya-L1 solar mission
1. “Aditya-L1 started generating the power. The solar panels are deployed. The first Earth-Bound firing to raise the orbit is scheduled for September 3 around 11:45 hours,” the ISRO said on Saturday.
PSLV-C57/Aditya-L1 Mission:
The launch of Aditya-L1 by PSLV-C57 is accomplished successfully.
The vehicle has placed the satellite precisely into its intended orbit.
India’s first solar observatory has begun its journey to the destination of Sun-Earth L1 point.
2. The Earth-bound manoeuvres will involve the rockets firing and some adjustments to angles, as required. How this will work can perhaps be understood by taking the example of when a person is on a swing — to make the swing go higher, a pressure (by shifting body weight) is applied when in the phase when the swing is coming down towards the ground. In Aditya-L1’s case, once it gains enough velocity, it will slingshot around to its intended path towards L1.
3. The PSLV has placed the Aditya-L1 satellite precisely into its intended orbit, the agency said.
4. Aditya-L1 will stay Earth-bound orbits for 16 days, during which it will undergo five maneuvres to gain the necessary velocity for its journey, the ISRO said.
5. Subsequently, Aditya-L1 will undergo a trans-Lagrangian1 insertion manoeuvre, marking the beginning of its 110-day trajectory to the destination around the L1 Lagrange Point, it said.
6. Once arrived at the L1 point, another manoeuvre will bind Aditya-L1 to an orbit around L1, a balanced gravitational location between the Earth and the Sun. The satellite will spend its whole mission life orbiting around L1 in an irregularly shaped orbit in a plane roughly perpendicular to the line joining the Earth and the Sun.
7. According to the agency, the Aditya-L1 mission is expected to reach the observation point in four months. It will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrangian Point 1 (or L1), which is 1.5 million km away from the Earth in the direction of the Sun.
ISRO sets launch date for Aditya-L1 solar mission to study the Sun’s dynamics and space weather
ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) announced the launch date of its next Aditya-L1 solar mission following the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon on August 28.
Aditya-L1 mission launch date and time
This mission, India’s first solar endeavour, will study the Sun and is scheduled for lift-off on September 2 at 11:50 am from the Sriharikota spaceport. On August 30, ISRO said that its Aditya-L1 mission, designed to study the Sun, has completed launch rehearsals and internal checks.
🚀PSLV-C57/🛰️Aditya-L1 Mission:
The launch of Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun ☀️, is scheduled for 🗓️September 2, 2023, at 🕛11:50 Hrs. IST from Sriharikota.
Aditya-L1 spacecraft
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft is equipped for remote observations of the solar corona and in-situ observations of the solar wind at L1(Sun-Earth Lagrange point), located approximately 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. This mission is of great significance as it will provide insights into the Sun’s dynamics and its impact on space weather.
The L1 point is a unique location in space where the gravitational forces of the Sun and Earth create regions of enhanced attraction and repulsion. Spacecraft positioned at these Lagrange points can efficiently maintain their orbits with minimal fuel consumption, according to NASA.
Aditya-L1 is a fully indigenous effort with the involvement of national institutions, including the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune.
Aditya-L1 mission to use PSLV-C57 rocket for launch
The mission will utilise a PSLV-C57 rocket for its launch. Aditya-L1 carries seven specialised payloads designed to observe different aspects of the Sun, including the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona, across various wavelengths.
The Indian Space Research Organisation will launch Aditya L1, India’s first-ever solar mission, from Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on Friday.
Aditya L1, India’s first ever solar mission, is positioned on its launch pad, ready for liftoff from Earth this coming Friday, to embark on a journey spanning four months, covering a distance of 1.5 million kilometers.(ISRO)
The mission aims to study the Sun and its impact on space weather in real-time and achieve other key objectives such as understanding “coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities, among others,” the ISRO explained.
Aditya L1 will be travel 1.5 million km to be positioned at Lagrange 1, a point in space where the gravitational force of two celestial bodies (like the Sun-Earth) create pockets of gravitational equilibrium. This allows the spacecraft to remain in one position without having to burn fuel.(ISRO)
Chandrayaan-3 landing final moments: How India conquered the Moon’s South Pole
With the successful lunar landing on Wednesday, India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has made a significant advancement and marked a turning point in the country’s space efforts. This victory has given ISRO officials a newfound drive as they fervently prepare for their next challenging mission, one that intends to investigate the Sun, the fiery core of our solar system.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft, a remarkable venture as India’s first space-based solar observatory, currently resides at the Sriharikota rocket port, meticulously undergoing preparations for its impending launch. ISRO is set to dispatch the Aditya-L1, equipped as a coronagraphy satellite, aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket. This launch is scheduled to take place towards the latter part of August or early September.
The primary objective of this groundbreaking mission is to position the Aditya-L1 spacecraft into a halo orbit encircling the first Lagrange point, L1, within the Sun-Earth system. This distinctive orbit offers a distinct advantage, enabling the satellite to continuously observe the Sun without any interruptions caused by occultation or eclipses.
Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission: The lander Vikram will next try a soft-landing in the unexplored south polar region of the Moon on Wednesday, ISRO has said
The second and final de-boosting operation of India’s Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 successfully completed this morning, as scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) closely monitored the critical phase ahead of the spacecraft’s landing on the lunar surface on Wednesday.
The lander Vikram has placed itself in an orbit where the closest point to the Moon is 25 km and the farthest is 134 km. It is from this orbit that it will try a soft-landing in the unexplored south polar region of the Moon on Wednesday, ISRO has said.
“The second and final deboosting operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km. The module would undergo internal checks and await the sun-rise at the designated landing site. The powered descent is expected to commence on August 23, 2023, around 1745 Hrs. IST,” ISRO posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
The Lander Module (LM) health is normal.
LM successfully underwent a deboosting operation that reduced its orbit to 113 km x 157 km.
The lander Vikram has been descending in the Moon’s orbit in an automated mode; it has been deciding on its own how to go about its functions.
During the first de-boosting operation on Friday, former ISRO chief K Sivan told NDTV that the Chandrayaan-3 lander’s design is the same as the one used in the previous Chandrayaan-2 mission.
“There is no change in design. Based on observations from Chandrayaan-2, all errors that took place in the mission have been corrected,” he said.
A successful Moon landing will make India the historic fourth country to have achieved this feat.
On Thursday, the lander module separated from the propulsion module that had carried it all the way from Earth. The propulsion module will now continue orbiting Earth for months or even years, and study its atmosphere and measure the polarisation of light from clouds.
Following the detachment, the lander shared its first images of the Moon on Thursday.
Once on the Moon, the lander Vikram will photograph the Pragyaan rover, which will study the chemical makeup of the Moon’s surface and search for water. It has a lifespan of one lunar day, equivalent to 14 days on Earth.
Just like the ongoing Chandrayaan-3 mission, the satellite will go around the earth gathering speed and then slingshot towards the sun. It will then cruise the 1.5 million kilometres in around four months. And, then it will be inserted into a halo-shaped orbit around the L1 point.
Aditya L1 / Source : ISRO
AFTER TWO successful mission launches in July, including the Chandrayaan-3, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready for its next big mission – to the sun.
According to sources, Aditya-L1 — India’s first mission to the sun — is expected to be launched in early September this year.
“Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the sun, is getting ready for the launch. The satellite realised at the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru, has arrived at SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota,” ISRO tweeted on Monday.
The crucial manoeuvre took place in the early hours of Tuesday to propel the spacecraft towards the Moon using a slingshot effect.
Chandrayaan-3 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Friday, on board the LVM-3 rocket. (ISRO) (HT_PRINT)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday announced that Chandrayaan-3 has successfully completed its orbits around the Earth and is currently on its way towards the Moon.
“A successful perigee-firing performed at ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network). ISRO has injected the spacecraft into the translunar orbit,” it said.
The crucial manoeuvre took place in the early hours of Tuesday to propel the spacecraft towards the Moon using a slingshot effect.
“Chandrayaan-3 completes its orbits around the Earth and heads towards the moon,” the national space agency said, adding, “Next stop: the moon. As it arrives at the moon, the Lunar-Orbit Insertion is planned for August 5, 2023,” ISRO said.
According to an ISRO official speaking to PTI, after the trans-lunar injection, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully departed from Earth’s orbit and is now on a trajectory headed towards the Moon. The ISRO had previously announced plans to attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface on August 23.
Following the launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon on July 14, the spacecraft’s orbit was systematically raised in five stages.
Chandrayaan-3 has completed its orbits around the earth and is heading towards the moon, the national space agency headquartered said.
The Indian Space Research Organisation on Tuesday injected the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into the translunar orbit.
“Chandrayaan-3 has completed its orbits around the earth and is heading towards the moon,” the national space agency headquartered here said.
“A successful perigee-firing performed at ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network). ISRO has injected the spacecraft into the translunar orbit,” it said.
“Next stop: the moon. As it arrives at the moon, the Lunar-Orbit Insertion (LOI) is planned for August 5, 2023,” it added.
