India's Moon Exploration Program

[Indx TechStyle]

Shoot for the Moon

Sooraj Rajmohan
DECEMBER 12, 2016 18:20 IST
UPDATED: DECEMBER 12, 2016 18:20 IST
A rover designed by Bengaluru-based Team Indus, India's entrant into the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition, is in the final development stages before its flight to the moon next year.

In 2007, XPRIZE, a self-defined innovation engine that rewards small teams that achieve success in audacious yet surmountable challenges, invited teams to send a craft to the moon.

A few years later, in 2010, Rahul Narayan took charge of a small team that set out to see if they could solve the engineering challenge associated with the project.

What began as a small step soon snowballed into a large scale operation, and a company named Axiom Labs sprung up as a result of the work being done on this project.

At Axiom, a team led by Rahul, named Team Indus, continued to tinker away to find a way to send a rover to the moon.

They started out as one of 30 teams, and now, as the December 2017 deadline for the competition draws nearer, they are set to be among the final few; to have a verified contract to put their moon rover on a rocket and send it to its destination.

"In the beginning, we were trying to solve specific engineering problems, but we managed to do more right than wrong, and that was the evidence that we could go all the way and put a craft on the moon," says Rahul.

The goal of the Google Lunar XPRIZE is simple, land a rover on the moon, travel 500 metres and beam back high-definition video and images back to Earth.

Despite being up against teams from the United States and Israel, Rahul radiates a quiet sense of confidence when he talks about the progress Team Indus has achieved.

"We're pretty much done with the engineering phase and are now working on execution. We've managed to create a unique low cost, low payload configuration, which we hope will go on to redefine what was though possible in India. We hope it will also have a huge impact on the engineering ecosystem in India."

Indus, which has already won a milestone prize for progress made and is now poised to be among the final few in the running thanks to a recently acquired launch contract with ISRO, has benefited a lot from being based out of Bengaluru. "The Indian aerospace ecosystem has evolved around Bengaluru, be it ISRO, HAL or more. And when you have a big manufacturer, you find their suppliers located close by. Similarly, with ISRO being in Bengaluru, you find a cluster of the same sort here. Also, the Silicon Valley kind of culture that the city embodies has also been a big enabling factor," says Rahul.

The XPRIZE the deadline for which is now set for December 2017, offers a significant payout to the winners who achieve the criteria mentioned earlier, but for Rahul, the big takeaway is the impact their work has on the engineering ecosystem in the country.

"People who've worked big projects at large aerospace agencies have been positive about this new programme, and smaller private teams like us help push the envelope, disrupt the industry and take things forward'" Rahul explains, talking about the role of private companies like SpaceX in the future of space exploration.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Bengaluru's Team Indus Attempts Record With 2 Rovers To Moon: 10 Points
Written by Pallava Bagla | Updated: Dec 21, 2016 18:25 IST

Team Indus is aiming to be the country's first to send a rover to the moon.

New Delhi: An Indian private company is in the race to put a robot on moon that will send back images. The competition is for the $20 million Google Lunar XPRIZE, under which the robot should move at least 500 meters on the surface of the moon and send back high definition photographs. The Bengaluru-based Team Indus has tied up with Japan's space enterprise Hakuto. This is the first such collaboration for the Google Lunar XPRIZE.

Here is your 10-point cheat-sheet to this big science story:

1. The single mission -- currently called "Har Indian ka Moonshot" -- will carry two rovers that will land on the moon, one from Team Indus and another from Hakuto, another first in the history of moon exploration.

2. The Team Indus rover will not only move 500 meters on the moon surface but also raise the Indian flag on the lunar surface on the Republic Day in 2018.

3. The Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO is expects to place its own rover on the moon surface in 2018.

4. The Team Indus spacecraft will piggyback on India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV under a commercial deal.

5. The PSLV will inject the spaceship into an orbit 800 km above the surface of the earth. The spacecraft will then switch on its own engines and set its course for the Moon.

6. It will land on Mare Imbrium -- meaning the sea of rain -- a vast lava plain in the Imbrium basin of the moon. It will then launch the rovers on the moon surface.

