ISRO and TeamIndus aim for January 26, 2018 to plant Tricolour on moon using PSLV Rocket

India will witness first ever private mission to Moon. A Bengaluru-based aerospace company named TeamIndus is all set to launch its spacecraft that will land on Moon and explore the lunar surface. Indian space agency ISRO will lift the TeamIndus spacecraft on December 28, 2017.

As per the reports, the aim of the mission is to successfully land the rover on the moon which will travel at least 500m on the lunar surface and beam back high-definition video and images back to the earth. The mission will lay the path for the bigger Chandrayaan-2 mission.

If the mission is successful then ISRO scientists will the use the technology and develop the Chandrayaan-2 lander for exploration of Moon. It will be ISRO’s second mission to the moon after the success of Chandrayaan-1 mission in 2008.

While taking of the private moon mission, every part of the mission is being completed by the TeamIndus except the launching which is being assisted by ISRO. As per the estimates, the mission will cost around $60 million. So far, the team has raised $15 million and they aim to raise remaining funds by September-October next year.

“The total expense of the project is about USD 60 million and we have raised USD 15 million so far. We will have to raise the remaining amount by September-October next year,” TeamIndus co-founder and Director Julius Amrit said.

The fledgeling Team Indus with the aim of hoisting India’s flag through an unmanned spacecraft on the lunar surface on January 26, 2018, the 69th Republic Day. Team Indus is a group of youngsters who are hedging their bets on winning the $20 million Google Lunar X Prize. Team Indus comprises about 100 people mostly engineers and are led by a visionary Rahul Narayan who in his earlier avatar was a software worker and calls himself a serial entrepreneur but who in 2010, when the Google Prize Lunar X Prize was almost closing, decided to take a shot at the moon.

Renowned personalities like Ratan Tata of the Tata Group; Sachin and Binny Bansal, co-founders of Flipkart and Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys Ltd, have invested in the project.

“The Moon is not only our nearest planetary neighbor, but it is also the gateway to the rest of the universe,” Google’s website describing the Lunar XPRIZE states. “The Moon provides exciting opportunities for discovery in the fields of science, technology, resource detection and utilization, and human habitation.”

Google’s Lunar XPRIZE was started back in 2007 with a goal to involve private organisations in space missions and revisit landing site of Apollo 17. Google believes that space agencies like NASA and SpaceX are planning for Journey to Mars but studying Moon can help us in developing a better understanding of our universe.

The US space agency NASA started sending astronauts to the moon with Apollo missions starting in 1969. While Apollo 17 was the last manned mission to the moon and Google wants to examine the site. In addition, Google has also announced an additional $5 million prize for the mission that makes further scientific discoveries after exploring the site.

Moreover, ISRO’s PSLV rocket will be used to lift the spacecraft. If successful, it will mark another milestone in Indian space history which will also motivate other private firms towards space mission.

Source:- Indian Express

 

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