November 26, 2008 – IR Summary/IT Examiner.com Chandrayaan-1 has developed some mysterious snag and encountered a rise of 10 degree in temperature, which is sufficient to affect its advanced instruments according to Madhavan Nair, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation. 

The otherwise uneventful mission has thus far been considered a success. Indeed, 9 scientific instruments on board the ship have been activated and are relaying data, including three-dimensional pictures of the moon's surface.

However, the ISRO is still waiting to activate the High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) and the Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA). The HEX is slated to survey the moon's polar region for the presence of water, uranium and thorium, while the SARA will analyse the surface composition of the lunar body.

"These are high voltage systems. You have to wait for some time in orbit before they are switched on," Project Director M. Annadurai told the Hindu.

Chandrayaan-1 carries 11 payloads, including a Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI), Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX), Moon Impact Probe (MIP), Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS), Smart Near-IR Spectrometer (SIR-2), Radiation Dose Monitor Experiment (RADOM), Sub Kev Atom reflecting Analyser (SARA), Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) and Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3).

As IT Examiner  previously reported, India has already allocated a Rs 425 crore ($86.6 million) budget for the development of the Chandrayaan- II.

"Conceptual studies are in place. Overall configuration is finalised but the scientific experiments are yet to be finalised. It may take six months for finalisation," explained Nair.

The Chandrayaan-2 lander will be manufactured by Russia, while the accompanying moon rover is slated to be jointly designed by New Delhi and Moscow. The payload of Chandrayaan 2 will be finalised after data from its predecessor has been analysed, says ISRO.