7. The spaceship will carry up to 20 kg of payload, of which the Japanese rover weighs 4 kg. Besides, it will carry payloads from international universities and student experiments.

8. So far, only the Russians and Chinese have sent unmanned rovers to the moon. Russia's Lunokhod programme sent the first successful robotic rover to moon in November 1970. The robotic lander Luna 17 still sits in Mare Imbrium. Chinese rover Yutu landed on Moon in December 2013.

9. The Americans have launched a battery-powered Lunar Roving Vehicle, popularly known as moon buggy, thrice during its Apollo programme in 1971 and 1972.

10. Announced in 2007, the Google Lunar XPRIZE challenges scientists and entrepreneurs to develop low cost methods of space exploration through robots.

 

[Chinmoy]

Bengaluru's Team Indus Attempts Record With 2 Rovers To Moon: 10 Points
Written by Pallava Bagla | Updated: Dec 21, 2016 18:25 IST

Team Indus is aiming to be the country's first to send a rover to the moon.

Thus team Indus brought down their launching price...

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO to launch world’s first rocket with 3 rovers to moon in 2017

MUMBAI: When ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-Xl (PSLV-X1) lifts off around December 28, 2017, with India's first private mission to the moon by Team Indus, it promises to be one for the history books.

The reason? It is for the first time in the history of space exploration that a rocket will be flying three rovers. Of the three rovers in this private moon mission, two are from Japan and one belongs to Team Indus.

The PSLV-XL launched 20 satellites in one 'go' on June 22, 2016. But this is the first time that it will demonstrate its capability of carrying three rovers placed inside a lander. "This will go a long way in further enhancing the confidence of the global community in the PSLV," said an Isro official. Again around January 27, 2017, the powerful rocket will launch 83 satellites in a single mission.

According to the organisers of the global lunar competition, Google Lunar X Prize, "the Japanese Team, Hakuto, is facing the challenges with its unique dual rover system consisting of the two-wheeled 'Tetris,' and the four-wheeled 'Moonraker', which are linked by a tether". The organisers added that while Tetris will explore holes thought to be caves in the moon, Moonraker will capture 360-degree images.

Team Indus's new-look sleek rover is solar-powered and the mission duration is one lunar day-- equivalent to 14 earth days. The Team Indus lander can carry up to 20kg of payload.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

XPRIZE clears Japan’s Team Hakuto for moon mission with India’s Team Indus

 

[Akask kumar]

ISRO to launch world’s first rocket with 3 rovers to moon in 2017

wow !!! amazing.. do those two japanese rovers belong to LUNAR X prize or private firm or JAXA?

 

[Indx TechStyle]

wow !!! amazing.. do those two japanese rovers belong to LUNAR X prize or private firm or JAXA?

Private.....


30 characters rule sucks.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Two Google Lunar X Prize teams are going to share a ride to the Moon next year
The teams will use the same PSLV rocket

A PSLV rocket
ISRO

Two of the teams competing in the Google Lunar X Prize competition have agreed to share a ride to the Moon next year. The Japanese team, HAKUTO, announced today that Indian group Team Indus will carry its four-wheeled lunar rover to the Moon’s surface. Team Indus announced this month that its spacecraft — a lunar lander and rover combo — is slated to ride on a PSLV rocket, a proven vehicle developed by the Indian Space Research Organization. HAKUTO’s rover will ride to space on the lander Team Indus is developing.

“THIS IS A GREAT DEMONSTRATION OF TEAMS COMING TOGETHER.”

The ride-share agreement and launch contracts have been officially verified by X Prize, which means HAKUTO can move forward in the competition. “We’re proud to verify HAKUTO’s launch agreement and are pleased to see two Google Lunar X Prize teams collaborating on this mission to the Moon,” Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer, a senior director at Google Lunar X Prize, said in a statement. “The purpose of this prize was, in part, to foster collaboration in the private sector and this is a great demonstration of teams coming together in the next giant leap in space exploration.”

