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Indian moon mission to launch with Russian lander
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW

Posted: September 2, 2010


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India's Chandrayaan 2 moon mission will launch in 2013 with a lander from Russia, but the first announcement of the lunar probe's science instruments does not include contributions from the United States or Europe.


Artist's concept of the Chandrayaan 1 orbiter at the moon. Credit: ISRO
 
The Indian Space Research Organization announced seven research payloads for Chandrayaan 2's orbiter and rover. All of the sensors will come from domestic space centers and research laboratories.

Chandrayaan 2 is scheduled to launch on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle in 2013 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on Sriharikota Island, the country's primary spaceport on the Indian east coast.

The mission will include an orbiter and rover from ISRO, plus a 2,755-pound landing system built by Russia.

A panel of top scientists from ISRO, academic institutions and research laboratories recommended five payloads for the 3,100-pound orbiter to search for underground water ice, minerals and a tenuous lunar atmosphere.

They include the Large Area Soft X-ray Monitor from the ISRO Satellite Center in Bangalore and Solar X-ray Monitor from the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad. The X-ray detectors will map the elements in the lunar surface, according to ISRO.

A Synthetic Aperture Radar in L-band and S-band from the Space Applications Center in Ahmedabad will probe the lunar subsurface for signs of water ice, especially in shadowed regions of the moon.

The Space Applications Center will also contribute an Imaging Infrared Spectrometer for surveys of water and hydroxyl molecules and a Terrain Mapping Camera to snap images of the lunar surface.

A Neutral Mass Spectrometer from the Space Physics Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram will analyze the lunar exosphere.

The committee recommended two spectroscopes for ISRO's rover to conduct in situ studies of lunar rocks and soil.

"Inclusion of additional payloads, if possible within the mission constraints, will be considered at a later date following a detailed review," an ISRO statement said.

NASA and the European Space Agency supplied five investigations for the Chandrayaan 1 orbiter that launched to the moon in 2008, including a U.S. instrument that helped discover widespread water molecules on the lunar surface.

Both space agencies have started initial discussions with ISRO for contributions to Chandrayaan 2, but India has not stated what instruments it can fly on the 2013 mission.

"NASA and ISRO have engaged in initial discussions towards potential cooperation on ISRO's Chandrayaan 2 mission," said John Yembrick, a NASA spokesperson. "Specific payloads by U.S. researchers for the mission have not been identified."

European researchers have also proposed instruments, according to an ESA official that declined to discuss specific payloads.

ISRO said development of the orbiter and rover subsystems is underway at space centers in Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad.