ISRO releases Chandrayaan-2 mission’s initial data

The Indian Space Research Organization recently released the first set of data from Chandrayaan-2. The data was prepared by Planetary Data System (Version 4). The first data set was released through PRADAN portal. The PRADAN portal is hosted by ISSDC (Indian Space Science Data Centre).

Chandrayaan-2

Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The mission had planned to land Vikram lander on the south pole of the lunar surface. Unfortunately, the Vikram lander hard crashed and failed to land. The orbiter was successfully placed and is to carry out eight experiments to address several questions on lunar science.

The Chandrayaan-2 had three main missions. They were the orbiter that would revolve around the moon, Vikram lander that would land on the moon surface and Pragyan rover that would explore the moon surface and observe ice.

Indian Space Science Data Centre

The centre was established by ISRO in 2008. It is responsible for ingestion, archive, processing and dissemination of payload data and also data related to the space missions. It has supported Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission, AstroSat, Youthsat. It is located at the Indian Deep Space Network in Bangalore.

Indian Deep Space Network

The Indian Deep Space Network is a network of large communication facilities and antennas to support the interplanetary missions launched by India. Similar Deep Space Networks are run by very few countries such as USA, Russia, China, Japan and the European Space Agency. It also houses the ISRO Navigation Centre (INC). The INC as launched to help the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The IRNSS is also called NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation). It is regional navigation system that provides real time positioning.

The Indian Deep Space network consists of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC).

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2020