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Bengaluru, The ISRO on Tuesday said <keyword id="8011274" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-3" source="Orion">Chandrayaan-3</keyword> has completed its orbits around the earth and is now heading towards the Moon. "A successful <keyword id="18224854" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="perigee-firing" source="Orion">perigee-firing</keyword> performed at ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network). ISRO has injected the spacecraft into the translunar orbit," it said. <br /><br />The key manoeuvre was carried out early on Tuesday to slingshot the spacecraft towards the moon. <br /><br />"Chandrayaan-3 completes its orbits around the Earth and heads towards the moon," the national space agency said, adding, "Next stop: the moon." <br /><br />"As it arrives at the moon, the Lunar-Orbit Insertion is planned for August 5, 2023," ISRO said. <br /><br />An ISRO official told PTI that following the trans-lunar injection, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft escaped from orbiting the Earth and is now following a path that would take it to the vicinity of the moon. <br /><br />The ISRO had said it would attempt softlanding on the lunar surface on August 23. <br /><br />The spacecraft's orbit was progressively increased five times after the Chandrayaan-3 mission to Moon was launched on July 14.

Destination moon: Chandrayaan-3 leaves earth's orbit

<br /><ul><li><keyword id="414120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-2">Chandrayaan 2</keyword> successfully inserted itself into the Moon’s orbit today morning. <br /></li><li>It reached the Moon’s sphere of influence yesterday but had to slow in order to captured by the Moon’s gravity. <br /></li><li>If Chandrayaan 2 had missed calculated its velocity then it wouldn’t be on track to land on the Moon’s South Pole.<br /></li></ul>Chandrayaan 2 hit a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-successfully-shifts-into-moons-orbit/articleshow/70748466.cms">new milestone today </a>when it successfully left Earth’s orbit to enter the Moon’s orbit. <br /><br />The completion of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-to-enter-moon-orbit-tomorrow-while-slowing-down/articleshow/70733147.cms">Lunar Orbit Insertion</a> (LOI) — also dubbed ‘<keyword id="7719587" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="lunar-capture">lunar capture</keyword>’ — puts india a step closer to making India the first country to land on the Moon’s South Pole. <br /><br />The entire maneuver took approximately 28 minutes to complete and the spacecraft is now starting its orbit around the Moon preparing to get in position to put Vikram, the lander, on the lunar surface on 7 September 2019.<br /><br /><strong>Play by play of how today’s critical maneuver went down:<br /></strong><br />For <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/why-chandrayaan-2-will-take-7-weeks-to-reach-moon/articleshow/70346159.cms">Chandrayaan 2</a> to reach the Moon’s sphere of influence or gravitational field, the spacecraft had to complete six orbits around the Earth. <br /><br />After orbiting the planet for 28 days, the spacecraft finally reached the point where the Moon’s orbit intersects its path on 19 August 2019 at 3:00pm.<br /><br />“At that point, Chandrayaan 2 was in the sphere of influence of the moon,” said <keyword id="6358064" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="isro">ISRO</keyword> Chairman K Sivan during the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZX0-j5lpqQ&amp;feature=youtu.be">press conference</a>.<br /><br />Since it was now affected by the Moon’s gravitational force — the spacecraft is gaining speed.<br /><br />Left as is, Chandrayaan 2 would keep getting faster and then eventually escape the Earth. To ensure that the spacecraft makes it to the moon — ISRO had to slow it down. <br /><br />“In order to reduce the velocity of Chandrayaan 2 from 2.4 kmps to 2.1 kmps, the LOI maneuver was carried out today,” explained Sivan.<br /><br />Now, Chandrayaan 2 is at an obit of 114 kilometers by 18,000 kilometers around the Moon.<br /><br /><strong>Everything that could have gone wrong<br /></strong><br />Had LOI not been successful, the orbit of Chandrayaan 2 would have been off target.<br /><br />As a result, Chandrayaan 2 wouldn’t have made it to the Moon’s South Pole and possibly have been lost altogether.<br /><br />“Out of 10.9 kmps, in case there is a dispersion of 10 cmps difference, that will end with the orbital inclination towards the moon will be off by seven degrees. It will not be able to meet the requirement of meeting the soft landing on the South Pole,” said Sivan.<br /><br /><strong>What’s next?<br /></strong><br />The next major milestone from Chandrayaan 2 will take place on 2 September 2019 when the lander, Vikram, will separate from the main spacecraft after four more lunar burns. <br /><br />“Till now, all the operations were carried by the propulsion systems. After that, all the operations will be from the lander,” explained Sivan. <br /><br />ISRO will also be constantly checking on the operations of Vikram to make sure that everything is functioning properly before attempting the soft landing on 7 September 2019.<br /><br /><strong>See also:<br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/why-chandrayaan-2-will-take-7-weeks-to-reach-moon/articleshow/70346159.cms">Here’s why it’s going to take 7 weeks for Chandrayaan 2 to reach the Moon</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-why-indias-isro-is-going-to-the-moon/articleshow/69893150.cms">Chandrayaan 2 will give India bragging rights even if it doesn’t find water</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-india-moon-mission-14-high-tech-instruments-to-look-for-water/articleshow/69867398.cms">India’s second mission to the moon will use these 14 high-tech instruments to look for water</a><br />

Chandrayaan 2 enters Moon’s orbit — play-by-play of how it happened

<ul><li>another milestone todayIndia's <keyword id="414120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-2">Chandrayaan 2</keyword> spacecraft has successfully entered the Moon's orbit. </li><li>The final maneuver was completed today morning and took 28 minutes to complete.</li><li>The Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft will now begin its two week lunar orbit before finally attempting to land on the Moon's South Pole.</li></ul>Chandrayaan 2, India’s second mission to Moon, has hit <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-to-enter-moon-orbit-tomorrow-while-slowing-down/articleshow/70733147.cms">another milestone today</a> as the spacecraft shifted from Earth’s orbit to that of the Moon.<br /><br /><br />
	
	
	
	<div type="twitter" handle="isro" handlename="ISRO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/413572279734247424/LshYgwCH_normal.jpeg" favoritecount="2400" retweetcount="810" status="#ISRO Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) of #Chandrayaan2 maneuver was completed successfully today (August 20, 2019). The… https://t.co/eA8DHBqHyi" createdat="1566275699000" id="1163670742908563456"></div>









