Chandrayaan-1: India's Mission To The Moon - What's The Next Step?

October 12, 2008
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: After the no manned missions, Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2, ISRO plans
to send a manned mission to the Earth's only natural satellite. The dream year is 2014. The manned mission in 2014 will be followed by the actual landing of an Indian national on the lunar surface by 2020. India plans to achieve this rare feat much before China realises its manned mission to the Moon.
So far only the USA and the erstwhile USSR had sent manned missions to the moon. But only the USA had achieved the feat of actually landing man onto the lunar surface. India will be second nation if it succeeds sending man onto the moon's terrain as
scheduled in 2020.
"We believe that pushing forward human presence in space may become essential for planetary exploration, a goal we have set for ISRO," said ISRO chairman G Madhavan
Nair.
According to ISRO, the cost of manned flight to the moon will be around Rs 1500 crore.

Chandrayaan-1: Objectives of India's Moon Mission

October 12, 2008
By Syed Akbar

Objectives of the Moon Mission


The Indian Space Research Organisation, which has programmed Chandrayaan-1, has manifold ideas behind the mission. The main mission objectives are:

1. to realise the goal of harnessing the science payloads, lunar craft and
the launch vehicle with suitable ground support systems including deep space network station.


2. to realise the integration and testing, launching and achieving lunar
polar orbit of about 100 km, in-orbit operation of experiments, communication/ telecommand, telemetry data reception, quick look data and archival for scientific utilisation by identified group of scientists.
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The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft

The Mission Chandrayaan-1 uses a 3-axis stabilised spacecraft with two star sensors, gyros and four reaction wheels.
The power generation is through a canted single-sided solar array that gives the required power during all phases of the mission. This deployable solar array consisting of a single panel generates 700 watts of peak power. During eclipse spacecraft will be powered by Lithium ion batteries.

The spacecraft employs a X-band, 0.7m diameter parabolic antenna for payload data
transmission. The antenna employs a dual gimbal mechanism to track the earth station when the spacecraft is in lunar orbit. The spacecraft uses a bipropellant integrated propulsion system to reach lunar orbit as well as orbit and attitude maintenance while orbiting the moon.

The propulsion system carries required propellant for a mission life of two years, with adequate margin.

Chandrayaan-1: SHAR All Set To Make History

October 12, 2008
By Syed Akbar
Satish Dhawan Space Centre, popularly known as SHAR, located at Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, is all set to register another record with the
launch of Chandrayaan-1 mission on October 22.
With 28 successful launchings, including some international satellites, to its credit of the 33 odysseys into space, Shar is gearing up for yet another milestone. A jewel in the ISRO’s crown, Shar is a spindle shaped island in the Bay of Bengal.
In just three decades the island has transformed from a habitation of
tribals to an ultra-high-security zone, where the best minds of India work - minds that have catapulted India to its fame of being one of the select group of nations with space age technology. The island was selected in 1969 for setting up of a satellite launch station because of the advantages of its location. Characteristics such as good launch azimuth corridor for various missions, advantage of earth's rotation for eastward launchings, proximity to the equator, and large uninhabited area as safety zone all make Sriharikota Range a perfect spaceport.
The space centre was renamed as 'Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR' on September 5, 2002, in memory of Prof. Satish Dhawan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation. Signs of cultural past can be seen all over the island, left behind by the people who lived here long before the spaceport was born. The native Yanadi tribe has been rehabilitated. SHAR has a unique combination of facilities, such as a solid propellant production plant, a rocket motor static test facility, launch complexes for a variety of rockets, telemetry, telecommand, tracking, data acquisition and processing facilities, and other support services. The first flight-test of 'Rohini-125', a small sounding rocket, took place from here on October 9, 1971.
Since then the facilities here were expanded to meet the growing needs of ISRO.

Chandrayaan-1: India's First-Ever Moon Mission To Unravel Lunar Secrets

October 12
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad:

"O Moon! We should be able to know you through our intellect. You
enlighten us through the right path." - Rig Veda

Inspired by this ancient sloka of the Rig Veda, the oldest Scripture on
the Earth, the Indian Space Research Organisation embarked upon the Mission Moon in 2003. Five years later, India's dream of sending its own indigenous mission to the Earth's natural satellite is all set to be realised. Chandrayaan-1, the first-ever
Moon mission by Indian scientists, is scheduled to take off from the historic rocket launch pad in Sriharikota, abutting the azure Bay of Bengal, on October 22.
"Understanding the Moon provides a pathway to unravel the early evolution of the solar system and that of the planet Earth," said a delighted ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair, while announcing the new schedule of the Chandrayaan-1 mission. Once Chandrayaan-1 enters the lunar orbit and starts beaming the lunar data back
to the Earth, India joins the elite club of Space nations.
And this distinction has not come in a day. Indian scientists, long before
the Mission Moon was conceived and set into motion officially in November 2003, had done enough homework on the natural satellite. They had gathered enough data on the Moon and developed the appropriate technology by then. but what they needed was fixing up the loose ends to put the Mission Moon through. Chandrayaan-1 is the first in the series of India's mission to moon. ISRO proposes to send as many as missions as possible to the lunar world. But at presently, one two phases of Chandrayaan are planned, Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2.

