India's Moon Exploration Program

[Varoon2]

It would be nice( not to mention educative) to read a rigorous technical description of how Vikram landed on the moon, starting from its, let's say, separation from the orbiter. What were all the technologies involved, electronics, software, control systems, propulsion...at each stage, right to the touchdown. I don't believe such an article has appeared as yet in the mainstream media. A lot of high level stuff worked to make this a sucess, a good write up is in order!

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Some of this tech may now be offered to ISRO now that advanced space agencies know ISRO has started to play in IPL. The more ISRO does, more tech exchanges will happen. So timelines might be shorter.

No, ISRO wasn't and won't ever be "given" tech. Agencies don't go around for it and it doesn't matter actually. You can't give "technology" to someone and expect them making spacecraft and rockets from it in 5 years.

We can't do anything even if we get our hands on Apollo blueprints today. Engineering capacity (which even US has lost now over decades) takes decades to build. Be it machining or other facilities. There is a reason why US has lost capabilities to launch humans on moon.

So regardless of anything, ISRO will take as much it is supposed to take. By the time facilities are ready, Indian designs will be there. Getting tech from somewhere else will have zero effect on timelines. Moreover, it is not about tech but scale of launcher and spacecraft.

 

[TopWatcher]

ISRO iska hai kya??

 

[lcafanboy]

 

[Swesh]

ISRO iska hai kya??

Ye kafi time se pagal hua pada hai. Koi isko jutte sunghao

 

[angryIndian]

 

[Vamsi]

Moon Impact Probe of Chandrayaan-1.....it landed exactly at the moon's south pole at 88° S latitude & in the process discovered water vapour even before the NASA's M3 payload

 

[Love Charger]

I think cheenis were able to do that way only after certain amount of manufacturing and production picked up in sectors that are tied around high tech beyond textiles and so on.....its hard to fund pure research with no application goals as output.....my guess is as it hits 5T and more hightech manufacturing takes root, the R&D will increase from both state and private. Cheenis are based off of USSR model with their academy of sciences which has its merits. This is why HSR and few other areas is very important but goi must force high quality work vs what the IT bastards did with their BPO and coolie level work compared to actual indepth products like OS, Network security and so on...

The USSR model on scientific research was very successful.
I think that it's was not the fault of the Soviet scientistific community about the economic debacle that nation faced .
I want to know why we cannot implement the similar model.
As I know the Soviet nomenklatura was the backbone of scientific research , although nomenklatura chiefly concerned with military production.
How chinese can do it ? And why we can't for we too have IITs ,IIScs , and other centrally funded technical and educational institutions.
Why can't we do it ?
Is it due to lack of funds ? Or lack of a roadmap ?

 

[Chinmoy]

lack of a roadmap

 

[Haldilal]

Ya'll Nibbiars

 

[TopWatcher]

Ya'll Nibbiars

Inke phat rahe hai

 

[here2where]

lal topi asked for proof.
he can get it from NASA , whose payload will start working once Vikram and Pragyan goes to sleep.

NASA’s Chandrayaan-3 payload to work after Vikram, Pragyan sleep; LRA to help future missions

Chandrayaan 3 Latest News: NASA’s Chandrayaan-3 payload to work after Vikram lander, Pragyan rover sleep | India News - Times of India

India News: The Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA), the fourth payload Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram took to the lunar surface, will start its work once the rest of i

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

[RoaringTigerHiddenDragon]

ISRO iska hai kya??

He has a point. ISRO needs to up their PR game NASA style. They are still in Soviet mold of just doing the basics. In this modern world, a lot of PR is needed to get the message across.

 

[Swesh]

He has a point. ISRO needs to up their PR game NASA style. They are still in Soviet mold of just doing the basics. In this modern world, a lot of PR is needed to get the message across.

Time must be decided by isro for their convenience they just issued brochure

 

[Indx TechStyle]

He has a point. ISRO needs to up their PR game NASA style. They are still in Soviet mold of just doing the basics. In this modern world, a lot of PR is needed to get the message across.