Hakuto’s rover design. (Hakuto)

The Google Lunar X Prize is an international competition aimed at sending the first private mission to the Moon. In order to win, one of the 16 competing teams has to land a robotic spacecraft on the Moon, move the vehicle up to 500 meters (1,640 feet) on the lunar surface, and send back high-definition photos and videos to Earth. Additionally, each team has to fund its mission privately and can’t receive more than 10 percent of funding from a government entity. The first team to meet all of this criteria before the competition’s deadline — December 31st, 2017 — will win $20 million, while the second place team will receive $5 million. Other cash prizes will be given to teams that perform special feats on the Moon, such as visiting an Apollo landing site.

While the deadline to get spacecraft to the Moon is still a year away, there isn’t much time left for the rest of the teams in the competition to secure a launch contract. One rule of the contest is that rides to space must be booked

andverified by X Prize in before the end of 2016 in order for teams to move forward to the next phase of the competition. And so far, only a handful of teams have verified launch contracts.

A rendering of Moon Express’ MX-1 lander.
Moon Express

The first team to receive verification for its launch contract was the Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL, followed by the American-based company Moon Express, which has already received regulatory approval for its mission. SpaceIL’s lander will be flying as a secondary payload on one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets, while Moon Express plans to fly its MX-1 lander on an experimental rocket called Electron, which is manufactured by a startup called Rocket Lab. The Electron has yet to fly for the first time, however.

Meanwhile, only two other teams — Team Indus and an international group Synergy Moon — have secured verified launch contracts. A German-based team called Part-Time Scientists says it has signed a deal with Spaceflight Industries to launch a pair of lunar rovers as a secondary payload on a rocket that hasn’t been identified yet. But until X Prize announcement means just five groups have met all the requirements to move on to the next phase of the competition. But 2016 isn’t over yet, so it’s possible a few more teams may book a ride to space before the year is out.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO is CHACEing big space dreams

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: They are cutely named - some even remind you of the mythical Apsaras. But names can be happily deceiving. Here they signify some of the most intricate scientific instruments developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). So, after SARA and MENCA - that’s an approximation of ‘Menaka’ - it’s now the turn of RAMBHA and PAPA. With ISRO lining up two big space missions, the Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba is quite a busy place.

SPL is developing scientific payloads for both Chandrayaan-2, moon mission, and Aditya, India’s attempt to take a closer peek at the sun. SARA and MENCA were the SPL payloads aboard the 2008 Chandrayaan-1 and the 2014 Mars mission. SPL will have three payloads on Chandrayaan-2. For Aditya, the lab is coming up with one payload, SPL director Anil Bhardwaj said. “We have one payload planned on the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and two on the lander,” Bhardwaj told Express. On the orbiter, SPL has CHACE-2 (short for Chandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2. CHACE-1 was part of the first moon mission). It will study the composition of the lunar exosphere. “Moon does not have an atmosphere like the earth. But it has a very tenuous atmosphere ‘exosphere.’ It belongs to a unique class of atmospheres in our solar system,” he said.

The lander will have ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) and RAMBHA (Radio Anatomy of Moon-Bound Hyper Atmosphere and Ionosphere). “ChaSTE will pierce 10 cm into the lunar surface to study temperature distribution. Since we are landing close to the polar regions, it will also be the first to study this aspect in that location,” said Bhardwaj, who recently won the Infosys prize for contributions to planetary and space sciences. “RAMBHA is like, ‘Urvasi, Menaka and Rambha,” he said. It will scan the plasma environment above the moon. On Aditya, which ISRO hopes to launch by 2020, SPL will have PAPA (Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya). It will study solar wind and its energy distribution. SPL had developed Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) - with Swedish collaboration - and CHACE-1 for Chandrayaan-1 and Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser - MENCA - for the Mars Orbiter Mission.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO to carry 4kg rover made by Kolkata scientists along with TeamIndus probe to Moon
TeamIndus has partnered with the Indian space agency ISRO which will launch the lunar probe using the PSLV rocket. While taking the private moon mission, every part of the mission is being completed by the TeamIndus except the launching which is being assisted by ISRO.

Bengaluru-based Indian startup TeamIndus has gained lot of fame after it announced that it will send a rover to the Moon in December 2017. After the partnership with the Japanese space startup Hakuta that will send 4 kg rover on TeamIndus spacecraft, now, Kolkata scientists are planning to send an instrument with spacecraft.