<br />Indian Space Research Agency (ISRO) launched <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-why-chandrayaan-2-is-landmark-moon-mission-for-india/articleshow/69842571.cms">Chandrayaan 2</a> on 22 July 2019. <br /><br />And, it’s taken the spacecraft <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/why-chandrayaan-2-will-take-7-weeks-to-reach-moon/articleshow/70346159.cms">28 days</a> to finally reach a point where the Moon is close enough for it to break away from the Earth’s gravitational pull, which is called the lunar transfer phase. <br /><br />The maneuver was initiated at 9:00am today morning and took 28 minutes to complete.<br /><br />To allow itself into Moon’s orbit, Chandrayaan 2 had to slow down by firing its thrusters in the opposite direction from its actual movement, a process called retrofiring. <br /><br />Once, slow enough, the spacecraft was pulled in my Moon’s sphere of influence and the Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) was complete.<br /><br /><strong>Going forward</strong><br /><br />The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-why-indias-isro-is-going-to-the-moon/articleshow/69893150.cms">toughest part</a> of the Chandrayaan 2 mission is yet to come. The spacecraft will now orbit the Moon for two weeks before attempting its soft landing on the lunar surface. <br /><br />But, in order to ‘land’ on the moon and not ‘crash’, Chandrayaan 2 needs to cushion its fall. That’s where the thrusters come in. Vikram will perform a series of deboosting procedures to in order to ‘soft land’ on the moon. <br /><br />These ‘15 minutes of terror’ will make or break the mission with ISRO attempting to land on one of the most cratered regions of the Moon — the South Pole.<br /><br /><strong>See also:</strong><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/why-chandrayaan-2-will-take-7-weeks-to-reach-moon/articleshow/70346159.cms">Here’s why it’s going to take 7 weeks for Chandrayaan 2 to reach the Moon</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-why-indias-isro-is-going-to-the-moon/articleshow/69893150.cms">Chandrayaan 2 will give India bragging rights even if it doesn’t find water</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-india-moon-mission-14-high-tech-instruments-to-look-for-water/articleshow/69867398.cms">India’s second mission to the moon will use these 14 high-tech instruments to look for water</a><br />

Chandrayaan 2 successfully shifts into Moon’s orbit

The Indian space agency will simulate various scenarios, including what it has not done and what it had assumed, to arrive the probable cause of its moon lander Vikram hitting the lunar surface after veering away from its plotted path and losing communication link with ground stations, a retired senior ISRO official said.<br /><br />Early on September 7, Vikram, while on its descent to soft land on the Moon's south polar region, apparently lost control and crash-landed there, snapping the communication links.<br /> <br /> "The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has to simulate various things and scenarios with the data on hand. It should also check and simulate what the actions that were not done and the results that they had assumed," the retired official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told IANS.<br /> <br /> According to him, ISRO has to see whether any simulation prior to the launch was overlooked or waived any known deviation.<br /> <br /> "ISRO should also check out to the extent at which various failure modes were simulated. ISRO has to go into these details. It would take considerable time to arrive at a conclusion," he added.<br /> <br /> Space experts had told IANS that normally any data loss from a satellite means it suddenly changed its attitude. The loss of communication link means the target/satellite experienced a large angular rotation.<br /> <br /> According to them, the loss of communication link could also be due to wrong input being loaded on to the lander.<br /> <br /> In other words, the loss of communication link with Vikram could be due to sudden disturbance - in the form of engine propulsion or wrong data input, experts said.<br /> <br /> A former official classified the Chandrayaan-2 mission into four parts: putting the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into earth orbit; taking it into the moon orbit; soft landing of the lander Vikram; and rover Pragyan rolling down to carry out scientific experiments.<br /> <br /> "Out of the four, the first two were successful and the last two has not happened," he said.<br /> <br /> He said ISRO would have got various engineering data from this mission which will be useful for the future course of action.<br /> <br /> On July 22, the Rs 978 crore Chandrayaan-2 was launched into the space by India's heavy lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) in a text book style.<br /> <br /> The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprised three segments -- the Orbiter (weighing 2,379 kg, eight payloads), 'Vikram' (1,471 kg, four payloads) and 'Pragyan' (27 kg, two payloads).<br /> <br /> After five earth-bound orbit raising activities, Chandrayaan-2 was inserted into the lunar orbit. On September 2, Vikram separated from the orbiter.<br /><br />

ISRO will solve Vikram's hard landing by simulating everything that could have wrong