No, he doesn't have any point, he's just mentally stunted.
Brochure's timing has nothing to do with PR and Gareeb Scientist frequently does RR after every launch/mission. He just started doing it before launches.

 

[omaebakabaka]

Time must be decided by isro for their convenience they just issued brochure

Agreed, too many bobble heads these days focusing on PR vs their jobs....ISRO pace is decent enough. I personally would favor Chinese style of not releasing too much nor dumb it down to bollywood level.

 

[standard snowball]

What do you guys think

In my opinion we should focus all our resources on the moon (stop shukrayaan and other projects), that's where the next space race is going to happen and if we want a seat at the table we should have consistent moon missions like a sample return mission and who knows in future maybe even a manned moon mission alongside the Americans or even independently if possible.

 

[Swesh]

What do you guys think

In my opinion we should focus all our resources on the moon (stop shukrayaan and other projects), that's where the next space race is going to happen and if we want a seat at the table we should have consistent moon missions like a sample return mission and who knows in future maybe even a manned moon mission alongside the Americans or even independently if possible.

For more successful and and guaranteed mission we should focus on reley satellite to moon and robust network and one to l2 line from earth to moon

 

[Swesh]

Marty McGuire | Backyard Astronomy Guy - Apollo-ISRO

Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) Chandrayaan2 Orbiter entered lunar orbit in August 2019 & took high resolution pictures of our Moon, including NASA's Apollo 11 and 12 landing sites using the onboard OHRC (Orbiter High Resolution Camera) while at an altitude of about 100km. The OHRC has

www.backyardastronomyguy.com

Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) Chandrayaan2 Orbiter entered lunar orbit in August 2019 & took high resolution pictures of our Moon, including NASA's Apollo 11 and 12 landing sites using the onboard OHRC (Orbiter High Resolution Camera) while at an altitude of about 100km. The OHRC has a resolution of 0.32m/pixel.
From https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan2_science.html:
"OHRC provides high-resolution images of the landing site which ensure the Lander’s safe touchdown by detecting any craters or boulders, prior to separation. The images it captures, taken from two different look angles, serve dual purposes. First, these images are used to generate DEMs (Digital Elevation Models) of the landing site. Second, they are used for scientific research after its initial role in the landing phase. OHRC’s images can capture the same area on the lunar surface from two different orbits. The coverage area in this case is of 12 km x 3 km with ground resolution of 0.32 m. OHRC is an optical camera system based on Time Delay Integration (TDI) imaging sensors with 12000 detectors. It has 4 TDI settings and 7 different integration times."
Further below the Apollo 11/12 images, I included instructions for how to find and download ISRO's imagery data for yourself.
Additional Apollo landing site resources:

• Apollo 12 Landing Site: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4767

https://www.backyardastronomyguy.com/apollo-isro#h.18qjaggwk3xc
Apollo 11 (ISRO data from 2021-04-02)

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Descent Stage, crop of raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-02. Photoshop Camera Raw Filter adjustments I made on this image: Exposure (+2.25), Highlights (-100)

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Descent Stage, crop of raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-02. No image adjustments.

adjustments.

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Descent Stage: aninated gif image I created while zooming into raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-02. (PDS4 Viewer)


https://www.backyardastronomyguy.com/apollo-isro#h.hs7pi0bfgz4w
Apollo 12 (ISRO data from 2021-04-05)

Apollo 12 Lunar Module Descent Stage, crop of raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-05. Photoshop Camera Raw Filter adjustments I made on this image: Exposure (+2.25), Highlights (-100). Bootprints are visible!

Apollo 12 Lunar Module Descent Stage, crop of raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-05. No image adjustments. Bootprints are visible!

Apollo 12 Lunar Module Descent Stage, slightly zoomed-out crop of raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-05. No image adjustments.

