Bangalore, Sept 19 (ANI): Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has said that all major tests for the launch of 'Chandrayaan I' (Lunarcraft 1), India's first unmanned mission to moon, have been completed.
"Major tests have been completed and all the instruments have been integrated. We are going ahead with the second level of tests wherein spacecraft will be subjected to vibration and acoustic level as seems happening once PSLV is launched, - PSLV induced vibration and PSLV induced acoustic levels. That levels will be simulated here and the spacecraft will be subjected to that condition. All the systems working and integrity of the spacecraft will be tested with that level. After full review of the test results, spacecraft will move to Sriharikota. Thereafter, the spacecraft will go for the launch," said M. Annadurai, project director, 'Chandrayaan I'.
"Total project cost is 386 crores and this includes launch vehicle cost, includes infrastructure of nearly 100 crore which we are going to built for this particular mission which can be used for the subsequent 'Chandrayaan II' and other planetary missions. It can be used commercially by others, and others mean other space agencies can hire our own infrastructure," Annadurai said.
The unmanned lunar mission is aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the moon, near infrared (NIR), low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions.
The objective of the 'Chandrayaan' is to capture and understand the topographic mapping of the moon surface, chemical mapping, discovery of Helium, mineralogy, radiation environment apart from finding answer for the long pending question on the existence of water on the moon.
The spacecraft is cuboid in shape and 1.5 meters in span.
Chandrayaan-1 is slated to be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-XL, from Sriharikota sometime in October-November. (ANI)