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Before <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> can fly astronauts to the moon, it must design a <keyword id="6361668" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TOILET">toilet</keyword> for the crew. </li><li>The agency's "Lunar Loo" <keyword id="6360717" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Contest">contest</keyword> offered $20,000 for a <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">space</keyword> toilet design that would work both in microgravity and on the lunar surface.</li><li>The space agency announced the contest winner this week, as well as the designs that took second and third place. </li></ul><p>The last time astronauts landed on the moon, in December 1972, they wore glorified diapers.</p><p>NASA never designed a proper toilet for the Apollo missions. Instead, the astronauts — all of whom were men — peed into roll-on cuffs, pooped in bags, and used space diapers when they ventured out of the lander in their spacesuits.</p><p>NASA <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-nasa-astronauts-pee-and-poop-in-space-2018-8">sent the first space toilet to the earliest US space station</a> in 1973. The technology has improved since then, and the agency's latest <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/toilet-nasa-orion-spaceship-moon-mission-odor-control-problem-2020-9">$23 million space-toilet system</a> contains state-of-the-art fans that suction waste downward and provide odor control. </p><p>But now that NASA is working to send astronauts back to the moon in 2024, it's designing a new kind of toilet: one that can work both in orbit and on the lunar surface, where gravity is about one-sixth as strong as Earth's. </p><p>"We need a toilet that needs to work for seven days on the surface of the moon, as well as during that transit time to and from the moon," Mike Interbartolo, who's part of NASA's lunar-lander engineering team, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-is-offering-20000-lunar-loo-build-a-toilet-challenge-2020-6">previously told Business Insider.</a></p><div type="image" title="serena" height="694" width="1041" msid="78846744" hostid="261"></div><p>To accomplish that goal, the agency launched its <a href="https://www.herox.com/LunarLoo/updates">"Lunar Loo"</a> contest in June, in partnership with HeroX: a platform on which people can host contests, similar to the way fundraising efforts use Kickstarter. NASA invited engineers, designers, and space enthusiasts around the world to submit designs for moon-mission toilets.</p><p>All submissions had to work for male and female astronauts of varying heights and weights, and weigh less than 33 lbs (15 kg) in Earth's gravity.</p><p>"Bonus points will be awarded to designs that can capture vomit without requiring the crew member to put his/her head in the toilet," <a href="http://businessinsider.com/nasa-is-offering-20000-lunar-loo-build-a-toilet-challenge-2020-6">NASA's guidelines said</a>.</p><p>The contest received over 2,000 entries from around the world. On Thursday, NASA announced the winners. First place went to a team that designed a toilet they call the Translunar Hypercritical Repository 1 (THRONE). The team, led by Washington-based engineer <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/boone-davidson-b9145040/">Boone Davidson</a>, based its design on advice from former <keyword id="34120" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="astronaut">astronaut</keyword> Susan Helms.</p><p>That toilet won $20,000 in prize money, and the two runners up also got cash prizes. Here are the contest's three winners.</p><h2><strong>The first-place winners sought guidance from a retired astronaut </strong></h2><div type="image" title="THRONE Rendering" height="720" width="1036" msid="78846745" hostid="261"></div><p>The team behind the winning THRONE design wanted to get an astronaut's perspective, so they reached out to Susan Helms, who logged more than 5,000 hours in space before she retired from NASA.</p><p>Helms reportedly told the group that she and other female astronauts struggled to urinate and defecate at the same time while on the NASA Space Shuttle, which stopped operating in 2011. (Male astronauts could more easily <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-nasa-astronauts-pee-and-poop-in-space-2018-8#:~:text=Today%2C%20astronauts%20at%20the%20International,vacuum%2Dsucks%20their%20excrement%20away.&amp;text=A%20separate%20funnel%20equipped%20with%20a%20fan%20suctions%20their%20pee%20away.way.">use a funnel</a> to suction their urine away.) NASA's latest toilet model aboard the International Space Station has <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/10/space-toilet-nasa-women/616686/">addressed this issue</a> by reshaping the toilet's urine funnel to better fit female anatomy.</p><div type="image" title="susan helms" height="2092" width="3060" msid="78846746" hostid="261"></div><p>Davidson's all-male team of engineers was determined to design a toilet that would work for both male and female lunar explorers.</p><p>Their resulting mock-up includes a retractable covering that opens after a bladeless fan within the bowl is activated; the fan draws waste down to prevent it from "nudging" the astronaut's behind. Team member and structural engineer Kunal Vaswani said the team was inspired by the retractable roof of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.</p> <p>The toilet also includes a "genital guard" that uses airflow to direct liquid waste into the bowl. It even has a memory-foam seat cushion that conforms to different users' behinds, allowing a custom fit that further helps reduce the chance of floating waste.</p><p>"The judges found the THRONE team's innovative idea for a bladeless fan to entrain waste as a good alternative idea compared to the typical suction/vacuum pump system," NASA wrote in a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-names-lunar-loo-challenge-winners/">press release accompanying the announcement.</a></p><p>The judges were also impressed by the team's waste-storage system, which stores the bags of waste in a compartment similar to a Diaper Genie.</p><h2><strong>Second place went to a collapsible toilet with a custom seat for each astronaut</strong></h2><div type="image" title="lunar loo thatcher" height="494" width="712" msid="78846747" hostid="261"></div><p>Thatcher Cardon, a US Air Force colonel and flight surgeon, previously won the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-pooping-space-challenge-winner-thatcher-cardon-2017-2">HeroX Space Poop challenge in 2017, </a>which invited participants to design a system that could help astronauts comfortably pee and poop in their spacesuits.</p><p>Cardon's design for a waste-expelling suit featured a hole near the base of the genitals, through which inflatable bedpans and "hygiene wands" could be inserted and taken out without the astronaut needing to take the suit off.</p><div type="image" title="space poop challenge winner dr thatcher cardon nasa herox 30" height="1200" width="2133" msid="78846749" hostid="261"></div><p>For the space-toilet contest, Cardon teamed up with software specialist <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-morse/">Dave Morse</a> to design a blow-up, collapsible toilet that would have a custom seat for each astronaut. NASA said the team had designed an "an ideal interface for an Apollo bag-like system" that could reduce the weight of the moon-landing system.</p><div type="image" title="space poop challenge winner dr thatcher cardon nasa herox 34" height="3000" width="2399" msid="78846750" hostid="261"></div><p>Most space toilets rely on airflow and suction to keep waste from escaping. Cardon and Morse's toilet seat instead clings to astronauts' behinds so their waste cannot escape. For male astronauts, the toilet even has a "scrotal support area" that cradles the testicles. </p><p>When astronauts sit on the toilet, they'd pee and poop into separate pouches. A small fan at the toilet's base would suck the waste into those pouches.</p><p>A compressor helps keep the toilet inflated, and when astronauts finish using the device, it would suction the waste bags closed. After that, the bags could be frozen and put in storage until they get disposed of on Earth. </p><h2><strong>The designer that won third place works on luxury toilets full-time</strong></h2><p>By day, Franziska Wülker optimizes toilet-flushing performance for <a href="https://www.duravit.us/">Duravit</a>, a company that manufactures luxury bathroom appliances. So the focus of her third-place design is an ingenious flushing mechanism.</p><p>"In microgravity, the hardest thing is to get the things that should be in the toilet into the toilet," Wülker said in a conference call with NASA and HeroX on Thursday.</p><p>The Centrifugal Lunar Toilet she designed solves this problem using a simple spinning centrifuge at the center of the bowl. The toilet's wide seat enables astronauts to pee and poop at the same time, while a fan sucks liquid and solid waste into the machine, keeping the waste down using the force of its spin. A macerator crushes feces and toilet paper, then the crushed waste eventually gets pushed into a storage tank.</p><p>In its announcement, NASA said the design featured an impressive "trifecta of design concepts: a macerator, or shredder function for breaking down waste, a device for separating the waste, and a bagless system for containing the waste." </p><p><em>Correction: A previous version of this story said Susan Helms described challenges with a toilet on the space station, but she was actually describingthe toilet on NASA's Space Shuttle.</em></p>

NASA just picked a winner in its space-toilet competition. The $20,000 prize awards the best 'lunar loo' for moon-bound astronauts.

