Fórum Defesa Brasil

India Gains on China in Asia's Space Race

By Madhur Singh / New Delhi Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008


India's Chandrayaan-1.
EPA


Asia's space race just got a whole lot tighter: India's successful launch on Wednesday of its first moon mission, the unmanned Chandrayaan-I, marked a dramatic step forward in its race with China to put a man on the moon. China had stolen a march in 2003 by becoming only the third nation to fly a man into space (after the U.S. and the old Soviet Union), but when, ten days from now, Chandrayaan-I drops a probe bearing India's flag onto the moon, India will become only the fourth country to plant its colors on the lunar landscape — after the Americans, the Russians, and Japan. The mood in the control room was of jubilation as stern-faced scientists relaxed and broke into applause when all the separation processes were completed smoothly. With space capability deemed to translate into greater technological standing and strategic clout, the moon mission has been a giant ego-boost for India. "It is a proud moment for us," Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said after the countdown began on Monday.

Some have questioned the logic of a country still so deeply mired in poverty spending $80m on a scientific pursuit akin to reinventing the wheel. Dr K. Kasturirangan, who was chairperson of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) when the Chandrayaan-I project was announced, has no patience for this argument: "It is not a question of whether we can afford it," he says, "it's whether we can afford to ignore it." He points out that $80 million is a relatively low budget for a space mission. "And the returns, in terms of the science... the technology, inspiration, stature, prospects for international cooperation... are immense." For one, it will help India cement its position in the commercial satellite launch sector, and it will give the ISRO valuable experience in building hi-tech spacecraft, improved rocketry and more advanced remote navigation technology — all of which could be put to many uses. In addition, the probe will spend the next two years mapping the entire lunar surface for minerals, including Helium-3 which is sought for nuclear fusion research, to which India could lay claim in future. India's scientific community also hopes such prestigious projects will help them compete with the better-paying private sector to attract more scientists to the country's space program.

ISRO programs have, until recently, focused mainly on the country's development needs, launching satellites for landscape and resource mapping, weather forecasting, communications and educational broadcasts. In recent years, though, it has been trying to win a larger share of the international commercial launch industry, launching satellites for Canada, South Korea, Israel and other countries. But Chandrayaan-I takes India's space program to a new frontier. "This is really a gear shift in a sense," says Subhadra Menon, whose book Destination Moon chronicles the history of the lunar mission. "Chandrayaan-I is a purely scientific, exploratory mission."

And then, of course, there's the strategic dimension, with Japan, South Korea and, especially, China heating up the Asian space race. China, long viewed as India's most important strategic competitor, caused a storm last year when it shot down one of its defunct satellites, sparking fears of an arms race in space. In October last year, China launched its first mission to orbit the moon. China's exploits are definitely a factor in India's space efforts, says Swapna Kona Nayudu, associate fellow at New Delhi-based Centre for Land Warfare Studies. "We're neighbors, rising Asian giants and suspicious of each other," he adds. Now, the two nations will now compete to land a man on the moon — both have announced plans to do it by around 2020.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, India's ruling Congress party is hoping that the surge of techno-nationalism spurred Chandrayaan-I and, before it, the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, will boost its prospects in next year's elections. The government has recently approved Chandrayaan-II, a much more ambitious mission to send a lander/rover to the moon by 2012. ISRO has also announced that it aims to send robotic missions to other planets and asteroids. "What is the purpose of 8% [economic] growth if we can't make the spending necessary to sustain this growth," says Kasturirangan, pointing out that like nuclear technology, space capability for a lunar mission is one of the indices of high-technology development that a developing country like India must acquire not only assert its stature but also to power its own growth. "The 21st century will be the century of planetary exploration. If India wants to be taken seriously among the leading space players, it must first get the right credentials." But later this week, when newspaper headlines return to high inflation and a slowing economy, even the most moonstruck of Indian voters will forget the excitement of Chandrayaan-I. Then, only astrologers will see the moon as having any bearing on how Indians will vote early next year.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... 08,00.html

