ISRO news and views

[NSG_Blackcats]

ISRO announces launch of Oceansat-2 in September​

Coimbatore, Aug 25 (ANI0: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch Oceansat-2, a unique integrated satellite to track marine life and identify potential fishing zones in September. This was disclosed by Y V N Krishnamurthy, Director of ISRO's Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre here on Monday. The integration of the satellite, designed to identify potential fishing zones, assists in forecasting marine trends and coastal zone studies will also provide inputs for weather forecasting and climate studies. Krishnamurthy said that all pre-launch tests on the functional aspects of the satellite have been successfully completed.

"We are launching a satellite called Oceansat-2 based on the ocean colour and the wind vectors. This scatterometer, which gives us, the wind vectors will provide information on where the fish potential zones are and how these are moving. In a dynamic situation also, the fishermen can get the advisories from the remote sensing information," he added. Oceansat-2 would blast off on board India's indigenous workhorse, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota located on the Indian east coast. This satellite will be an in-orbit replacement to Oceansat-1, which was launched by ISRO in May 1999 to study physical and biological aspects of oceanography. Oceansat-2 would carry an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer - for the first time, besides a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies (ROSA). (ANI)

Link

 

[Pintu]

First all Swiss satellite to be launched by ISRO :

Univ builds first all-Swiss satellite, choose ISRO for launch :: Samay Live


Regards

 

[RPK]

Country’s space programme of direct benefit to national development goals: PM


Prime Minister says exploring new frontiers of technology aimed at low cost access to space is the greatest challenge before country's space programme. Giving away ISRO Annual Awards 2007 in New Delhi, Dr. Manmohan Singh said that development of heavy lift boosters to launch heavier satellites, realizing high bandwidth communication satellites and remote sensing satellite with all weather capability are some other challenges before it.

The Prime Minister said, India's space programme is firmly rooted to the ground as the space based capabilities are of direct benefit to the national development goals. He said country's space programme is a shining example of self-reliance and indigenous effort in an area of highly advanced technology.

The Prime Minister also formally inaugurated the new campus of Indian Institute of Science and Space Technology, IISST, at Valiamala in Thiruvananthapuram, in Kerala and laid the foundation stone of ISRO's Space Complex in New Delhi through tele-link. The IISST has been conceived as the world's first space university and offers a complete range of academic programmes from the undergraduate to the post graduate level.

Speaking on the occasion chairman ISRO Mr. G. Madhavan Nair said that these institutes would go a long way in training and imparting science education to students at young age.

 

[RPK]

'Lay emphasis on high bandwidth communication'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the ISRO has to strive for low-cost access to space. He was inaugurating the new permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) at Valiamala near here through telelink on Tuesday.


He also called upon the ISRO to give emphasis on high bandwidth communication and remote sensing satellite with weather capabilities.

The Prime Minister said that the ISRO was planning to launch a new communication satellite in the near future. ISRO has to strive for developing necessary technology for the benefit of the common man.

As part of its efforts to reach the common man, ISRO has opened 57,000 classrooms with Edusat facilities, 375 hospitals with telemedicine facilities catering to the needs of over 3 lakh patients and 475 village resource centres, he said.

Manmohan Singh said that the ISRO had already developed nine remote sensing satellites and 11 communication satellites. The IIST will provide for half the annual requirement of the ISRO, he said.

The Prime Minister also distributed ISRO awards at the function. He also inaugurated the ISRO complex in New Delhi at the function.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, in a message read out in his absence at the the function, hoped that the Centre would soon award an Indian Institute of Technology to the State, in deference to a long-standing demand of the people.

Revenue Minister K.P.Rajendran handed over the documents regarding the 54 acres acquired by the State Government for the campus at Valiyamala at the function to Education Minister M.A.Baby. Baby in turn handed over the documents to IIST Director B.N.Suresh.

Opposition Leader Oommen Chandy, Law Minister M.Vijayakumar and Water Resources Minister N.K.Premachandran, A.Sampath MP, Mankode Radhakrishnan MLA, VSSC Controller K.M.Nair and IIST registrar N.Vasudevan attended the function.

ISRO Chairman G.Madhavan Nair, Union Minister for State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, VSSC Director K.Radhakrishnan and ISRO Scientific Secretary A.Bhaskaranarayana attended the function.

