SpacecraftMoonEnded
Chandrayaan-1
India's first lunar orbiter, launched on 22 October 2008 on PSLV-C11 and operated until contact was lost on 29 August 2009. It carried NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), whose spectra showed 2.8-3.0 micrometre absorption features attributed to hydroxyl and/or water on the lunar surface; Pieters et al. (2009) state this could make lunar regolith a candidate source of volatiles for human exploration.
Objective. Chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon from orbit.
Listed for scientific context. This mission published a resource finding but is not counted as a resource mission.
Detected
Facts
- Kind
- Spacecraft
- Mission type
- Prospecting
- Target
- MoonLunar polar orbit (100 km, later 200 km)
- Launch
- 2008-10-22
- Launch vehicle
- PSLV-C11
- Phase
- EndedISRO mission page: mission concluded when communication was lost on 2009-08-29.
- Outcome
- SuccessBasis: agency statement
- Why it is included
- Published resource finding (science context)
Outcome statement (agency statement)
After the successful completion of all the major mission objectives, the orbit has been raised to 200 km during May 2009.
Participants
Operators, payload owners, carriers and customers are recorded separately.
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| Indian Space Research Organisation | Operator |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Payload owner |
Resources and evidence
| Resource | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Volatiles | Detected |
Open evidence gaps
No open evidence gaps recorded for this record.
Sources
3 sourcesChandrayaan-1, India's first mission to Moon, was launched successfully on October 22, 2008 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
the mission was concluded when the communication with the spacecraft was lost on August 29, 2009
Hydroxyl/water production processes may feed polar cold traps and make the lunar regolith a candidate source of volatiles for human exploration.