India offers free payloads on moon mission

NEW DELHI (dpa) - India has offered to carry 10-kilogramme payloads free of cost from different countries on its unmanned moon mission, a newspaper reported Sunday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said Germany, Canada, Russia and Israel have already expressed interest in the proposal.

Each 10-kg payload would cost 510 million rupees (US$11.3 million), and ISRO will foot the bill, the Indian Express newspaper reported.

"The Indian lunar mission offers a wonderful opportunity, more so since these kinds of offers don't come often," said Marc Garneau, president of the Canadian Space Agency.

India's moon mission, called Chandrayaan I, was scheduled for 2007 or 2008. Its cost was estimated at more than 3.5 billion rupees.

The moon probe was to be launched from a 300-tonne polar satellite launch vehicle and is to weigh about 440 kg, with space for about 55 kg of scientific instruments, the report said.

The mission was expected to last two years, during which time the probe was to map lunar topography and conduct X-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopic studies about 100 kilometres from the moon's surface.

ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair said the international proposals would be evaluated on their "scientific objective and utility to complement the Indian instruments".

My mistake,shouldn't be under Breaking...anyway the piece may be of interest.

ISRO sales pitch: give us 10 kg, we’ll fly it to the moon for free
Sunday February 29 2004 09:26 IST
NEW DELHI: May be the next India Shining ad you see will feature space! For, you may debate the moon mission but the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has begun work.

Already allocated Rs 70 crore this month—a fifth of its estimated cost—the mission (Chandrayaan I) has got a 46-year-old engineer as its project director and has worked out its sales pitch too.

Last week, ISRO announced it would give a free ride to 10-kg payloads from different countries (in effect, writing off Rs 51 crore for each country that takes up the offer) in exchange for data.

One of the first to show more than usual interest is Marc Garneau, president of the Canadian Space Agency. A veteran of three space shuttle flights (1984, 1996 and 2000), Garneau has logged over 677 hours in space. On his recent visit to India, he told this correspondent: ‘‘The Indian lunar mission offers a wonderful opportunity—more so since these kinds of offers don’t come often.’’

Besides Canada, ISRO says Germany, Russia and Israel have expressed interest to be on-board Chandrayaan I tentatively slated to be launched in 2008.

As far as the US is concerned, the recent groundbreaking agreement on high-technology and space co-operation between US and India has opened a window. ‘‘ISRO has the technical capability and the management excellence required to mount and succeed in a moon mission,’’ says India specialist in the US space administration, James C. Dodge who works at the NASA headquarters in Washington.

Plans for bilateral co-operation could well be finalized in June when several American and Indian space scientists meet in Bangalore for the first time after the 1998 Pokharan explosions that triggered sanctions.

ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair says that international proposals will be evaluated based on the ‘‘scientific objective and its utility to complement and supplement the Indian instruments.’’

Launched from Sriharikota and taken atop the 44-m, 300-ton locally made Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, the proposed moon probe will weigh about 440 kg and have space for about 55 kg of scientific instruments or payload.

The Indian instruments will map lunar topography and conduct X-ray and gamma ray spectroscopic studies from a distance of 100 km from the moon’s surface by placing a remote sensing satellite in a polar orbit. The moon probe is expected to last two years.

For project chief M Annadurai, the mission is a unique challenge. Annadurai, son of a primary school teacher, says: ‘‘This is the most exciting mission that he has worked upon in his 22 years at ISRO since new frontiers have to be broken.’’

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