 

[Sridhar]

ISRO announces launch of Oceansat-2 in September

BY : ANI
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch Oceansat-2, a unique integrated satellite to track marine life and identify potential fishing zones in September.
This was disclosed by Y V N Krishnamurthy, Director of ISRO’s Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre here on Monday.
The integration of the satellite, designed to identify potential fishing zones, assists in forecasting marine trends and coastal zone studies will also provide inputs for weather forecasting and climate studies.
Krishnamurthy said that all pre-launch tests on the functional aspects of the satellite have been successfully completed.
“We are launching a satellite called Oceansat-2 based on the ocean colour and the wind vectors. This scatterometer, which gives us, the wind vectors will provide information on where the fish potential zones are and how these are moving. In a dynamic situation also, the fishermen can get the advisories from the remote sensing information,” he added.
Oceansat-2 would blast off on board India’s indigenous workhorse, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota located on the Indian east coast.
This satellite will be an in-orbit replacement to Oceansat-1, which was launched by ISRO in May 1999 to study physical and biological aspects of oceanography.
Oceansat-2 would carry an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer – for the first time, besides a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies (ROSA).


ISRO announces launch of Oceansat-2 in September IDRW.ORG

 

[RPK]

Will India find water on moon?

The moon played host to a unique Indo-US tango, all done in a bid to confirm the existence of water on the otherwise parched moon.

It seems water is the true unifying force between two of the world's most respected space agencies. The American space agency NASA had recently warned about how India's granary Punjab and Haryana were being sucked dry due to over use of ground water. On its part the Indian Space Research Organization has also been keeping track of soil moisture over India in an effort to alleviate the misery caused because of the drought.

But finding water on the moon is a much tougher challenge. On the lunar North pole a unique `bi-static' experiment was conducted on August 20, in a bid to search for water ice. The maiden Indian lunar craft Chandrayaan-1 and the American satellite Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that are both currently in the moon's orbit were brought within 30 kilometers of each other and synchronously the onboard mini RADAR's of each was focused on the Erlanger crater, signals sent in tandem to this permanently shaded crater were picked up.

Indian scientists point to a search for water ice above the moon's north pole, conducted with the United States on August 20, as a sign that India's lunar craft Chandrayaan-1 is functioning well. India's first lunar satellite had trouble earlier this year with a fine guidance mechanism. This tango was carried out at a distance of 400,000 kilometers from earth went on for a full 4 minutes when both spacecrafts were traveling at a velocity of 1.6 kilometers per second. Calling it 'a unique and complex experiment performed with precision' G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organization, Bangalore, said this 'duet' brings scientist closer to understanding the moon's composition. The data from this one of its kind experiment is still being analyzed.

So, are we today better placed to solve the mystery on the presence of water on the moon? 'I think so' says Paul D. Spudis, Principal Investigator for the RADAR instruments onboard both the spacecrafts who works at Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston who feels 'multiple spacecraft looking at the lunar poles with multiple instruments and we will soon have an abundance of data on the problem. That doesn't mean we will solve it, but we will be much better informed than at any previous time.' Finding water is the key for future colonization of the moon.

 

[Sridhar]

University builds first all-Swiss satellite, chooses Isro for launch

Press Trust Of India / Lausanne August 26, 2009, 0:41 IST
Students here have built the first all-Swiss cube satellite to study the upper atmosphere and test low-cost positioning system and have turned to India’s Isro to put it in orbit.
Built by students at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), the Cubesat — named as the SwissCube — weighs less than a kilogram and is equipped with a mini telescope besides over 1,000 components.
Initially, the satellite was to be launched by an European rocket which ran into delays prompting EPFL to opt for Isro which offered a “reasonable” deal.
The satellite is designed to take photos of the “airglow” — the faint bands of green and mauve light caused by high-energy radiation from the sun colliding with atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere.
“SwissCube was delivered to Isro earlier this month and would be launched by its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) — C14 — next month,” senior EPFL scientist Anton Ivanov told a group of visiting Indian journalists here.
SwissCube is not only small in size, but also low cost, having been put together from commercially available parts.
“The entire project, including the launch fee, cost us ¤300,000 and a major portion was spent on allowances to students who worked after completing their semesters,” Muriel Noca, Project Manager of SwissCube, told reporters.


University builds first all-Swiss satellite, chooses Isro for launch

 

[Pintu]

Chandrayaan loses contact with ISRO ground station- Hindustan Times

Chandrayaan loses contact with ISRO ground station

Press Trust Of India
Bangalore, August 29, 2009

First Published: 15:19 IST(29/8/2009)
Last Updated: 15:52 IST(29/8/2009)

India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft on Saturday lost contact with ISRO's ground station, putting a question mark on the fate of country's maiden moon mission launched in October last year.

