Indian Space Research Organisation designs man carrier

India is getting set to send its first astronauts to space. The design of the spacecraft to take them on a seven-day journey is ready and was released here on Thursday by S Satish, director, publications and public relations, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

“The design of the spacecraft, which will take the two Indian astronauts to a low earth orbit by 2015 is ready in principle. The spacecraft will have three stages, a crew module, a service module and the crew escape system,” Mr Satish said on the sidelines of a seminar on space organised by the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre on the 100th day of Chandrayaan’s lunar odyssey. Mr Satish said Isro was waiting for the Union Government’s approval of its proposal to send a man to space. “The spacecraft was designed as part of the initial studies undertaken by us with the Rs 95 crore sanctioned by the government,” he said.

Mr Satish said a man rated version of the Geo Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle would be used to launch the spacecraft into space.

To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.dc-epaper.com

India Over The Moon

Ending days of tension caused by heavy rains, Chandrayaan-1, India’s maiden moon mission, took off as planned in a textbook launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north of Chennai, on Wednesday morning.

“It is a historic moment for India. We have started our journey to the moon and the first leg has gone perfectly well,“ Dr G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, said soon after the take-off at 6.22 am.

“Our baby is on way to the moon,” said the Chandrayaan project director, Mr Mylswamy Annadurai.

The indigenously built PSLV-CII rocket weighing 1380 kg is carrying a variety of precious payload. It was placed in the earth orbit 18.2 mins after the blast-off and is expected to reach the lunar orbit on November 8.

To read thr full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit:
http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCH/2008/10/23/index.shtml

U.S. spacecraft lands safely at Mars north pole

A small science probe blazed through the salmon-colored skies of Mars on Sunday, touching down on a frozen desert at the planet's north pole to search for water and assess conditions for sustaining life, NASA officials said.

The spacecraft, known as Phoenix, landed at 4:53 p.m. PDT after a do-or-die plunge through the planet's thin atmosphere and thruster-jet landing to the Mars surface. It marked the first time that a spacecraft had successfully landed at one of the planet's polar regions.

"It was a hell of a lot scarier than the two Mars rovers," NASA's space sciences chief Ed Weiler said, referring to the cushioned landings of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. "I kept thinking, 'I wish I had airbags.'

" Pulled by Mars' gravity, Phoenix was tearing along at 12,700 mph before it entered the atmosphere, which slowed the craft so it could pop out a parachute and fire thruster rockets to gently float to the ground.

"It's down, baby, it's down!," yelled a NASA flight controller, looking at signals from Mars showing that Phoenix had landed.

Flight controllers and scientists battled nerves as Phoenix wrapped up its 10-month, 423 million-mile journey. In 14 minutes, the probe transformed from an interplanetary cruiser to a free-standing science station.

"People got really uncomfortable," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which oversees the mission.

Scientists found in 2002 that Mars' polar regions have vast reservoirs of water frozen beneath a shallow layer of soil. Phoenix was launched August 4, 2007, to sample the water and determine if the right ingredients for life are present.

NASA attempted a landing on Mars' south pole in 1999, but a problem during the final minutes of descent ended the mission.

The U.S. space agency canceled its next Mars lander but successfully dispatched Spirit and Opportunity to the planet's equatorial region to search for signs of past surface water.

Phoenix was created out of spare parts from the failed Polar Lander mission and the mothballed probe. Unlike the rovers, Phoenix did not bounce to the planet's surface in airbags, which are not suitable for larger spacecraft.

Instead, like the 1970s-era Viking probes and the failed Polar Lander mission, it used a jet pack to lower itself to the ground and fold-out legs to land on. "We haven't landed successfully on legs and propulsive rockets in 32 years," Weiler said. "When we send humans there, women and men, they're going to be landing on rockets and legs, so it's important to show that we still know how to do this."

U.S. spacecraft lands safely at Mars north pole

A small science probe blazed through the salmon-colored skies of Mars on Sunday, touching down on a frozen desert at the planet's north pole to search for water and assess conditions for sustaining life, NASA officials said.

The spacecraft, known as Phoenix, landed at 4:53 p.m. PDT after a do-or-die plunge through the planet's thin atmosphere and thruster-jet landing to the Mars surface. It marked the first time that a spacecraft had successfully landed at one of the planet's polar regions.

"It was a hell of a lot scarier than the two Mars rovers," NASA's space sciences chief Ed Weiler said, referring to the cushioned landings of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. "I kept thinking, 'I wish I had airbags.'"

Pulled by Mars' gravity, Phoenix was tearing along at 12,700 mph before it entered the atmosphere, which slowed the craft so it could pop out a parachute and fire thruster rockets to gently float to the ground.

"It's down, baby, it's down!," yelled a NASA flight controller, looking at signals from Mars showing that Phoenix had landed.

Flight controllers and scientists battled nerves as Phoenix wrapped up its 10-month, 423 million-mile journey. In 14 minutes, the probe transformed from an interplanetary cruiser to a free-standing science station.

"People got really uncomfortable," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which oversees the mission.

Scientists found in 2002 that Mars' polar regions have vast reservoirs of water frozen beneath a shallow layer of soil. Phoenix was launched August 4, 2007, to sample the water and determine if the right ingredients for life are present.

NASA attempted a landing on Mars' south pole in 1999, but a problem during the final minutes of descent ended the mission.

The U.S. space agency canceled its next Mars lander but successfully dispatched Spirit and Opportunity to the planet's equatorial region to search for signs of past surface water.

Phoenix was created out of spare parts from the failed Polar Lander mission and the mothballed probe. Unlike the rovers, Phoenix did not bounce to the planet's surface in airbags, which are not suitable for larger spacecraft.

Instead, like the 1970s-era Viking probes and the failed Polar Lander mission, it used a jet pack to lower itself to the ground and fold-out legs to land on.

"We haven't landed successfully on legs and propulsive rockets in 32 years," Weiler said. "When we send humans there, women and men, they're going to be landing on rockets and legs, so it's important to show that we still know how to do this."