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Indian mission to the moon set for October 22 launch
Chandrayaan-1, India's spacecraft mission to the moon, will be launched on October 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikotta.
- ANI
- Published: 00:02 October 13, 2008
Bangalore: Chandrayaan-1, India's spacecraft mission to the moon, will be launched on October 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikotta.
The spacecraft has been fully integrated with all instruments and is presently undergoing the final stages of testing at the launch complex.
ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair said the combining of the spacecraft with the launch vehicle and the satellite would take place on October 17.
The tall and elegant Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) that will put Chandrayaan-1 in orbit is fully integrated at Sriharikota's second launch pad.
Final testing
After having sailed through thermal and vacuum tests that simulated the conditions in deep space last month, Chandrayaan-1 is coursing through the final stages of vibration tests at the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bangalore to determine the integrity of its systems.
At Byalalu village, 40km from Bangalore, two massive dish antennae, one with a 32 metre diameter and the other with a diameter of 18 metres, are ready to track Chandrayaan-1 during its odyssey to the moon, send commands and receive information on its health.
Chandrayaan-1 will carry 11 instruments on board - five from India and six from other countries - to study the minerals and chemistry on the moon's surface from an altitude of 100km above.
Chandrayaan-1 will carry 11 instruments on board to study the minerals and chemistry on the moon's surface from an altitude of 100km.
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