"We are not able to establish contact with the spacecraft. We are not getting the data. We are not able to
send commands," an ISRO official told PTI.

"In simple terms, the spacecraft has become dumb.It can't speak", the official said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, ISRO spokesperson S Satish said based on the data obtained till its previous orbit at 0025 hours today,health of the spacecraft was being analysed and it was expected to throw more light on the problem.

 

[venkat]

Actually when a spacecraft finishes its journey half way through its life period , its not a good sign as far as reliability is concerned. loosing contact is most serious than a star sensor malfunction.ISRO's greatness lies in its ability to do failure analysis and take corrective actions. Still its a tremendous achievement for ISRO.BYE BYE Chandrayaan-I.
Hope you have left for a sojourn into deep space,instead crashing on to the moon surface!

 

[Pintu]

Agreed Venkat, also taking into consideration that it is ISRO's first venture of this kind out side the orbit of earth, they have gained really valuable experience from it and I am sure like in past they will rectify them and again a more successful venture into the space, when Chandrayaan-II sours to sky in the stipulated time.

Good bye Chandrayaan-I , may certain unavoidable circumstances prematurely ended your life, but you will be there , as a part of the History. Wish that when your brother joins there in future may he have a longer life.

Regards

 

[Pintu]

Chandrayaan-I comes to an end, loses contact with earth- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

Chandrayaan-I comes to an end, loses contact with earth
29 Aug 2009, 1910 hrs IST, Harsimran Julka, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: India’s first moon mission Chandrayaan-I, came to an abrupt end early on Saturday, as the spacecraft lost the radio link with earth at 0130 hours.

Chandrayaan-2 design complete
Images from Chandrayaan 1

ISRO's Deep Space Network near Bangalore received the data from the spacecraft up to 0025 hours after which it lost contact with earth. The spacecraft was launched in the moon's orbit from ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota on October 22, 2008.

"We have lost contact with the spacecraft and the mission is over," Project Director of the Chandrayaan-1 mission M Annadurai said. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) however claimed that the moon mission had achieved most of its objectives.

"Chandrayaan-1 has done its job technically about 100%. Scientifically, it has done almost 90-95% of its job,"Mr Annadurai added.

The spacecraft had completed 312 days in orbit making more than 3400 orbits around the Moon. "Chandrayaan I provided large volume of data from sophisticated sensors like terrain mapping camera, hyper-spectral imager, moon mineralogy mapper etc, meeting most of the scientific objectives of the mission," ISRO said in a statement on Saturday.

Last month, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair had said that the organisation was thinking of aborting the mission in 4-5 months, even as the 1,380 kg spaceracft developed a snag in its sensor. Chandrayaan-1 carried 11 instruments on board, including six from overseas.

The Chandrayaan-1 mission was launched with a budget of $86 mn, almost half the cost of China's Chang'e 1 mission ($187 mn) and just about a fifth of Japan's Kayuga ($480 mn). India is now planning to launch a second moon mission - Chandryaan II, for which the design has already been completed.

 

[IBRIS]

University builds first all-Swiss satellite, chooses Isro for launch

Students here have built the first all-Swiss cube satellite to study the upper atmosphere and test low-cost positioning system and have turned to India’s Isro to put it in orbit.

Built by students at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), the Cubesat — named as the SwissCube — weighs less than a kilogram and is equipped with a mini telescope besides over 1,000 components.

Initially, the satellite was to be launched by an European rocket which ran into delays prompting EPFL to opt for Isro which offered a “reasonable” deal.

The satellite is designed to take photos of the “airglow” — the faint bands of green and mauve light caused by high-energy radiation from the sun colliding with atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere.

“SwissCube was delivered to Isro earlier this month and would be launched by its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) — C14 — next month,” senior EPFL scientist Anton Ivanov told a group of visiting Indian journalists here.

SwissCube is not only small in size, but also low cost, having been put together from commercially available parts.

“The entire project, including the launch fee, cost us ¤300,000 and a major portion was spent on allowances to students who worked after completing their semesters,” Muriel Noca, Project Manager of SwissCube, told reporters.
University builds first all-Swiss satellite, chooses Isro for launch

 

[IBRIS]

PSLV C-14 to provide a piggyback ride to orbit for a Swiss micro-satellite, Swiss Cube along with Oceansat-2

 

[IBRIS]

The primary objective of developing the SwissCube satellite is to provide a dynamic and realistic learning environment for undergraduates at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, graduates and staff in the development of small satellite technology.

It was decided that the SwissCube mission should focus on the observation of the airglow phenomena. The airglow is a photoluminescence of the atmosphere occurring at approximately 100 km altitude. It is principally due to photodissociation, photo-excitation and excitation by fast electrons or ion recombination. The origin of nightglow is oxygen atom recombination, where the oxygen atoms are created in the daytime by solar photodissociation of O2

The scientific objectives are thus to observe oxygen emission in order to characterise the airglow intensity as a function of the observation angle (zenith or limb measurements), the altitude, the latitude and the local time. The minimum science duration is 3 months, with an extended science mission of duration up to 1 year.

The complete SwissCube system comprises the satellite including the scientific payload, and a ground segment for the control and monitoring of the satellite.

The SwissCube satellite follows the CubeSat standard. It contains the payload and platform elements necessary to fulfill the mission objectives. The science package includes an optical assembly, the detector and the necessary electronics to drive it.

Google Image Result for http://space.skyrocket.de/img_lau/pslv-xl__1.jpg

 

[Pintu]

What is with this 'almost' workmanship? ISRO should try to be different from DRDO while showing results. Making tall claims without backing up with results is not going to help people's confidence in our country expecially since a lot of pride was attached to this.

Dear Ruby, no way DRDO resembles to ISRO , each and every scientific experiment , there comes a possibility of failure, this program is not failure , as simply its life cut short , not that it have not even reached to lunar orbit , or failed to transmit data or crash landed in the Lunar surface, and each of every claims has reason to back up for a civilian organisation, each country has tested this bitter truth of failure , I am confident that the lessons learnt from it , will be implemented in Chandrayaan-2 to make it live longer and perform according to expectation.

Regards

 

[rubyjackass]

Dear Ruby, no way DRDO resembles to ISRO , each and every scientific experiment , there comes a possibility of failure, this program is not failure , as simply its life cut short , not that it have not even reached to lunar orbit , or failed to transmit data or crash landed in the Lunar surface, and each of every claims has reason to back up for a civilian organisation, each country has tested this bitter truth of failure , I am confident that the lessons learnt from it , will be implemented in Chandrayaan-2 to make it live longer and perform according to expectation.

Regards

I can understand if the failure is in the newly used sensors. Who are they kidding while saying we lost contact? When things are designed, we wish to keep them under control to the minute they die, the only honorable way of dying for a probe like that is powerout. Communication is THE basic thing to mind in projects like this. Also ISRO must have had experience in communication from previous projects.

As a techie, I won't take the BS of 95% objective, only 95% while the devices are still functioning but only because you lost contact. I am especially pissed off with these cover ups giving numbers like 'we met 90-95% requirements technically'.

Now we can do nothing about it except asking ISRO to be more careful, whatever effect that can bring about anyway. But remember we are going to send some 3 astronauts with the next ship. Now there are many men and women in India who are willing to take the risk for going into space despite the fact that the risk is higher in India. But if that failed then we end up 'using' them, as guinea pigs for a studiousness experiment for ISRO scientists.

I am confident that the lessons learnt from it ...

You be the 'Creator' I will be the 'Oracle':d_training:

 

[Pintu]

I can understand if the failure is in the newly used sensors. Who are they kidding while saying we lost contact? When things are designed, we wish to keep them under control to the minute they die, the only honorable way of dying for a probe like that is powerout. Communication is THE basic thing to mind in projects like this. Also ISRO must have had experience in communication from previous projects.

As a techie, I won't take the BS of 95% objective, only 95% while the devices are still functioning but only because you lost contact. I am especially pissed off with these cover ups giving numbers like 'we met 90-95% requirements technically'.

Now we can do nothing about it except asking ISRO to be more careful, whatever effect that can bring about anyway. But remember we are going to send some 3 astronauts with the next ship. Now there are many men and women in India who are willing to take the risk for going into space despite the fact that the risk is higher in India. But if that failed then we end up 'using' them, as guinea pigs for a studiousness experiment for ISRO scientists.

