India's Moon Mission to carry NASA instruments

NASA, ISRO sign deal on carrying American instruments on Indian Moon Mission

BY A CORRESPONDENT
May 10, 2006

NASA will have two scientific instruments on India's maiden voyage to the moon, called Chandrayaan. ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin on Tuesday signed two Memoranda of Understanding in Bangalore for cooperation on India's Chandrayaan-1 mission.

Griffin is touring Indian Space Research Organization facilities this week. He will visit its satellite development center, launch vehicle production center and launch site.

"It is my hope and belief that as we extend the reach of human civilization throughout the solar system, the United States and India will be partners on many more technically challenging and scientifically rewarding projects," Griffin said at a ceremony in Bangalore. "I very much look forward to the opportunity to see first hand India's impressive space facilities, to meet with your scientists and engineers and to learn more about your remarkable work."

Chandrayaan-1, a lunar orbiter, is expected to launch in late 2007 or early 2008. It is a truly international mission, with payloads from Europe as well as the United States. NASA's contribution includes the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, a NASA Discovery Program mission of opportunity designed to assess mineral resources of the moon. A second NASA instrument, Mini-SAR, will look for ice deposits in the moon's polar regions.

Data from the two instruments will contribute to NASA's increased understanding of the lunar environment as it implements the Vision for Space Exploration, which calls for robotic and human exploration of the moon's surface.

In all, Chandrayaan will carry 12 scientific instruments - five from India, four from European Space Agency, two from NASA and one from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The non-Indian instruments were selected from 16 bids.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the ISRO chairman said that Indo-American cooperation goes back for a long time. The visit of American President George Bush early this year also provided a fillip to the technology tieup.