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/40628438523">SpaceX via Flickr</a></span></p><p class="caption">SpaceX's second-ever Falcon Heavy rocket launches the Arabsat-6A communications satellite from NASA's Launch Complex 39-A at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 11, 2019.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>On June 24, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/spacex">SpaceX</a> plans to launch its third <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/falcon-heavy-spacex-epic-rocket-launch-in-person-2018-2">Falcon Heavy rocket</a> - the world's most powerful operational launch system - and send 24 different satellites into orbit.</li><li>One of the satellites will carry 152 metal capsules packed with human ashes.</li><li>A company called Celestis arranged the "funeral flight" and charges upwards of $5,000 to fly 1 gram of "participant" <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/cremains">cremains</a> into orbit.</li><li>Celestis has arranged the launch of cremains from engineers, astronauts, authors, and a even Star Trek actor.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>SpaceX is gearing up for the third-ever launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket: the world's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-successfully-launched-falcon-heavy-rocket-2018-2">most powerful operational launch system</a>.</p><p>The mission, called Space Test Program-2 (STP-2), is slated to lift off between 11:30 p.m. ET on June 24 and 2:30 a.m. ET on June 25, weather permitting.</p><p>When it does, the rocket will propel 24 satellites into orbit around Earth - as well as the ashes of 152 dead people.</p><p>The launch of cremated remains is facilitated by a company called Celestis Memorial Spaceflights, which purchases available room on spacecraft, installs a container, then packs it with small metal capsules filled with ashes. It refers to these as "<a href="https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/heritage-flight/participants">participants</a>." </p><p>But for these ashes to enter orbit as intended, SpaceX first has to pull off what Elon Musk, the rocket company's founder, <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1141375028321062912">has called</a>-2 "our most difficult launch ever."</p><p>The variety and complexity of the two dozen satellites and their payloads is to blame: The various spacecraft have to be deployed into several different orbits using multiple engine burns, according <a href="https://www.spacex.com/stp-2">to SpaceX</a>. One of the satellites being launched holds NASA's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-nasa-deep-space-atomic-clock-how-it-works-2019-6">Deep Space Atomic Clock</a>, which may change the way robots and astronauts navigate through space. Another has the Planetary Society's <a href="http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/lightsail-solar-sailing/">LightSail</a>, an experiment that could change how vehicles propel themselves to a destination.</p><p>The ash capsules are stowed on the same spacecraft as NASA's clock.</p><h2>How SpaceX is launching human ashes into orbit</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.ga.com/websites/ga/images/products/defense/space-systems/OTB_Satellite_DS_0119E.pdf">General Atomics</a></span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of the Orbital Test Bed satellite, which contains multiple experimental payloads - and human ashes.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>SpaceX has launched cremains into orbit before, but the company doesn't work directly with families to memorialize loved ones by flying their ashes into space.</p><p>That responsibility goes to Celestis. Since its founding in 1994, the company has flown cremains on 15 different rockets: eight up-and-down suborbital flights, six into orbit around Earth, and one that <a href="https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/luna-02-flight/">crashed into the moon</a>.</p><p>Current and future "participants" include children, space enthusiasts, scientists, engineers, astronauts, authors, and more. For example, Celestis flew some ashes of geologist and planetary scientist <a href="https://www.celestis.com/participants-testimonials/eugene-shoemaker/">Eugene Shoemaker</a> to the moon in 1998, and took the remains of "Star Trek" actor <a href="https://www.celestis.com/participants-testimonials/james-doohan/">James "Scotty" Doohan</a> into orbit in 2008. (Doohan's ashes also launched to the International Space Station in 2012, and even more await a future "<a href="https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/enterprise-flight/">Enterprise</a>" flight into deep space.)</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/heritage-flight/">General Atomics</a></span></p><p class="caption">The location of a sleeve of Celestis capsules filled with the ashes of 152 different people on the Orbital Test Bed satellite.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>For SpaceX's STP-2 mission, Celestis bought spare room aboard the Orbital Test Bed satellite, which is also flying NASA's experimental atomic clock (among other payloads).</p><p>The Celestis payload is flat metal sleeve. Technicians glued each of the 152 capsules inside the sleeve, then bolted it to the upper deck of the satellite.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/heritage-flight/">General Atomics</a></span></p><p class="caption">A technician inserts Celestis capsules filled with the ashes of 152 different people on the Orbital Test Bed satellite.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Not every capsule is the same size or weight: A family can choose to fly between 1 gram and 7 grams of ashes (between a US dollar bill and a US dollar coin's worth of mass).</p><p>"The Gemini capsules house two individuals at 1 gram each. The Flight Module houses 7 grams of one individual," a spokesperson for the Smithsonian Channel, which is producing a documentary about Celestis called "Heavenly Bodies," told Business Insider. "Most people select to fly 1 gram in a single capsule.</p><p>Many capsules have tombstone-like sayings etched into them. An inscription of one capsule flying aboard the upcoming STP-2 mission flight reads "Reach for the stars!" and another says "Space Truckin' Forever." The capsule of a now-deceased couple says: "THEY LIFT OFF TOGETHER!"</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/heritage-flight/">Surrey Satellite Technology US</a></span></p><p class="caption">Capsules filled with the ashes of 152 different people is scheduled to launch aboard one of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rockets.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Prices to send ashes into space start at just under $5,000 for orbital flights, according to Celestis' website, while deep-space and lunar flights begin at $12,500.</p><p>If that doesn't strike you as an appealing end-of-life option, there are an increasing variety of alternatives to traditional burial and cremation. More and more US states are permitting preservative-free <a href="https://greenburialcouncil.org/">"green" burials</a>, while others now allow <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/washington-state-human-compost-bodies-into-soil-2019-5">body composting</a> and even dissolving corpses with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/business/flameless-cremation.html">alkaline hydrolysis</a>.</p><p>You can even forge friends, family, and pets <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/turn-human-ashes-diamonds-carbon-algordanza-2017-7">into eerie blue diamonds</a>.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-jeff-bezos-feud-rivals-spacex-blue-origin-2019-5">Why Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are in an epic feud that's lasted years</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

