Bangalore: A Chandrayaan-1 Moon mission
payload has enabled scientists to study the interaction
between the solar wind and a planetary body like Moon without
a magnetic field, a meeting convened by ISRO was told.
The payload in question is a joint one of Sweden and India
-- Sub KeV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) which covered
the entire lunar surface several times, ISRO said in a
statement at the end of a meeting of payload scientists from
India and abroad connected with the Chandrayaan-1 mission.
Scientists from ISRO, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), USA, and European Space Agency (ESA)
met here yesterday and today and reviewed the data sets
obtained from the 11 payloads (scientific instruments) on
board the lunar craft.
The scientists discussed results obtained from that data,
some of which are being reviewed by a peer review committee.
ISRO said the 11 payloads have largely met their objectives of
studying the moon from different perspectives.
Among those, four instruments -- Terrain Mapping
Camera (TMC), Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), Hyperspectral
Imager (HySI) and Smart near Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2) --
have provided extensive data on moon's topography, mineralogy
and chemistry.
"TMC and HySI payloads of ISRO have covered about 70 per
cent of the lunar surface, while M3 covered more than 95 per
cent of the same and SIR-2 has provided high-resolution
spectral data on the mineralogy of the moon", ISRO said.
Indian Space Research Organisation said interesting data on
lunar polar areas was provided by Lunar Laser Ranging
Instrument (LLRI) and High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) of
ISRO as well as Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini-SAR)
of the USA.
LLRI covered both the lunar poles and additional lunar
regions of interest, HEX made about 200 orbits over the lunar
poles and Mini-SAR provided complete coverage of both North
and South Polar Regions of the Moon.
Another ESA payload -- Chandrayaan-1 imaging X-ray
Spectrometer (C1XS) -- detected more than two dozen weak solar
flares during the mission duration. The Bulgarian payload
called Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM) was activated on the
day of the launch itself and worked till the mission's end.
ISRO said scientists from India and participating agencies
expressed satisfaction on the excellent performance of
Chandrayaan-1 mission as well as the high quality of data sent
by the spacecraft.
They have started formulating science plans based on
the data sets obtained from the mission. It is expected that
in the next few months, interesting results about lunar
topography, mineral and chemical contents of the moon and
related aspects are expected to be published, ISRO said.
ISRO terminated the Chandrayaan mission, which was to last
two years, on August 30 after it failed to re-establish
contact with the lunar craft ,ten months after it was
launched.
According to ISRO, scientists also feel that data
obtained from some of the payloads is of exceptional quality
and its initial analysis has already resulted in a notable
shift in the understanding of the working of a planetary body.
"They are happy for having used new and novel techniques
to study the Moon and some of them feel that data quality has
surpassed their initial expectations", the space agency said.
"Similarly, other teams are delighted to map the polar regions
of the Moon from Chandrayaan-1's orbit using imaging radar for
the first time".
ISRO said the technology mission of Chandrayaan-1 has
been completed successfully and the scientific mission has
begun. It would take about six months to three years for the
detailed analysis of the valuable data accrued from
Chandrayaan-1 mission.
"Teams of scientists will work vigorously to analyse
that data to obtain new insights about various aspects of our
moon", it said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, September 08, 2009, 21:22