Lecture 26: Space and Planetary Missions (Aditya L1 &
Chandrayaan) Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) ● TheReusableLaunchVehicle(RLV)representsasignificantadvancementinspacetechnology,capableof launching satellites into orbit and returning toEarthforreuse.Thisinnovativevehicleisdesignedtobe launched like a traditional rocket but re-enters the Earth's atmosphere and lands like an aircraft. ● It will be launched like a rocket and re-enter the Earth as an aircraft. ● Benefits:10 percent of the launching cost can beachieved. ○ This will also provide low cost space tourism.
A-SAT (Anti-Satellite) ● On March 27, 2019 India conducted Mission Shakti, an anti-satellite missile test, from the Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Island launch complex. ● Joint mission of DRDO and ISRO. ● India is the fourth country to have A-SAT after the USA, Russia and China. ● It was tested on a decommissioned Indian satellite in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) ● Objective:To blind the enemy country of its navigationpower.
tested its PL-19 Nudol missile and followed it up with other tests.
Celestial Bodies and Space Missions
Sun
PW Web/App:https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4 ● 4.6 billion years old ● Nuclear fusion reaction takes place in it core (hydrogen turning into helium) ● Distance from Earth is around 150 million km (or 1 Astronomical Unit) Structure of the Sun ● Inner Layer:The inner layers are the Core, Radioactive Zone and Convection Zone. ● Outer Layer:The outer layers are the Photosphere,the Chromosphere,and the Corona. ○ Photosphere: The photosphere is thedeepestlayeroftheSunthatwecanobservedirectly.The photosphere is marked by bright, bubbling granules of plasma and darker, cooler sunspots. ■ Sunspots:TheyappeardarkbecausetheyarecoolerthanotherpartsoftheSun’ssurface. Theyarerelativelycoolerthanpartsbecausetheyformatareaswheremagneticfieldsare particularly strong. These magnetic fields are so strong thattheykeepsomeoftheheat within the Sun from reaching the surface.
Solar Cycle ● The Sun is a huge ball of electrically-charged hot gas. This charged gas moves, generating a powerful magnetic field. The Sun's magnetic field goes through a cycle, called the solar cycle. ● Every11yearsorso,theSun'smagneticfieldcompletelyflips.ThismeansthattheSun'snorth and south poles switch places. Then it takes about another 11 years for the Sun’s north and south poles to flip back again. ● ThesolarcycleaffectsactivityonthesurfaceoftheSun,suchassunspots.Onewaytotrack thesolarcycleisbycountingthenumberofsunspots.Thebeginningofasolarcycleisasolar minimum, or when the Sun has the least sunspots. ● Overtime,solaractivity—andthenumberofsunspots—increases.Themiddleofthesolarcycle is the solarmaximum,orwhentheSunhasthemostsunspots.Solarflaresandcoronalmass ejections also increase during the solar cycle. ● Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun's atmosphere — the corona. ○ Eruptions can cause lights in the sky, called aurora, or impact radio communications. Extreme eruptions can even affect electricity grids on Earth. ● Solar Flares: Huge amount of energy from the chromosphere. Flares are our solar system’s largest explosive events. They are seen as bright areas on the sun and they can last from minutes to hours. ● Solar Winds:Continuous streams of photons and electrons.
PW Web/App:https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4 ○ Chromosphere:ThechromosphereisalayerintheSunbetweenabout400km2100kmabovethe solar surface (the photosphere). ○ Corona:ThecoronaistheoutermostlayeroftheSun,startingatabout2100kmabovethesolar surface (the photosphere). The corona cannot be seenwiththenakedeyeexceptduringatotal solar eclipse, or with the use of a coronagraph.
Fig: Anatomy of the Sun
Space Missions Aditya L1 Mission ● Aditya-L1 was launched by ISRO on 2 September 2023, with the mission of observing and helping us better understand the Sun. ● On 6 January 2024, the spacecraft was placed in a halo orbit around L1 following a firing manoeuvre which was carried out by ISRO scientists and engineers at the ISRO TelemetryTrackingandCommand Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru. ● The distance of L1 from earth is approximately 1% of the earth-sun distance (1.5 million km) ● The instruments of Aditya-L1 are tuned to observe the solar atmosphere, mainly thechromosphereand corona. ● Payloads:Thereareatotalofsevenpayloadson-boardwithfourofthemcarryingoutremotesensingof the Sun and three of them carrying in-situ observation.