In Chandrayaan-1, the lunar craft will be launched using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The lunar craft or Chandrayaan (Chandra means Moon in Sanskrit and Yaan
means craft) will orbit around the Moon 100 km from the lunar surface, taking pictures with a resolution as high as 20 km.
Several hurdles, bureaucratic and international, notwithstanding, Team ISRO has now proved before the developed nations that given a right opportunity Indian space scientists are second to none when it comes to doing things which many believe are impossible. Chandrayaan-1 will gradually pave the way for the manned mission to the lunar world. Madhavan Nair and Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal have already declared India's intention to send a manned mission to the Moon.
The data the Chandrayaan-1 mission will bring back to ISRO's laboratory in
Bengaluru and associated centres all over including NRSA in Hyderabad, will not only help us to understand the Moon better, but also take India a step closer to launching man to the lunar terrain. Chandrayaan-1 will take India, space scientists believe, to the threshold of completing the unfinished task of the Americans and the Russians. The USA and the erstwhile USSR had gathered information about the
moon through their missions, both manned and unmanned, in the 1960s and 1970s.
The last 25 years had not witnessed much activity as far as the Moon is concerned. India will take on from where the Americans and the Russians had left to introduce human beings to the "friendly" terrain of the moon.
The last 50 years had yielded quite a lot of data on the moon. And yet it continues to be as enigmatic as before. As new questions about lunar evolution have emerged, space faring nations continued with their mission to find new possibilities of using the moon as a platform for further exploration of the solar system and beyond. Moon has once again become the prime target for exploration and the USA had already
described it as the future tourist destination.
"The idea of undertaking an Indian scientific mission to Moon was initially mooted in a meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999. It was followed up by discussions in the Astronautical Society of India in 2000. Based on the recommendations that emerged out of these meetings, a National Lunar Mission
Task Force was constituted by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Leading Indian scientists and technologists participated in the deliberations of the Task Force that provided an assessment on the feasibility of an Indian Mission to the Moon as well as dwelt on the focus of such a mission and its possible
configuration," said Dr Nair.
India's current Moon Mission is aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the moon in visible, near infrared, low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions. Specifically, the objectives will be to prepare a three-dimensional atlas (with a high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10 m) of both near and far side of
the moon, besides conducting chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of elements such as magnesium, aluminium, silicon, calcium,
iron and titanium. Chandrayaan-1 will also study high atomic number elements including radon, uranium and thorium.
The other objectives of the mission are to take photo geological and chemical mapping of the moon to identify different geological units on the lunar surface. This will test the early evolutionary history of the moon and help in determining the nature and stratigraphy of the lunar crust.
The Rs 386-crore India's Chandrayaan-1 mission include the cuboid shaped spacecraft that weighs 1,304 kgs at launch and 590 kg at lunar orbit. It ccommodates as many as 11 scientific payloads. Since Chandrayaan-1 will have a low orbit, it is expected to bring it very close to the Moon, returning high quality data.
The Chandrayaan-1 will catapult ISRO to its next moon mission, Chandrayaan-1 scheduled for 2011. While Chandrayaan-1 does not involve the actual touching of the lunar soil, the second phase of the mission involves sending a rover right onto the moon. Chandrayaan-2 will consist of the spacecraft and a landing platform with the moon rover, which will move on wheels on the lunar surface.
The rover will pick up samples of soil or rocks, do a chemical analysis and send the data to the spacecraft orbiting above the moon's territory. The rover will weigh up to 100 kg and will complete its mission in a month's time, before laying dead virtually.

Ban On Smoking In Public Places: People To Save Rs 10,000 Crore On Health Bills A Year

