Chandrayan -1

Chandrayan 1 is India's first unmanned lunar exploration scheduled to be launched on Oct 22 by ISRO.Likely to be launched at 0621Hrs from Sriharikotta on Oct 22.Project Chief M. Annadurai hails from Pollachi in Tamilnadu. This mission by ISRO is Indian only in terms of launch vehicle and the space craft.The instrumentation is jointly provided by ISRO,NASA,ESA and Bulgaria.Cost of the project is Rs 386 Crores.The signals from the Satellite will be recieved at Bylalu village 40 Km from Bangalore .This will be the master control facility for Chandrayan 1.The 1.5 ton space craft will take 8 days to reach its orbit, 60 miles away from moons surface.t The distance to be covered from base is around 240000 miles.So far ISRO has sent Satellites only to the earths orbit at a height of about 40000Kms .But the moon orbit would be around 386000 kilometers.Chandrayan -1 will have a 2 year operational life.Other Asian countries who have achieved this feat are China and Japan.China put its unmanned moon mission in orbit in 2007.Same year Japan also succeded in doing so.This project has not been insured,though it is in vogue internationally.ISRO has plans for a manned moon mission in 2014.