Agreed regarding to your sentiment , but , matter is when there comes the danger , it does not simply come in the expected way , and most of the times it gives least chance to react , it happens that way , PSLV D-1, mission , the launch vehicle just fell through during lift off, and I can recall great media called it as our launching capability crawled back at least a decade , did this really happen, as their prophecy went ? No, I understand the turning of the power is an honourable death for a probe , but depends that whether , that chance was really available at that time, I agreed with your point on Star Sensor , the automatic maneuvering capability lost when it was out of order, may be any manufacturing defect, but according to them failure of star sensor was due to solar radiation , this was most important component in the space craft , and the same logic can be applied here also, we can not know from where danger shall come , it can be said from the part of authority , that each components were checked before the integration of the craft to the vehicle, the previous experience may not help at all, and it is evident , in many space missions. Fully agreed with you , and affirmatively , I do know about ISRO's future ambitious missions, the risk of human life is a point noted with great concern and that fact simply can not be ignored , but what I have said earlier , the danger comes from the unexpected way, providing you least chance to react or survive, the US had space flights previously , but could it avoid Challenger Space Shuttle tragedy in 1986, no, same again repeated in 2003 during flight of space shuttle , Columbia, it is being said that 'To Err is Human' but degree of err sometimes prove to precious to be spared , and that was happenned in the aforementioned cases, where we lost Kalpana Chawla and many respected Astronauts forever. But what best we can , hope for the best in future and to keep confidence on ISRO, but that thinking depends on everybody's personal jurisdiction.

You be the 'Creator' I will be the 'Oracle'

In this world we all are helpless to nature's liking and disliking.

Regards

 

[Pintu]

India terminates moon mission, ISRO chief to meet PM- Hindustan Times

India terminates moon mission, ISRO chief to meet PM

Press Trust Of India
Panaji, August 30, 2009

First Published: 18:26 IST(30/8/2009)
Last Updated: 20:54 IST(30/8/2009)

India on Sunday decided to terminate its first unmanned moon mission as contact could not be re-established with the spacecraft Chandrayaan, Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair said, adding that he would meet the prime minister next week to brief him about the development.

"We are disappointed with what has happened, but we have managed to salvage a large volume of data," Nair told reporters in Panaji.

"We are content with the result," he said, adding that nearly 95 per cent of the mission's objectives have been completed.

"Nearly 70,000 images of the moon have been captured during the mission. We were also conducting joint experiments with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists and sharing signals received from our spacecraft," he said.

Chandrayaan-1, launched in October last year, sent last message 00.25 IST Saturday and the space agency's Deep Space Network (DSN) lost radio contact with the spacecraft five minutes later.

Nair said a high-level committee was appointed to probe the failure, adding that the exact details about the reasons, which led to Chandrayaan's failure, could not be figured out in the absence of telemetry signals, which provide crucial indicators.

The computers on board the craft could have malfunctioned, triggering off the communication failure, he added.

"The power signals which go to the computer systems failed and we had to terminate the mission," Nair said, adding that the spacecraft was orbiting the moon at a distance of about 200 km and it would take nearly 1,000 days for it to hit the moon's surface.

"We have already initiated discussions with the US and Russia to use their radars to track the orbiting spacecraft," Nair said.

He also said lessons will be learnt from Chandrayaan-I and this failure would not delay the launch of Chandrayaan-II.

"There are some marginal corrections needed," he said, adding that he would be meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh next week to speak to him about the mission.

 

[Pintu]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/256142_-ISRO-formally-calls-off-Chandrayaan-1-moon-mission-

'ISRO formally calls off Chandrayaan-1 moon mission'

STAFF WRITER 17:28 HRS IST

Panaji, Aug 30 (PTI) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today said Chandrayaan-1 moon mission has been formally called off as the space agency has lost radio contact with the craft.

"We don't have contact with the spacecraft and we had to terminate the mission," ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair told reporters here.

He, however, said the moon mission was a great success and 95 per cent of its objective was completed. "We could collect a large volume of data, including 70,000 images of the moon."

ISRO scientists, present along with Nair, said the spacecraft was hovering at 200 kms from the surface of the moon and it would take 1,000 days before it touches the lunar surface.

They said it was in discussion with the US and Russia to track the spacecraft.

 

[RPK]

ISRO plans Mars mission between 2013 and 2015 @ The Hindu

India’s mission to Mars will take place between 2013-2015, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief G. Madhavan Nair said on Monday.

“We have given a call for proposal to different scientific communities. Depending on the type of experiments they propose, we will be able to plan the mission,” he told PTI.

The mission is at conceptual stage and will be taken up after Chandrayaan-2, Mr. Nair said.

“Once in two years you get an opportunity for the mission,” Mr. Nair said.

The ISRO chief is in Goa to host the eighth international conference on low cost planetary missions.

He said that like Chandrayaan-1, which had cost less than $100 million, the mission to Mars will also be low cost space odyssey.