October 10, 2008
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Oct 10: It's going to be a windfall for the Union government with health planners expecting about Rs 10,000 crore a year even if one per cent of India's estimated 120 million smokers are fined under the new Act banning smoking in public places. This is 60 per cent of India's total annual health budget of Rs
16,534 crore.
According to a study conducted by the World Health Organisation, the total turnover of the tobacco industry in India is Rs 35,000 crore and Indians spend at least Rs 36,000 crore on medicare to fight diseases directly connected to tobacco, particularly cigarette smoking.
"The economics of ban of public smoking is quite high. In the USA and European countries where public smoking is banned, the incidence of diseases like cancer linked to tobacco has come down by 30 per cent. If the ban is implemented effectively in India, the economic burden on people due to tobacco-related ailments
will come down by at least Rs 10,000 crore a year, given the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and WHO statistics," said Dr P Vijay Anand Reddy, chief of cancer wing of Apollo Hospitals.
The total revenue generation to the national exchequer and the savings on medical bills of Indians could well be over Rs 20,000 crore since Union Minister of Health Anbumani Ramadoss went on record saying that 40 per cent of the country's health problems are linked to smoking. One in five people the world over who have health problems because of tobacco use is an Indian.
Since the revenue generated from the ban is unexpectedly high, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has laid out "step by step" guidelines to all the State governments to ensure that the Act is implemented in toto. Individuals violating the Act will be penalised Rs 200 and the fine thus collected will be deposited in a special fund to be created by individual State governments.
"The money thus generated will be utilised solely for creating awareness on tobacco-related diseases and other health activities. We are also taking enough steps to ensure that the money collected as fine is deposited with the government. To prevent misuse of the money, the district medical and health office has taken the responsibility to publish the challan books with serial numbers. We are distributing them to all departments and establishments for accountability. Moreover, monthly reports have to be sent to DHMO and district collectors concerned for transparency of accounts," Hyderabad DHMO Dr Ch Jayakumari told this correspondent.
The MoHFW has come out with different models of channelising the funds collected through fine. The State governments will have to create a separate head of account one the lines of the one already in existence in Gujarat. This will enable Department of Health to use the fund for tobacco control activities. In
case the States have a separate account for National Tobacco Control Programme in the Health Society, the funds may be deposited in this account.
"It is necessary for the State government to lay down detailed guidelines for ensuring accountability for the amount collected as fine," the MoHFW said in its circular to States.

KG D6: Team Reliance Achieved It Under All Odds

September 28, 2008
By Syed Akbar

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Over 2000 people, 12000 tonnes of equipment, 90 marine vessels
and waters as deep as 8000 ft.
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Team Reliance has done it. The world's largest offshore oil and gas production
system under sea has been put in place in just 27 months with several interruptions in work due to frequent cyclonic storms and rough weather.
Yes, we are talking about Krishna Godavari basin's D-6 block in the Bay of Bengal, where Reliance Industries Limited struck the liquid gold and translated it into a full production system, fighting against all natural hazards, 50 km away from the coast of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.
"This event is, no doubt, historic in itself. But there is even better news. For this is just a prelude. Its impact on the fortunes of India... will be enormous, contributing to foreign exchange and import bill savings of $20 billion."
This statement from Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh Ambani, soon after the first few drops of crude oil were extracted from the Krishna-Godavari basin, simply sums up the exhilaration in the RIL camp that spent a little over two years on high seas and beneath the depths of the Bay of Bengal to achieve this rare feat. Yes, the moment was full of excitement and exhilaration as RIL's team of 2000
engineers, technocrats and supervisors disproved the naysayers of the world who had written off India's ability to produce its own oil and gas.
Four decades after India first produced its own crude oil at Bombay High, the Reliance team worked against all odds - storms, cyclones, low pressures, strong water currents - to build a huge oil and gas platform, which is nothing short
of building a high-rise building on the bed of ocean, with water all around and strong currents quite often hitting the men and machinery involved. The task is not simple given the fact that the Bay of Bengal, at its friendliest best, is the most violent host. Bay of Bengal is one of the few ocean spots where violent cyclones and storms are quite frequent.
"This accomplishment marks a strategic and emotional inflection point for every Indian. Getting to this epoch-making event has not been easy. Our people had to fathom the interplay of geology and oceanography. Drilling in uncharted waters under hostile weather, including frequent cyclonic conditions, is always hazardous. We have
operated an efficient supply chain system with sea and air logistics support. Essentially we created an entire production system 8000 ft under the sea. At the peak, we have over 90 sea-going vessels - to create a large production system under the sea," Mukesh Ambani said.
There's no adequate sub-sea data. Added to it is the low sea bed temperature of five degrees C, severe supply chain constraints and shortage of technical manpower. To achieve the marvellous feat earlier than the target, the engineers employed the state-of-the-art technology. Reliance deployed, Dhirubhai-1 FPSO, the first vessel of its kind in Indian waters with the capability to operate in water depths of greater than 1200 metres. It has features that can help withstand harsh sea environment.
From the time of its discovery, RIL has started production of oil in KG-D6
in just over two years making it one of the fastest green-field deep water oil development projects in the world.
The offshore block included the deployment of a 12,000 tonne control riser platform Dhirubhai-1, the floating production, storage and offloading vessel. The FPSO is capable of processing 60,000 barrels of oil per day and 15 million cubic feet per day gas and storing up to 1.3 million barrels of oil. The vessel is also equipped with a disconnectable turret mooring system, insulated manifold and short flexible flow lines, features that can ensure crude oil production even amid tough weather
conditions.
Dhirubhai-1 is stationed at the oil production site and shuttle vessels are used for offloading oil from it. Later, the crude oil is transported to refineries. This eliminates the need for piping the oil to the shore for onward transportation
for purification.
RIL oil and gas chief executive officer PMS Prasad said working at the KG D-6 basin was quite a Herculean task even for the most daring of lots. "We had to shift people during storms.
Moreover, our men worked on the seabed to raise the equipment. Imagine building a huge complex or a high-rise building on the sea bed. This is what we have achieved and that too in a short span. World-wide it takes around a decade to produce oil from the time of its discovery. But we have broken the world record," Prasad said.