Ensuring that the planned Chandrayaan-2 mission is safe from radiation could see the mission costs being further pushed up from its present estimated Rs426 crore, according to sources in ISRO.
India’s first unmanned mission to Moon, Chandrayaan-1, may have been successful in playing a pivotal role while making the breakthrough discovery of water on the lunar surface. But the way the intended two-year Moon-orbiting mission was aborted after just 312 days due to intense solar radiation roasting its electronic panels and abruptly stopping data relay, is worrying Indian space scientists about the fate of their second unmanned touch-down lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, scheduled to be launched in September 2013.
They are worried because the Chandrayaan-2 mission will be even more vulnerable to solar radiation than its predecessor. Ensuring that the planned mission is safe from radiation could see the mission costs being further pushed up from its present estimated Rs426 crore, according to sources in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The reason for their worries, according to a senior ISRO scientist, is Solar Cycle 24. It is the 24th recorded solar cycle and the Sun’s activities are on the rise as the star is entering ‘solar maxima’ – part of the 11-year solar cycle which sees increasing frequency of coronal mass ejections from the Sun which can destroy space-borne and terrestrial electronic equipment and communication gadgets.
The interesting irony is that Chandrayaan-1 was affected by solar radiation. The mission, launched on October 22, 2008, was aborted on August 29, 2009. The space scientists had expected the mission to outlast its two-year lifespan.
According to scientists at Heliophysics Division at US’ National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), the Sun’s activities are on the rise now after three years of lull. But on February 15 and March 9, they reported Earth-orbiting satellites detecting extremely powerful solar flares. And on March 7, the Sun belched out a billion-ton cloud at a speed of a whopping 2,200 km/sec which delivered a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field.
These three solar incidents are warnings about things to come, and they don’t vibe well with plans surrounding Chandrayaan-2.
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