Seven payloads firmed up for Chandrayaan-2

CHANDRAYAAN-2 IN THE YEAR 2013

ISRO has finalised seven payloads that will go on the second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, sometime in 2013. At least two key instruments will probe further to confirm presence of water ice - which was indicated by the first lunar mission of 2008-09,

Chandrayaan-2 will have an Orbiter (satellite), a Lunar lander to be built by Russia, and an ISRO-built Rover that will explore the lunar landscape. Five payloads or scientific experiments will be placed on the orbiter and two on the rover. The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft will weigh 2,650 kg when it is launched; the orbiter alone will weigh 1,400 kg and lander about 1,250 kg. The subsystems of the orbiter and the rover are being developed at the Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad centres.

Three of the orbiter payloads are new while two are improved versions of the payloads that went on the successful Chandrayaan-1 orbiter of 2008-09. On the Chandrayaan-1, a MIP or Moon Impact Probe was included close towards the launch. Nearly half of its 11 payloads were guest experiments from other countries.

The former ISRO Chairman, Dr U.R.Rao, heads the national committee of experts drawn from ISRO centres, academic institutions and R&D labs. Dr Rao also chairs the Advisory Committee on Space Sciences (ADCOS). Chandrayaan-2 is to be launched on the Indian rocket, the GSLV, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

The orbiter is to carry a Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS) from ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore and Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad for mapping the major lunar elements.

An L- and S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) from SAC will probe the first few meters for the presence of water ice among others. The first lunar mission had indicated presence of water in the shadowed regions.

An Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS) from SAC will map the lunar surface and look for minerals, water molecules and hydroxyl.

A Neutral Mass Spectrometer (ChACE–2) from Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), Thiruvananthapuram, will make a detailed study of the lunar exosphere.

A Terrain Mapping Camera–2 (TMC–2) from SAC will be deployed to prepare a 3D map of Moon's minerals and geology.

The rover will carry a Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) from Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems (LEOS), Bangalore; and an Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscope (APIXS) from Physical Research Labs, Ahmedabad. Both the instruments will analyse the elements at the lunar landing site.