William Atkins
Saturday, 08 November 2008 23:19
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 2
On Saturday, November 8, 2008, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced that its first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 has been placed successfully in orbit about the Moon.
The
Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was placed into a 7,500-kilometer by 500-kilometer (4,500-mile by 300-mile) orbit around the moon.
Upon insertion into its ten-hour preliminary lunar orbit,
ISRO director S. Satish stated,
“The liquid apogee motor (LAM) onboard was fired for 805 seconds (13.4 minutes) between 5 pm and 5.15 pm to put the spacecraft into the elliptical orbit around the moon.” [The Times of India: “
Chandrayaan enters lunar orbit”]
The elliptical orbit will eventually be modified to a 500-kilometer by 100-kilometer (300-mile by 60-mile) orbit over the next few days.
Satish stated,
“The spacecraft will be gently pushed to its designated slot in the lunar orbit and positioned at a distance 100 km from the surface of the moon.” [The Times of India]
He added,
"The health of the spacecraft is good and its vital functions are operating normally.”
The lunar orbiter/impactor was launched at 6:23 India Standard Time (0052 UTC) on October 22, 2008. from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
It lifted off for its scientific and exploratory mission through a modified PSLV-XL rocket.
Page two states the mission's objectives.