SpaceX is about to launch 152 dead people's remains into orbit aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-plans-send-humans-to-moon-celebrates-lunar-probe-success-2023-8">India</a> is the first to ever land near <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-scientist-microbial-life-hiding-on-moon-south-pole-2023-6">the moon's south pole</a> and it succeeded without breaking the bank.</li><li>The Chandrayaan-3 moon mission cost far less than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-attempt-land-moon-ends-in-disaster-luna-25-2023-8">Russia's moon mission</a> or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-viper-moon-rover-landing-spot-lunar-south-pole-2021-9">NASA's planned rover</a>.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-india-attempt-first-ever-moon-landing-2023-8">India's first moon landing</a>, which touched down near the lunar south pole on August 23, was both historic and budget-friendly.</p><p>At about $74 million, India's moon mission was less than half the cost of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-luna-25-crash-land-on-moon-2023-8">Russia's south-pole lander</a> ($200 million), which misfired its engines and crashed on August 20, as well as the estimated budget of NASA's planned VIPER rover to the lunar south pole ($433.5 million).</p><p>The Indian mission, called Chandrayaan-3, which is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-moon-landings-on-lunar-south-pole-crashed-2023-8">the first spacecraft to ever touch down near the moon's south pole</a>, was also cheaper than the Hollywood space blockbusters "Gravity" ($100 million), "The Martian" ($108 million), and "Interstellar" ($165 million).</p><div type="image" title="A 3D reconstitution of the India moon lander is seen descending on the moon." height="1279" width="1705" msid="103032863" hostid="261"></div><p>"Good for India," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/working-for-elon-musk-spacex-workplace-culture-twitter-jim-cantrell-2022-11">SpaceX CEO Elon Musk</a> wrote, commenting on the mission's low price tag in a <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1693951114595422475?s=20">post</a> on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.</p><p>Asked how they managed to keep costs so low, S. Somanath, the director of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), told reporters with a laugh: "I won't disclose such secrets. We don't want everyone else to become so cost-effective," according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/23/science/india-moon-landing-chandrayaan-3#:~:text=It%20made%20India%20the%20first,Hollywood%20space%20film%20%E2%80%9CGravity.%E2%80%9D">New York Times</a>.</p><div type="image" title="S. Somanath mustached man smiles surrounded by reporters with microphones in his face" height="1500" width="2000" msid="103032866" hostid="261"></div><p>Unlike <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-helping-private-companies-build-business-moon-make-lunar-billions-2023-6">NASA</a>, which is required to publish detailed budget proposals, India has shared very little information about its budgeting. So, it's unclear what went into the $74 million cost estimate.</p><p>That's also a conversion from Indian currency, rupees, so the comparison isn't apples to apples.</p><p>Still, the small price tag can be partially explained by the small size and scope of the mission, and the fact that it was a redo of an earlier flight.</p><h2>Small spacecraft, small costs</h2><div type="image" title="white rocket with two boosters on its sides launches through clouds with flames shooting out of boosters" height="1500" width="1999" msid="103032869" hostid="261"></div><p>India's main strategy for being frugal on the moon seems to be that it kept the spacecraft small.</p><p>Weighing in at just 1,752 kilograms, according to <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3_Details.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ISRO</a>, Chandrayaan-3 was likely relatively cheap to launch.</p><p>"Small landers imply smaller launch vehicles, smaller components, less materials," Robert Braun, head of space exploration at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, told Insider. "If the scope of the mission is small, then the cost is likely to be small."</p><p>That's a lesson that ISRO first learned in 2014, when they became the first country to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-india-made-their-mars-orbiter-cheap-2014-9">successfully insert a spacecraft in Mars orbit</a> on the first try.</p><p>By keeping the payload light, adapting technologies ISRO had used before, and keeping workers' salaries lean, <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/03/these-scientists-sent-a-rocket-to-mars-for-less-than-it-cost-to-make-the-martian/#:~:text=No%20space%20organization%20had%20succeeded,The%20Martian%E2%80%9D%20was%20%24108%20million." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wired </a>reported, the agency managed to keep the receipt for the Mars mission to $74 million. (Same as Chandrayaan-3. Weird coincidence!)</p><div type="image" title="two men in harnets and clean suits talk in front of a gold foil covered spacecraft in a large cleanroom" height="1498" width="1998" msid="103032871" hostid="261"></div><p>This is markedly different from how NASA's Mars orbiter, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-maven-enters-orbit-2014-9">MAVEN</a>, operated. </p><p>India "kept it small," Andrew Coates, a physics professor who has worked on European and NASA Mars missions, told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29341850" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC</a> in 2014. "The payload weighs only about 15 kg. Compare that with the complexity in the payload in MAVEN and that will explain a lot about the cost."</p><p>The proof of concept may lie in comparing the programs' receipts. The MAVEN mission cost NASA $582.5 million, <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/maven-cost#:~:text=The%20MAVEN%20mission%20cost%20%24582.5,operations%20during%20its%20primary%20mission." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Planetary Society.</a></p><p>But Chandrayaan-3 was actually heavier than Russia's failed mission, called Luna-25, which weighed about 1,237 kg by the time it reached lunar orbit, <a href="https://www.russianspaceweb.com/luna-glob-flight.html#0819" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Anatoly Zak, an English-language reporter covering Russia's space programs.</p><p>That's where India's other strategy may come in to beat out Russia's price tag.</p><h2>Start small and build step by step, to the moon and beyond</h2><div type="image" title="A picture from the Apollo 11 mission shows the Earth seen from the Moon." height="3114" width="4152" msid="103032873" hostid="261"></div><p>This wasn't India's first attempt to land near the moon's south pole. A previous mission, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-india-israel-failed-moon-landings-failed-final-descent-2019-9">Chandrayaan-2, crashed</a> there in 2019.</p><p>The costs of research, development, and testing that went into that first attempt may not be included in the cost of Chandrayaan-3.</p><p>"They've approached their lunar program as a series of missions," Braun said. "That is a way of managing cost."</p><p>India's moon program began with Chandrayaan-1, which sent a spacecraft into lunar orbit and dropped a hard-impact probe to intentionally crash into the lunar surface.</p><p>That's a much easier and cheaper mission to start building new capabilities, then build up to a soft landing and a small rover.</p><p>NASA has taken a similar approach to Mars, and it has "worked very well," Braun said.</p><p>Compare that to Russia's Luna-25 mission. It was the country's first mission to the moon since the 1970s and the fall of the Soviet Union. It aimed to make a soft landing on the south pole of the moon, where nobody had succeeded yet.</p><p>"They went with a pretty hard mission, right out of the gate," Braun said, adding, "I think an incremental approach actually is a great way to pursue space exploration. One step at a time."</p><p><em>Correction: August 28, 2023 — An earlier version of this article misstated Robert Braun's title. He is head of space exploration at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, not head of a Space Exploration Center there. </em><em>This story has been updated. It was originally published on August 24, 2023.</em></p><p><em>Editor's note September 1, 2023: This article has been updated to clarify that India's spacecraft landed in the lunar south pole region, not on the point of the lunar south pole.</em></p>

How India landed on the moon and flew to Mars at a fraction of the cost of NASA and Russia missions