According to the latest reports, researchers in Kolkata have developed a payload that will share the ride with TeamIndus’s lunar rover and will land on the moon before the Republic Day of India.

“The four-kg payload would be installed atop a lunar lander that a Bengaluru-based private company Team Indus is planning to send to the moon in December 2017. We have signed a deal with Team Indus. The country’s trusted Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) engineered by India’s space agency ISRO would be carrying the lander and at least two rovers to the moon,” said Sandip Kumar Chakrabarti, Head of thade Indian Center for Space Physics in Kolkata.

The instrument will study outer space environment of the lunar surface. It is to be noticed that no one has previously studied outer space environment on the moon and it will be the first time. The spacecraft has sophisticated X-ray sensors and small but powerful computer to analyse the data.

TeamIndus has partnered with the Indian space agency ISRO which will launch the lunar probe using the PSLV rocket. While taking the private moon mission, every part of the mission is being completed by the TeamIndus except the launching which is being assisted by ISRO. As per the estimates, the mission will cost around $60 million. So far, the team has raised $15 million and they aim to raise remaining funds by September-October next year.

“The total expense of the project is about USD 60 million and we have raised USD 15 million so far. We will have to raise the remaining amount by September-October next year,” TeamIndus co-founder and Director Julius Amrit said.

Renowned personalities like Ratan Tata of the Tata Group; Sachin and Binny Bansal, co-founders of Flipkart and Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys Ltd, have invested in the project. In addition, the TeamIndus which is backed by a team of hundred engineers is aiming to win $25 million Google Lunar XPRIZE competition.

“The Moon is not only our nearest planetary neighbour, but it is also the gateway to the rest of the universe,” Google’s website describing the Lunar XPRIZE states. “The Moon provides exciting opportunities for discovery in the fields of science, technology, resource detection and utilisation, and human habitation.”

Google’s Lunar XPRIZE was started back in 2007 with a goal to involve private organisations in space missions and revisit landing site of Apollo 17. Google believes that space agencies like NASA and SpaceX are planning for Journey to Mars but studying Moon can help us in developing a better understanding of our universe.

The US space agency NASA started sending astronauts to the moon with Apollo missions starting in 1969. While Apollo 17 was the last manned mission to the moon and Google wants to examine the site. In addition, Google has also announced an additional $5 million prize for the mission that makes further scientific discoveries after exploring the site.

Moreover, ISRO’s PSLV rocket will be used to lift the spacecraft. If successful, it will mark another milestone in Indian space history which will also motivate other private firms towards space mission. The PSLV will inject the spacecraft into an orbit 880 km x 70,000 km around the Earth. From there, the spacecraft will take another 21 days to land on Moon.

“India as a country is underestimated when it comes down to having a technology led firm … it is time, India is seen from a different perspective on the global platform,” said Dhruv Batra who manages product delivery for the startup.

“We can be profitable in this mission. We are making a fair amount of money but investing more than what we are making right now,” said Julius Amrit, director, TeamIndus.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Your name plate on the moon, for a price

Creating history: The name plaque plan is part of a crowd-funding effort by TeamIndus. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
A Bengaluru start-up says donors to its moon lander project will be immortalised.

Indians are being offered the opportunity to leave their name on the moon, for a price. Space start-up TeamIndus will get the names of public ‘donors’ micro-engraved on a small-sized aluminium object, which will be placed on the lunar surface when its lander descends on the moon.

The bill: ₹500 per name.

The mission, planned for December 28 this year on the PSLV rocket, will travel the 3.84 lakh kilometres from earth to make a soft landing on the moon on January 26, 2018. Its robotic rover will send back photos and videos. The name plaque plan is part of a crowd-funding effort, says Sheelika Ravishankar, Jedi Master - Marketing and Outreach, of the Bengaluru-based start-up.

The lunarcraft will land in a large dusty plain on the sun-lit lunar belly, the

Mare Imbrium (Latin for Sea of Showers.) “In the future, when people start travelling to the moon, who knows, they may find this box and spot the names of their ancestors,” Ms. Ravishankar told The Hindu. Some 10,000 people have sent in their names.