P44 escreveu:India Gains on China in Asia's Space Race

Some have questioned the logic of a country still so deeply mired in poverty spending $80m on a scientific pursuit akin to reinventing the wheel. Dr K. Kasturirangan, who was chairperson of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) when the Chandrayaan-I project was announced, has no patience for this argument: "It is not a question of whether we can afford it," he says, "it's whether we can afford to ignore it." He points out that $80 million is a relatively low budget for a space mission. "And the returns, in terms of the science... the technology, inspiration, stature, prospects for international cooperation... are immense." For one, it will help India cement its position in the commercial satellite launch sector, and it will give the ISRO valuable experience in building hi-tech spacecraft, improved rocketry and more advanced remote navigation technology — all of which could be put to many uses. In addition, the probe will spend the next two years mapping the entire lunar surface for minerals, including Helium-3 which is sought for nuclear fusion research, to which India could lay claim in future. India's scientific community also hopes such prestigious projects will help them compete with the better-paying private sector to attract more scientists to the country's space program.


http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... 08,00.html

Este é na verdade o principal ponto relativo à manutenção de um programa espacial (desde que de verdade, não como o brasileiro). Os custos são relativamente baixos, e o retorno em termos de visibilidade para o país é enorme. Quanto custaram mesmo os jogos do Pan no Rio de Janeiro? E agora, se um empresário brasileiro e outro indiano se apresentam para disputar alguma concorrência internacional que envolva uso/desenvolvimento de tecnologia, qual dos dois terá mais credibilidade? Qual dos dois países parece realmente estar pronto para ter uma vaga permanente no CS da ONU?

Mas nossas autoridades pensam que lançar foguetes ucranianos desde a base de Alcântara é o suficiente...

Leandro G. Card

India launches first Moon mission

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7679818.stm



1 - Chandrayaan Energetic Neutral Analyzer (CENA)
2 - Moon Impact Probe (MIP)
3 - Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM)
4 - Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC)
5 - Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)
6 - Chandrayaan 1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS)
7 - Solar Panel





India has successfully launched its first mission to the Moon.

The unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft blasted off smoothly from a launch pad in southern Andhra Pradesh to embark on a two-year mission of exploration.

The robotic probe will orbit the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of elements and minerals.

The launch is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia.

Indian PM Manmohan Singh hailed the launch as the "first step" in a historic milestone in the country's space programme.
People on the streets give their reaction to India's moon mission.

"Our scientific community has once again done the country proud and the entire nation salutes them," Mr Singh said in a message.

The launch was greeted with applause by scientists gathered at the site.

The chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Madhavan Nair, said it was a "historic moment" for the country.

"Today what we have charted is a remarkable journey for an Indian spacecraft to go to the moon and try to unravel the mysteries of the Earth's closest celestial body and its only natural satellite," Mr Nair said.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says there has been a lot of excitement about the event, which was broadcast live on national TV.

Competitive mission

An Indian-built launcher carrying the one-and-a-half-tonne satellite blasted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, an island off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, at about 0620 local time (0050 GMT).

Another will be to detect Helium 3, an isotope which is rare on Earth, but is sought to power nuclear fusion and could be a valuable source of energy in future.

Powered by a single solar panel generating about 700 Watts, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) probe carries five Indian-built instruments and six constructed in other countries, including the US, Britain and Germany.

The mission is expected to cost 3.8bn rupees (£45m; $78m), considerably less than Japanese and Chinese probes sent to the Moon last year.

The Indian experiments include a 30kg probe that will be released from the mothership to slam into the lunar surface. The Moon Impact Probe (MIP) will record video footage on the way down and measure the composition of the Moon's tenuous atmosphere.

It will also drop the Indian flag on the surface of the Moon. The country's tricolour is painted on the side of the probe and, if successful, India will become the fourth country after the US, Russia and Japan to place its national flag on the lunar surface.