<ul><li><strong>Extensive data has been acquired from Chandrayaan-2 payloads and parameters are being derived for presence of water-ice in the polar regions, X-ray based and infrared spectroscopic mineral information, and mid and high-latitude presence of Argon-40, a condensable gas on the Moon which gets released internally by the radio-active decay, said <keyword id="6358064" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="isro">ISRO</keyword><br /></strong></li><li><strong>The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) also said Tuesday marked an year of the launch of India's second moon mission by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-MkIII-M1.</strong></li><li><strong>It was on July 22, 2019, the GSLV rocket, nicknamed 'Bahubali', blasted off from the second launch pad at India's rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.</strong></li></ul><br />The Indian space agency on Tuesday said public release of science data from Chandrayaan-2 for global use will begin in October.<br /><br /><div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="77103682" title="Chandrayaan 2’s data release will include the highest-resolution 3D map of the Moon and information from its 8 high tech instruments" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><br />The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) also said Tuesday marked an year of the launch of India's second moon mission by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-MkIII-M1.<br /><br />It was on July 22, 2019, the GSLV rocket, nicknamed 'Bahubali', blasted off from the second launch pad at India's rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.<br /><br />Extensive data has been acquired from Chandrayaan-2 payloads and parameters are being derived for presence of water-ice in the polar regions, X-ray based and infrared spectroscopic mineral information, and mid and high-latitude presence of Argon-40, a condensable gas on the Moon which gets released internally by the radio-active decay, said ISRO.<br /><br />The report on the major findings from Chandrayaan-2's science experiments was planned to be released at the Annual Lunar Planetary Science Conference in March. However, it got cancelled due to Covid-19.<br /><br />The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was inserted into lunar orbit on August 20, 2019.<br /><br />All eight payloads on Chandrayaan-2 are performing well. The global mapping of lunar surface and polar coverage are being carried out as per the mission plan, ISRO said.<br /><br />SEE ALSO: <br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/coovid-vaccine-from-oxford-serum-institute-and-astrazeneca-shows-promising-immune-response/articleshow/77069321.cms">The COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford and Astrazeneca shows 'promising' results in early human trials</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/from-intel-and-wipro-to-tcs-and-google-here-are-the-top-job-openings-in-the-multinational-companies/articleshow/77058769.cms">From Intel and Wipro to TCS and Google— Here are the top job openings in the multinational companies</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/checkout-upcoming-affordable-smartphone-oneplus-nord-launch-price-specifications-features/articleshow/77061620.cms">OnePlus Nord launch price, specs and more – Everything we know about the upcoming affordable OnePlus smartphone</a><br />

ISRO to release Chandrayaan-2 data globally from October

Space 2021: All the Mars landings, eclipses, astronaut flights, rocket launches, and other big missions to look for this year

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword> on Thursday launched a mission to Mars called <keyword id="9109397" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tianwen-1">Tianwen-1</keyword>, which translates to "questions to heaven."</li><li>The mission aims to reach Mars in February 2021, slip a satellite into orbit around <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-facts-statistics-2017-5">the red planet</a>, and deploy a lander-rover to the Martian surface.</li><li>The United Arab Emirates <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3-misions-launching-to-mars-in-july-from-3-countries-2020-7">launched a Mars probe</a> called Hope on July 19, and NASA plans to launch its own rover on July 30.</li><li>If China pulls off the landing, it would become just the third nation to explore the Martian surface.</li></ul><p>For the first time in nine years, China is on its way to Mars.</p><p>On Thursday afternoon, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-launches-bold-attempt-to-land-rover-on-mars-2020-7">China launched</a> a 187-foot (57-meter) Long March 5 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in eastern Hainan, a large island in the South China Sea, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-launches-bold-attempt-to-land-rover-on-mars-2020-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Associated Press</a>. The rocket lifted off at 12:40 p.m. local time (12:40 a.m. ET) carrying a 5.5-ton bundle of <keyword id="6375764" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="spacecraft">spacecraft</keyword> designed to execute an ambitious mission called Tianwen-1, which translates to "questions to heaven."</p><p>If the mission successfully arrives in Martian orbit in February 2021, then drops off a surface mission, it will kick off China's first direct exploration of the red planet.</p><p>China first attempted to reach Mars in 2011, as part of Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission. China's Yinghuo-1 experiment was on the flight, and a Russian rocket delivered the spacecraft to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/earth-moon-distance-edge-of-outer-space-2018-5">low-Earth orbit</a>. However, an engine did not ignite and fly the package to Mars, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-phobos-grunt-2011-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dooming the mission</a> by stranding it close to home.</p><p>With Tianwen-1, China is hoping to make up for its loss — and flex newfound technological muscle — by inserting a surface-studying satellite into Martian orbit, then sending a lander-rover spacecraft to the surface.</p><p>"The main task of Tianwen-1 is to perform a global and extensive survey of the entire planet using the orbiter, and to send the rover to surface locations of scientific interests to conduct detailed investigations with high accuracy and resolution," Wan Weixing, the Chinese space physicist who was the Tianwen-1 mission's chief engineer, wrote in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1148-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a July 13 Nature Astronomy article</a>.</p><p>"Scientifically, Tianwen-1 is the most comprehensive mission to investigate the Martian morphology, geology, mineralogy, space environment, and soil and water-ice distribution," Weixing claimed in the piece. (As Business Insider learned from <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanocallaghan/2020/07/23/two-down-one-to-go-china-launches-first-ever-mission-to-mars-next-up-nasa/#3109b90e2222" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Forbes story</a> by Jonathan O'Callaghan, Weixing passed away before the article was published. He died on May 20 at the age of 62, <a href="http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2020/05/21/729664.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.)</p><h2>Teeing up a Mars sample return mission</h2><p><div type="image" title="china mars global remote sensing and small rover tianwen hx 1 martian mission spacecraft illustration rendering cas xinhua" height="843" width="1500" msid="77135094" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Once the satellite arrives enters orbit in February 2021, the spacecraft should deploy a landing capsule that will scream through the atmosphere, open a parachute, and deposit the lander-rover package on the Martian surface.</p><p>The rover would then roll off the top of the lander in a process similar to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-moon-mission-lunar-landing-far-side-change4-2018-12">Chang'e 4 and Chinese lunar-landing missions before it</a>. The solar-powered, six-wheeled vehicle will use ground-penetrating radar to study Mars' internal structure and look for pockets of water ice, according to <a href="http://english.gov.cn/news/video/2016/08/24/content_281475424665899.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">state media</a>.</p><p>China's space agency <a href="http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758824/n6758845/c6772477/content.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">describes</a> this mission as a key part of future efforts to scoop up and launch Martian rocks and soil back to Earth, in part to determine if and when life was present on the planet. Chinese scientists hope to get their hands on what may be the first-ever pristine samples of Martian soil by 2030, according <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a14506608/united-states-china-racing-first-sample-from-mars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to Popular Mechanics</a>.</p><p>Some researchers believe that the sites of ancient <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/martian-oasis-water-extraterrestrial-life-2017-5">oasis-like pools</a> on Mars are the best places to dig in search of fossilized remains of microbial Martian life.</p><h2>Why 3 missions are launching to Mars this summer</h2><p><div type="image" title="china mars global remote sensing and small rover tianwen hx 1 martian mission illustration rendering cas xinhua" height="995" width="1500" msid="77135095" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Tianwen-1's launch follows that of the United Arab Emirate's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-united-arab-emirates-first-mars-mission-hope-orbiter-launch-2020-7">July 19 launch of Hope</a> — that nation's first-ever <keyword id="164562" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars-mission">Mars mission</keyword>. On July 30, NASA hopes to launch its own and even more ambitious Perseverance <keyword id="718236" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars-rover">Mars rover</keyword> mission, landing it in Jezero Crater in early 2021 — a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-2020-rover-landing-site-jezero-crater-2018-11">site that may include signs of past alien life</a>.</p><p>That car-size, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-plutonium-fuel-automation-oak-ridge-energy-department-2019-1">nuclear-powered</a> robot will also set up the US for a Martian soil-sample return. NASA is the most recent entity to successfully reach Mars with its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-mars-probe-landing-successful-science-mission-2018-11">InSight lander,</a> designed to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-mars-lander-may-solve-earth-mysteries-2018-11">listen for Mars quakes</a> and deploy a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-mars-850-million-dollar-drill-2018-11">"mole" probe</a> to investigate the planet's internal structure.</p><p>As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3-misions-launching-to-mars-in-july-from-3-countries-2020-7">Business Insider's Morgan McFall-Johnsen reported</a>, all three missions are launching this summer to take advantage of a launch window that opens for a few months every two years, when Earth and Mars closely align — making for a dramatically shorter trip.</p><h2>Landing on Mars is anything but easy</h2><p><div type="image" title="china mars global remote sensing and small rover tianwen hx 1 martian mission lander laser illustration rendering cas xinhua" height="843" width="1500" msid="77135098" hostid="261"></div></p><p>If the Tianwen-1's lander and rover spacecraft successfully touch down, the mission would make China only the third nation to explore the Martian surface, along with the United States and Russia. That's partly because Mars is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-mars-mission-landing-when-what-time-2018-11">one of the most difficult planets to land on</a>. Its atmosphere is thick enough to burn up a spacecraft, yet too thin to completely slow down a mission during reentry (as can happen on Earth). Fewer than half of all missions sent to land on Mars have arrived safely.</p><p>One of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-russia-mars-landing-possible-failure-2016-10">latest failed landings</a> was a European probe called Schiaparelli. In 2016, as it approached the surface, its rocket thrusters turned on prematurely, causing it to fall from a mile high, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-lander-explosion-esa-2016-10">then crash and explode</a>.</p>

China just launched an ambitious Mars mission that could be its first to reach the red planet — and make it just the third nation to explore the Martian surface

<br /><ul><li>The successful landing on <keyword id="414120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-2">Chandrayaan 2</keyword> on the Moon will make India the first country to explore the lunar south pole.<br /></li><li>The entire mission is being done using technology that was built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).<br /></li><li>The mission is cost a record breaking ₹10 billion. <br /></li></ul>ISRO is sure it will succeed in its Chandrayaan-2 mission with the soft-landing of Vikram, the lander scheduled between 01:30 am and 02:30 am on Saturday, September 7, 2019 on the moon’s surface. This thumping victory will boost India’s image in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-puts-india-on-moon-south-pole-ahead-of-america-russia-china/articleshow/70212854.cms">international scene</a> and there are several reasons why India is keen to succeed in its second mission to the moon. <br /><br /><strong>The importance of Chandrayaan-2 mission<br /></strong><br />Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second mission to the moon. India succeeding in its lunar mission this time will mean it will become the fourth country following Russia, the US and China to successfully accomplish a soft landing on the moon. At the same time, the success of Chandrayaan-2 will position India in the first place to reach the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chinas-lunar-rover-does-what-indias-chandrayaan-2-is-hoping-to-do-on-the-moons-south-pole/articleshow/70942638.cms">south pole of the moon</a>, which is still waiting to be explored.<br /><br /><strong>Highly challenging venture<br /></strong><br />What is called as Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver was carried out successfully by the ISRO during Chandrayaan-1 mission. However, the proposed soft-landing on the moon during the Chandrayaan-2 mission is a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/isro-chandrayaan-2-india-moon-mission-launches-successfully-at-243-pm/articleshow/70328430.cms">highly challenging one</a>. Attempting to soft-land the lander and rover on a high plain lying in between the two craters Manzinus C and Simpelius N, at a latitude of about 70 south, the soft-landing being attempted now will be a terrifying moment as this is something new to ISRO.<br /><br /><strong>India’s prowess in space technology<br /></strong><br />The entire mission of Chandrayaan-2 is attempted on a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-india-moon-mission-14-high-tech-instruments-to-look-for-water/articleshow/69867398.cms">homegrown technology</a>. This notable mission is closely connected with India’s lofty aspirations to prove its capabilities in space technology. Commenting on the importance of Chandrayaan-2 mission, Pallava Bagla, science editor of NDTV, a famed T channel of India remarked, “There is a huge symbolic value attached to this mission. This is all about national pride.”<br /><br /><strong>The topic of space and India<br /></strong><br />In India, the topic of space has become something of a craze. In a number of Indian cities, there are huge posters found on gigantic billboards heralding the Chandrayaan-2 mission. In some space classes, children are making innovative rockets to celebrate the said mission. In fact, Chandrayaan-2 has become a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/pm-modi-might-retweet-you-tonight-heres-how-you-can-feature-on-his-twitter-timeline/articleshow/71007637.cms">hotly pursued topic</a> among the Indian youth now. <br /><br /><strong>Indian government and Chandrayaan-2<br /></strong><br />At a time when the Indian government is facing a crucial time characterized by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/unemployment-in-india-highest-among-urban-youth-says-government-data/articleshow/69631185.cms">dismal job numbers</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/narendra-modi-pmeac-comments-on-indias-economic-slowdown/articleshow/70954078.cms">declining economic growth</a> and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/jammu-and-kashmir-and-ladakh-will-now-be-two-separate-union-territories/articleshow/70531866.cms">Kashmir conflict</a>, the Chandrayaan-2 mission provides a welcome distraction. When the Chandrayaan-2 was launched in July, Mr. Narendra Modi published a video in which he is clapping and keenly watching the live launch with the Indian flag behind him.<br /><br />Arati Jerath, a Delhi based political analyst says, “Modi is very keen on positioning India as a global power. Moon missions are part of creating that image.”<br /><br /><strong>What is so unique about this mission<br /></strong><br />Chandrayaan-2 is a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-cheaper-than-avengers-endgame-what-the-foreign-press-says/articleshow/70208309.cms">relatively inexpensive mission</a> when compared to the other space missions. The cost of the mission is less than $150 million, which is cheaper than what was spent to make the Hollywood film ‘Interstellar’ in 2014. <br /><br />Also, the Moon’s South Pole is a highly interesting topic as it can reveal the possibility of the presence of <a href="https://businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-why-indias-isro-is-going-to-the-moon/articleshow/69893150.cms">ice and water in moon</a>. It could <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-why-indias-isro-is-going-to-the-moon/articleshow/69893150.cms">enhance our knowledge</a> of inhabiting the moon and also making fuel for the missions that would explore Mars. Scientists are also keenly looking for deposits of helium-3 on the moon which is one of the prospective energy sources for the earth in the future. <br /><br /><strong>See also:<br /></strong><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chinas-lunar-rover-does-what-indias-chandrayaan-2-is-hoping-to-do-on-the-moons-south-pole/articleshow/70942638.cms">China’s lunar rover does what India’s Chandrayaan 2 is hoping to do on the Moon’s South Pole</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-is-not-just-looking-for-water-on-the-moon/articleshow/70974829.cms">Chandrayaan 2 is not just looking for water on the moon</a><br /><br /><a href="https://businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-why-indias-isro-is-going-to-the-moon/articleshow/69893150.cms">Chandrayaan 2 will give India bragging rights even if it doesn’t find water</a><br /><br /><br />