PW Web/App:https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4 Moon Missions Chandrayaan - 1 “ Madhavan,whatevidenceareyougoingtoshowbeforetheworldthatwereachedtheMoon?”APJAbdulKalam asked G Madhavan Nair, the chairman of Isro (2003-2009)” ● Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the Moon, was launched successfully on 22 October 2008. ● It was an orbiter mission as well as a Probe Mission. ○ MoonImpactorprobeofChandrayaan-1landedonthelunarsurface.TheMIPcrashedasplanned, near the South Pole of the moon at a point named as‘Jawahar Sthal’ or Jawahar Point. ● The spacecraft, carrying 11 scientific instrumentsbuiltinIndia,theUSA,theUK,Germany,Swedenand Bulgaria,orbitedaroundtheMoonataheightof100kmfromthelunarsurfaceforchemical,mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon. ● ISRObecamethefifthcountrytoreachthelunarsurface.Chandrayaan-1’sorbiteralsodetectedevidence of water on the Moon.
Srinivas Hegde, who was the mission director of moon mission Chandrayaan-1, passed away on 14th June 2024.
Chandrayaan - 2 ● Chandrayaan-2 began its journey to the Moon on July 22, 2019. ● It was an orbiter, lander and a rover mission. ● This was partially successful. ○ Success:TheChandrayaan-2orbitercontinuedtoworkfineandinthefollowingyears,itgathered a wealth of new information that has expanded knowledge about the Moon and its environment. ○ Failure: Its lander, called Vikram, was scheduled tomakeasoft-landingonthelunarsurfaceon September7butminutesbeforethescheduledtouchdown,ISROlostcontactwiththespacecraft.
PW Web/App:https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4 Vikramfailedtoreduceitsvelocitytoanoptimalleveltoensureasoft-landing,andcrashedinto the lunar surface. ■ The point came to be calledTiranga Point. Chandrayaan - 3 ● It was launched on 14 July 2023 and made a successful landing on the Moon’s surfaceon23August 2023,makingIndiaonlythefourthcountryaftertheerstwhileUSSR,theU.S.andChinatomakeasoft landing on the lunar surface. ○ The landing point is named asShiv Shakti Point. ○ South Pole (Near Side): The landing site is near the south pole of the moon at 70 degrees latitude.AllofthepreviousspacecrafttohavelandedontheMoonhavelandedintheregionnear the Moon's equator, firstly because it is easier and safer here. ○ India became the firstcountrytolandaspacecraftnearthemoon’ssouthpole,whichscientists believe could hold vital reserves of frozen water ● 23 August was announced to be celebrated as the‘National Space Day’ ● It consists of Lander and Rover configuration. The propulsion module carries the lander and rover configuration. ○ Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover. ● Lander Payload: Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure the thermal conductivityandtemperature.Itinformedusthatthetemperaturewebelievedcouldbesomewherearound 20 degree centigrade to 30 degree centigrade on the surface but it is 70 degree centigrade. ● Rover payloads:LaserInducedBreakdownSpectroscope(LIBS)forderivingtheelementalcompositionin the vicinity of the landing site. It informed the presence of sulphur on the moon's surface.
Near Side and Far Side of the Moon
NearSide:Thenearsidereferstotheportionofthemoon—about60%—thatisvisibletous.Thenearside is relatively smoother and has many more ‘maria’ or large volcanic plains compared to the far side. Far Side: The‘newmoon’orwhenthemoonisinvisiblefromEarthisthetimewhentheother‘farside’of the moonisbathedinsunlightandcontinuestoreceivelightfornearlyafortnight.Onthefarsidehowever, there are huge craters,thousandsofkilometreswide,whichhavelikelyresultedfromcollisionswithasteroids. China’sChang é-4 landerremains the only one to havesuccessfully landed on the far side. DarkSide:The‘darkside’isthusdarkonlyinthesensethatitwasmysteriousanditsvarioustopographical featureshiddenuntiltheSovietspacecraftLuna3in1959photographeditandtheSovietAcademyofSciences releasedanatlasoftheseimages.AstronautsaboardtheApollo8missionof1968werethefirsthumanstosee
PW Web/App:https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4 the far side of the moon.