An ISRO official told PTI that following Tuesday’s trans-lunar injection (TLI), the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft escaped from orbiting the earth and is now following a path that would take it to the vicinity of the Moon.
In other words, the spacecraft began its journey towards the Moon on Tuesday, after leaving the Earth’s orbit following the TLI maneuver, which placed it on ‘lunar transfer trajectory’.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had said it would attempt soft landing of the lander on the lunar surface on August 23.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Sunday accomplished the lift-off of PSLV-C56/DS-SAR, a dedicated commercial mission, with all the seven satellites launched “precisely into their intended orbits”. The primary satellite – the 360-kg DS-SAR – and six co-passenger customer satellites, all belonging to Singapore, were launched into a Near Equatorial Orbit, from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, at 6.30 am.
The mission was facilitated by Isro’s commercial arm NewSpace India Limited, for ST Engineering, Singapore. DS-SAR is developed as part of a partnership between the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) under the Government of Singapore and ST Engineering.
DS-SAR carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload developed by Israel Aerospace Industries.
The mission, called RLV LEX, marks the first time a winged body has been carried to an altitude of 4.5 kilometres by a helicopter and released for carrying out an autonomous landing on a runway.
For the mission, the Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) was carried at 7:10 am IST by a Chinook Helicopter of the Indian Air Force, as an underslung load. The RLV-TD flew to a height of 4.5 kilometres above mean sea level. ( Image Source : ISRO )
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday, April 2, successfully conducted the autonomous landing test or air-drop landing experiment of the space agency’s reusable launch vehicle prototype. The mission, called RLV LEX, was performed in collaboration with the Defence Space Research Organisation (DRDO), and the Indian Air Force (IAF), in the early hours of Sunday at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka.
The mission marks the first time a winged body has been carried to an altitude of 4.5 kilometres by a helicopter and released for carrying out an autonomous landing on a runway.
India 🇮🇳 achieved it!
ISRO, joined by @DRDO_India@IAF_MCC, successfully conducted the Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX)
at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka in the early hours on April 2, 2023.
ISRO conducted the first experimental mission of its Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) on May 23, 2016, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. As part of this experimental mission, critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance and control, and the reusable thermal protection system were successfully demonstrated.
All about ISRO’s RLV LEX mission
One of the critical technologies that ISRO had to demonstrate was the approach and autonomous landing of the reusable launch vehicle prototype on a runway. The Indian space agency accomplished this milestone as part of the RLV-LEX mission. This was the second phase of the technology demonstration missions for the reusable launch vehicle prototype.
For the mission, the RLV-TD was carried at 7:10 am IST by a Chinook Helicopter of the Indian Air Force, as an underslung load. The RLV-TD flew to a height of 4.5 kilometres above mean sea level, ISRO said in a mission update.
Once the predetermined parameters were attained, the RLV-TD was released mid-air. The release conditions included 10 parameters, such as position, velocity, altitude and body rates, among others.
RLV-TD was released autonomously. After being released, it performed approach and landing manoeuvres using its Integrated Navigation, Guidance and Control System.
RLV-TD completed an autonomous landing on the ATR air strip at 7:40 am IST. With this, ISRO has successfully achieved the autonomous landing of a space vehicle.
The autonomous landing of RLV-TD was carried out under the exact conditions required for the landing of a space vehicle that has re-entered the atmosphere.
Conditions were simulated in a way such that the vehicle’s speed was the same as what it would have had while arriving from space.
Landing parameters such as ground relative velocity, the sinking rate of landing gears, and precise body rates, which are likely to be experienced by an orbital re-entry space vehicle in its return path, were also taken into consideration.
The vehicle exhibited a high-speed autonomous landing at 350 kilometres per hour.
All about RLV-TD
The RLV-TD is one of the most technologically challenging endeavours of ISRO towards developing essential technologies for a fully reusable launch vehicle to enable low-cost access to space, the space agency says on its website.
RLV-TD has a configuration similar to that of an aircraft and combines the complexity of both launch vehicles and aircraft. RLV-TD is winged, a configuration intended to make the vehicle serve as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies such as hypersonic flight, autonomous landing and powered cruise flight.
In the future, RLV-TD will be scaled up to become the first stage of India’s reusable two-stage orbital launch vehicle.
RLV-TD has a length of 6.5 metres and a width of 3.6 metres. It consists of a fuselage or body, a nose cap, double-delta wings, and twin vertical tails, and features symmetrically placed active control surfaces called Elevons and Rudder.
RLV-TD is equipped with a conventional solid booster (HS9) that is designed for a low-burn rate.
The technology demonstrator has been developed using special alloys, composites and insulation materials, and crafted by highly skilled manpower.
