Friday, November 7, 2008

Chandrayaan-1: first images


It was another proud moment for the country. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was shown the first pictures that were taken by Chandrayaan-1 through the Terrain Mapping Camera on Friday.The TMC was operated in October through a series of commands, which were issued from the Spacecraft Control Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bengaluru.The first images, which were received by the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu was later processed by the Indian Space Science Data Centre. The first images were taken at 8 am from a height of 9,000 km.The Terrain Mapping camera (TMC) on board Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was successfully operated on October 29, 2008 through a series of commands issued from the Spacecraft Control Centre of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore. 


Analysis of the first imagery received by the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu and later processed by Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) confirms excellent performance of the camera.The first imagery (image 1) taken at 8:00 am IST from a height of 9,000 km shows the Northern coast of Australia while the other (image 2) taken at 12:30 pm from a height of 70,000 km shows Australia’s Southern Coast. 

TMC is one of the eleven scientific instruments (payloads) of Chandrayaan-1. The camera can take black and white pictures of an object by recording the visible light reflected from it. The instrument has a resolution of about 5 metres.

Links: ISRO

Rediff News

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