Apollo 12 Lunar Module Descent Stage: aninated gif image I created while zooming into raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-05. (PDS4 Viewer



Apollo Landing Sites imaged by ISRO


Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) Chandrayaan2 Orbiter entered lunar orbit in August 2019 & took high resolution pictures of our Moon, including NASA's Apollo 11 and 12 landing sites using the onboard OHRC (Orbiter High Resolution Camera) while at an altitude of about 100km. The OHRC has a resolution of 0.32m/pixel.
From https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan2_science.html:
"OHRC provides high-resolution images of the landing site which ensure the Lander’s safe touchdown by detecting any craters or boulders, prior to separation. The images it captures, taken from two different look angles, serve dual purposes. First, these images are used to generate DEMs (Digital Elevation Models) of the landing site. Second, they are used for scientific research after its initial role in the landing phase. OHRC’s images can capture the same area on the lunar surface from two different orbits. The coverage area in this case is of 12 km x 3 km with ground resolution of 0.32 m. OHRC is an optical camera system based on Time Delay Integration (TDI) imaging sensors with 12000 detectors. It has 4 TDI settings and 7 different integration times."
Further below the Apollo 11/12 images, I included instructions for how to find and download ISRO's imagery data for yourself.
Additional Apollo landing site resources:

• Apollo 12 Landing Site: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4767

https://www.backyardastronomyguy.com/apollo-isro#h.18qjaggwk3xc
Apollo 11 (ISRO data from 2021-04-02)

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Descent Stage, crop of raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-02. Photoshop Camera Raw Filter adjustments I made on this image: Exposure (+2.25), Highlights (-100)

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Descent Stage, crop of raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-02. No image adjustments.

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Descent Stage: aninated gif image I created while zooming into raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-02. (PDS4 Viewer)


https://www.backyardastronomyguy.com/apollo-isro#h.hs7pi0bfgz4w
Apollo 12 (ISRO data from 2021-04-05)

Apollo 12 Lunar Module Descent Stage, crop of raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-05. Photoshop Camera Raw Filter adjustments I made on this image: Exposure (+2.25), Highlights (-100). Bootprints are visible!

Apollo 12 Lunar Module Descent Stage, crop of raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-05. No image adjustments. Bootprints are visible!

Apollo 12 Lunar Module Descent Stage, slightly zoomed-out crop of raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-05. No image adjustments.

Apollo 12 Lunar Module Descent Stage: aninated gif image I created while zooming into raw photo taken by ISRO's Chandrayaan2 Orbiter on 2021-04-05. (PDS4 Viewer)


https://www.backyardastronomyguy.com/apollo-isro#h.vfo6v1ddb2qz
Instructions for how to download this imagery from ISRO:

Step 1: Create a free account at ISRO's Pradan Website: https://pradan.issdc.gov.in/ch2/

Step 2: Once logged in, you will see this menu- Click the box below "Optical High Resolution Camera"

Step 3: Filter data to find these dates (between 2021-04-02 and 2021-04-06)

• Apollo 11: ch2_ohr_ncp_20210402T0155096873_d_img_d18.zip (Start Time 2021-04-02T05:46:28.404Z)
• Apollo 12: ch2_ohr_ncp_20210405T1606536730_d_img_d18.zip (Start Time 2021-04-05T16:06:53.673Z)

Step 4: Save and extract the .zip files to their own folders.
Step 5: Download PDS4 Viewer to open the image data at https://sbnwiki.astro.umd.edu/wiki/PDS4_Viewer
Step 6: Using PDS4 Viewer, open the XML file in the following folder structure:
\ch2_ohr_ncp_20210402T0546284043_d_img_d18\data\calibrated\20210402\ch2_ohr_ncp_20210402T0546284043_d_img_d18.xml
Step 7: Click "Image" as seen below.
The image file is HUGE! It covers an area 12km long by 3km wide, which ends up being 78,175 pixels by 12,000 pixels. You'll need a computer with a lot of memory to work with this file, panning and zooming.

I had to do the hard work: finding the lunar modules in this huge image! While viewing the files named above with PDS4, the Apollo Lunar Module site positions in approximate pixel coordinates are as follows:

• Apollo 11: 6246 x 46636
• Apollo 12: 9080 x 56400

 

[Swesh]