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Apr 19, 2005, 4:42:42 PM4/19/05
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Europe, India to tie up for moon mission
By Pramod Kumar Singh in New Delhi
Monday, 28 March , 2005, 08:16

European Space Agency (ESA) Council has given its nod to Europe's
historical cooperation with India for lunar exploration mission.

On March 17 last, the ESA Council, at its meeting in Paris, unanimously
approved a cooperation agreement between ESA and the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) clearing the way for India's first moon
mission - Chandrayaan-1.

Daniel Descoutures, the Research- Director General of the European
Commission had expressed the keenness of ESA for closer cooperation
with ISRO but had not committed ESA on funding the $100 million
project. All he said was that the funding of Chandrayaan-I will be
considered at a later stage.

A senior Indian diplomat posted with the Indian Embassy at Brussels
said that the matter was discussed afresh after the story appeared in
this newspaper and the ESA agreed in letter and spirit to provide
logistical help to ISRO in realising its cherished dream.

Under the agreement, Europe will coordinate and support the provision
of three instruments: CIXS-2, the Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-Ray
Spectrometer; SARA, a Sub- keV Atom Relecting Analyser; and SIR-2, a
Near-Infrared Spectrometer. It will also support the hardware for the
High-Energy X-Ray Spectrometer (HEX). Direct ESA in-kind contributions
are also foreseen under this historical agreement.

In return, all data resulting from the instruments will be made
immediately available to ESA Member States through ESA.

The instruments requested are identical to those on ESA's SMART-1.
Launched in 2003, SMART-1, having demonstrated a new solar electric
propulsion motor and tested other technologies on its way to the moon,
has just started its science phase. It will make the first
comprehensive inventory of key chemical elements on the lunar surface.

ISRO plans to send a 1050 Kg (523 Kg initial orbit mass and 440 Kg dry
mass) remote sensing satellite to help unravel the mysteries about the
Europe nod to India's moon mission origin and evolution of the Solar
System in general and the Moon in particular. The satellite, which is
expected to have an operational life of two years, will be launched by
India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in 2007/2008.

ISRO, founded in 1969 had launched its first satellite "Aryabhatta" in
1975. Since then it has developed a number of launch vehicles as well
as satellites for Earth observation, remote sensing, telecommunications
and weather forecasting. India has its own launch site at Sriharikota
but has also used Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana to launch its
satellites. Chandrayaan-1 marks its first venture into planetary space
science

ESA will give ISRO the benefit of its experience with SMART-1 and will
further assist in operations facilitation as well as providing the
science instruments.

ESA's SMART-1 put Europe in the lead in the new race back to the Moon.
As well as India and Japan, China and the USA also intend to launch
lunar missions in the coming years. The cooperation with India will
keep European scientists in the forefront.

ESA Director of Science David Southwood said, "One should also see the
cooperation in a wider context. Space science is a natural area for
space agencies to learn to work together in technical matters. Such
cooperation remains a strategic element in the Director General's wider
agenda for the Agency."

Chandrayaan-I: ISRO selects American geologist to map moon

Lalit K Jha

Providence, April 4, 2005|05:15 IST


An American geologist, selected by the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) as an investigator for Chandrayaan-I, has said she
was excited and honoured to be part of the historic lunar mission,
which aims to "unlock the mysteries" of the moon.

Revealing the closely guarded information about her Chandrayaan-I
selection, geologist Carle Pieters told the Hindustantimes.com in an
exclusive interview: "I feel honoured that the project funded by the
NASA, has been selected by the ISRO. I am really excited to work on
this ambitious project."

Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University,
Pieters would lead a team of US scientists to map mineral composition
of the moon through the state-of-the-art Moon Mineralogy Mapper, called
M3 and pronounced M-cube.

The team has scientists from the prestigious Jet Propulsion Laboratory
of the NASA; besides other US universities.

A formal official announcement about the ISRO-NASA collaboration on
Chandrayaan-I, would be made after the signing of a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) between the two countries, she said.

"As such a high level of collaboration between NASA and ISRO has never
been in past, involving transfer of technology and export of highly
sophisticated space equipments, a MoU is necessary," she said.

Divulging little details about her proposed studies of the lunar
surface, Pieters said right now she was busy readying the M-cube.

Pieters, who specialises in lunar evolution and is considered to be a
pioneer in the field of remote compositional analysis of lunar regions,
said once the MoU was signed, the M-cube would be shipped to India for
installation onboard Chandrayaan-I.

Stating the moon is a cornerstone to understand the early evolution of
the solar system; Pieters claimed the M3 high-resolution compositional
maps would dramatically improve the understanding about the early
evolution of the terrestrial planets.

"This would provide assessment of lunar resources at high spatial
resolution," she said.

The M3 investigations would also provide a unique opportunity to
inform, engage and excite the public about the moon and its
exploration, she said.

Besides evaluating concentrations of unusual and unexpected minerals on
the moon, the M3 she said would identify and assess the deposits
containing volatiles including water and map fresh craters to assess
properties of impacts in the recent past.

"We would evaluate crustal components and their distribution across the
highlands and characterise the diversity and extent of different types
of basaltic volcanism," she told Hindustantimes.com

Shortlisted by the ISRO last summer, Pieters said: "It is on February 1
that the NASA agreed to fund the M3 project and on March 1, ISRO
intimated about the selection."

Pieters, who has visited India only once that too November last at
Udaipur, Rajasthan to participate in the International Conference on
Exploration and Utilisation of the moon (ICEUM-6) said she, was eagerly
waiting for trip to interact with the ISRO scientists.

Welcoming the Indo-US collaboration, Jim Burke, a retired senior member
of the technical staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a faculty
at the International Space University, said: "This would herald a new
era in lunar research."

Highly impressed by India's space science program, Burke asserted that
Chandrayaan-I mission would "significantly advance" knowledge of the
Moon's surface and interiors, thus "contributing to the theories of the
origin of Earth and moon".

The Chandrayaan-I mission is scheduled for take off in late 2007.

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