Professor David Southwood, director of science and robotic exploration at the European Space Agency congratulated India's space agency on the launch.

He added: "While the exploration of space calls for new challenges to be overcome, joining forces is becoming more and more a key to future successes."

Barry Kellett, project scientist on the C1XS instrument, which was built at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory in the UK, said: "Chandrayaan has a very competitive set of instruments... it will certainly do good science."

C1XS will map the abundance of different elements in the lunar crust to help answer key questions about the origin and evolution of Earth's only natural satellite.

Researchers say the relative abundances of magnesium and iron in lunar rocks could help confirm whether the Moon was covered by a molten, magma ocean early on in its history.

"The iron should have sunk [in the magma ocean], whereas the magnesium should have floated," Mr Kellett told BBC News.

"The ratio of magnesium to iron for the whole Moon tells you to what extent the Moon melted and what it did after it formed."

The instrument will look for more unusual elements on the Moon's surface, such as titanium. This metallic element has been found in lunar meteorites, but scientists know little about its distribution in the lunar crust.

Chandrayaan (the Sanskrit word for "moon craft") will also investigate the differences between the Moon's near side and its far side. The far side is both more heavily cratered and different in composition to the one facing Earth.

The spacecraft will take about eight days the reach the Moon. During its lunar encounter, Chandrayaan fires its engine to slow its velocity - allowing it to be captured by the Moon's gravity.


Chandrayaan will then slip into a near-circular orbit at an altitude of 1,000km. After a number of health checks, the probe will drop its altitude until it is orbiting just 100km above the lunar surface.

India, China, Japan and South Korea all have eyes on a share of the commercial satellite launch business and see their space programmes as an important symbol of international stature and economic development.

Last month, China became only the third country in the world to independently carry out a spacewalk.

But the Indian government's space efforts have not been welcomed by all.

Some critics regard the space programme as a waste of resources in a country where millions still lack basic services.

Sonda lunar indiana pousa na lua e envia primeiras imagens

A sonda lunar se desligou do veiculo lunar. O objetivo principal da missão é procurar Hélio 3.

Rina Chandran Da Reuters

Uma sonda lunar da primeira missão indiana não-tripulada para a lua, a Chandrayaan-1, pousou no satélite natural e começou a enviar suas primeiras imagens, disseram autoridades da agência espacial indiana (ISRO), nesta sexta-feira (14).

A sonda lunar se desligou do veiculo lunar Chandrayaan-1 a aproximadamente 100 quilômetros da superfície da lua e pousou no pólo sul às 13h01 (horário de Brasília), disseram autoridades em Bangalore.

"Foi uma operação impecável", disse SK Shivakumar, diretor de comando e rastreamento de telemetria da ISRO.

A sonda, que receberá o nome de "Aditya", tem o objetivo de recolher um pouco de terra, que será analisada depois por instrumentos do próprio aparelho. A sonda já começou a enviar imagens para a nave mãe, disse Shivakumar.

O objetivo principal da missão é procurar Hélio 3, um isótopo muito raro na Terra e que pode ser utilizado para providenciar energia em processos de fusão nuclear. O Hélio 3 poderá se tornar uma valiosa fonte energética no futuro.

Estima-se que haja uma quantidade maior do isótopo na lua, mas ele ainda é raro e difícil de ser encontrado.

A Índia lançou a Chandrayaan-1 no dia 22 de outubro, começando a participar da corrida espacial asiática e seguindo os passos da China para reforçar sua posição como potência mundial.

A Chandrayaan-1, uma espaçonave construída pela ISRO, também é vista como um impulso para as ambições do país na área de negócios espaciais.

Em abril, a Índia colocou em órbita 10 satélites utilizando apenas um foguete, e a ISRO diz que planeja mais lançamentos antes de uma missão tripulada para o espaço. O passo seguinte é seguir para Marte, após quatro anos.

As fotos: http://noticias.terra.com.br/ciencia/ga ... 38,00.html


Fonte: http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/Ciencia/0, ... AGENS.html