Future mooncombers may find other artefacts too: U.S., Soviet, European and Japanese spacecraft debris; rovers that died, such as the latest, China’s Chang’e-3. In 1971, astronauts of Apollo-15 left an unauthorised statuette of the ‘fallen astronaut’. Apollo-14’s moonwalker Alan Shepard teed off a few golf balls.

Anybody wants? You won't get such a chance on Indian government's rover.
@ezsasa @Chinmoy @HariPrasad-1

 

[Akask kumar]

Your name plate on the moon, for a price

Creating history: The name plaque plan is part of a crowd-funding effort by TeamIndus. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
A Bengaluru start-up says donors to its moon lander project will be immortalised.Anybody wants? You won't get such a chance on Indian government's rover.
@ezsasa @Chinmoy @HariPrasad-1

same they(NASA) did with spirit(or opportunity ?? cant rememeber) mars rover.. but the name list was on a chip and it was for free.u had to simply register.. I DID IT long ago..my name is on mars.(probably eating cold dust)..

will think about this..

 

[I am otm shank]

Your name plate on the moon, for a price

Creating history: The name plaque plan is part of a crowd-funding effort by TeamIndus. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
A Bengaluru start-up says donors to its moon lander project will be immortalised.Anybody wants? You won't get such a chance on Indian government's rover.
@ezsasa @Chinmoy @HariPrasad-1

That's a cool idea and 500 R is very minimal. it'd be nice if you could pay to send pictures of your family or meaningful things on something like a micro SD card too or a for more money or auctioned a micro engraved image. I'd love to sponsor aN image of Lord Shiva and my parents and grandparents name to be placed there.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Looks like the mission duration is 21 days 5 hours.

 

[Chinmoy]

Your name plate on the moon, for a price

Creating history: The name plaque plan is part of a crowd-funding effort by TeamIndus. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
A Bengaluru start-up says donors to its moon lander project will be immortalised.Anybody wants? You won't get such a chance on Indian government's rover.
@ezsasa @Chinmoy @HariPrasad-1

Kaise and kaha donate karen???

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Kaise and kaha donate karen???

Mere ko bhi ni pata!!

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Moon Beer? Brewing Experiment Short-Listed for Indian Lunar Lander

The spacecraft is owned by the Indian startup Team Indus, a participant in the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition. To win the $20 million grand prize, a privately funded team must successfully place a robot on the moon that explores at least 1,640 feet (500 meters) and transmits high-definition video and images back to Earth. (The second team to accomplish all of this will get $5 million; an additional $5 million is available for various special accomplishments, bringing the total purse to $30 million.)

Team Indus has secured a launch contract from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for a booster flight.

Team Indus invited researchers who were under 25 years of age to imagine, design and build an experiment that would help humankind develop a sustainable settlement on the moon.

Nice thing, life'll become boring without bear on Moon.:biggrin2:

Serious note,
Yielding life on Moon, performing fermentation and champagne for Vyomanauts (Indian abbreviation for crews what Americans, Russians and Chinese call Astro, Cosmo and Taikonauts).
@Chinmoy @ezsasa

 

[ezsasa]

Moon Beer? Brewing Experiment Short-Listed for Indian Lunar Lander

Nice thing, life'll become boring without bear on Moon.:biggrin2:

Serious note,
Yielding life on Moon, performing fermentation and champagne for Vyomanauts (Indian abbreviation for crews what Americans, Russians and Chinese call Astro, Cosmo and Taikonauts).
@Chinmoy @ezsasa

Our guys along with japanese are probably going to be last of the teams to reach moon, as both are scheduled to go onboard GSLV launch in Dec. The last date of this competition is Dec 31st..

 

[indiatester]

Moon Beer? Brewing Experiment Short-Listed for Indian Lunar Lander

Nice thing, life'll become boring without bear on Moon.:biggrin2:

Serious note,
Yielding life on Moon, performing fermentation and champagne for Vyomanauts (Indian abbreviation for crews what Americans, Russians and Chinese call Astro, Cosmo and Taikonauts).
@Chinmoy @ezsasa

Why even stuck the "nauts" there. Vyomagami would have been better.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Why even stuck the "nauts" there. Vyomagami would have been better.

Official name by ISRO.

Akashgami or Brahmandgami could be better.