India has a lot to prove to the world with Chandrayaan 2's success

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>When <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/apollo-missions">NASA's Apollo astronauts</a> landed on the moon, they drilled probes into the ground to monitor the moon's temperature.</strong></li><li><strong>Apollo mission researchers later noticed that the probes recorded peculiar warming on the surface of the moon.</strong></li><li><strong>New data suggests that by walking around and poking into the lunar surface, the astronauts themselves changed the temperature on the moon.</strong></li></ul><p><br />The old explorer's adage says to "take only photos, leave only footprints."</p><p>But it seems the footprints of NASA's Apollo astronauts had unintended consequences for the surface of the moon after they landed there nearly 50 years ago. </p><p>Newly discovered temperature data from the 1970s moon landings, released in the <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018JE005579">Journal of Geophysical Research</a> in April, reveals that NASA astronauts probably warmed up the moon's surface temperature by as much as 6 degrees Fahrenheit by walking around and poking into the lunar surface.</p><p>The data comes from so-called "heat flow experiments" that were <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_17/experiments/hf/">installed on the moon</a> in 1971 and 1972 during the Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 missions. For the experiments, astronauts on each mission drilled two holes into the surface of the moon at depths ranging from 3.2 feet to 7.5 feet deep. The astronauts inserted fiberglass tubes into the holes and plopped platinum thermometers inside to read the temperatures at varying depths below the moon's surface. Those probes beamed the temperature data to Earth in near real time.</p><p>Apollo data crunchers <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/ALSEP/pdf/31111000591808.pdf">noticed in 1975</a> that the thermometers recorded peculiar warming on the surface of the moon roughly four years after the probes were installed. <span>Researchers</span> hypothesized early on that the men who walked on the moon might have prompted the temperature spike, but they couldn't be sure. Other possible explanations included fluctuations in the 18-year lunar orbit pattern, radiation from Earth, or excess heat from the <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/bore-stem-long">casings</a> that the probes sat inside.</p><p>Recently, scientists looked at 440 previously unexamined seven-track tapes that recorded and archived raw temperature data from the moon in the spring of 1975. The data they found on those tapes, coupled with other studies and temperature records from the moon, is making scientists increasingly confident that hotter lunar surface temperatures <span>were indeed the astronauts' fault.</span></p><h2>How humans might have heated up the moon</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">NASA&lt;/a>" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/apollo11/html/as11_40_5880.html">NASA</a></span></p><p class="caption">Neil Armstrong's foot on the moon.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The new records suggest the moon's surface temperature in the areas studied rose between roughly<span> 3 and 6 degrees Fahrenheit (1.6 degrees to 3.5 degrees Celsius). </span>Shallower probes recorded greater temperature increases than deeper ones, and also heated up more quickly. That suggests the warming must have come from something on the moon's surface, not a casing or a natural phenomenon.</p><p><span>The study suggests that the act of driving rovers and walking on the moon turned up some darker moon dust called regolith. Since darker materials absorb more light, the exposure of this darker dust likely prompted the moon's surface to heat up.</span></p><p>"In the process of installing the instruments, you may actually end up disturbing the surface thermal environment of the place where you want to make some measurements," lead study author and geophysicist Seiichi Nagihara, a planetary scientist at Texas Tech University, told the American Geophysical Union blog <a href="https://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2018/06/06/scientists-solve-lunar-mystery-with-aid-of-missing-moon-tapes/">GeoSpace</a>.</p><p><span>Scientists still can't be sure this explains the warming phenomenon, especially because some of the old tapes were extremely degraded by the time the researchers got their hands on them. </span></p><p><span>But i</span>f just a few moonwalks can cause a kind of climate change on the moon, that suggests a new factor to consider for future human space exploration of the moon or Mars.</p><p>"<span>That kind of consideration certainly goes in to the designing of the next generation of instruments," Nagihara told GeoSpace.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-moon-landing-conspiracy-theories-2016-1">Neil deGrasse Tyson has a message for moon landing conspiracy theorists</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

You Searched For "lunar orbit insertion" and got 12 results

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India has a lot to prove to the world with Chandrayaan 2's success

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