Chandrayaan | SpaceNext50 | Encyclopedia Britannica

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several players, particularly the fast-growing economies of China, India, and Japan.</p> <span>See what countries are in›</span> </div> </a> </div> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>Chandrayaan</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/chandrayaan-1/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/chandrayaan-hero-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>Chandrayaan</h3> <p>Chandrayaan-1 is an Indian lunar space probe that used reflected radiation to prospect for various elements, minerals, and ice.</p> <span>Learn more about Indian space probe</span> </div> </a> </div> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>After the Moon Landing</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/after-moon-landing-timeline/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: 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What steps did the world take?</p> <span>View the Timeline</span> </div> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="megamenu-panel" id="megamenu-2"> <div class="container"> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>Architect of Chinese space program</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/qian-xuesen/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/qian-xuesen-hero-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>Qian Xuesen</h3> <p>Qian Xuesen was a Chinese engineer and research scientist widely recognized as the “father of Chinese aerospace” for his role in establishing China’s ballistic missile program.</p> <span>Discover this engineer pioneer</span> </div> </a> </div> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>Paving the way for women</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/valentina-tereshkova/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/3000x1170-Space-Quiz-Heros-5-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>Valentina Tereshkova</h3> <p>Valentina Tereshkova, Soviet cosmonaut, was the first woman to travel into space.</p> <span>Read about the first </span> </div> </a> </div> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>First Chinese in Space</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/yang-liwei/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/09/liwei-hero2-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>Yang Liwei</h3> <p>Yang Liwei is a Chinese astronaut and the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program.</p> <span>Read more about the first from China</span> </div> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="megamenu-panel" id="megamenu-3"> <div class="container"> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>Extraordinary Leaps </h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/spacex/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/06/spacex-hero-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>SpaceX</h3> <p>SpaceX is an American aerospace company founded in 2002 that helped usher in the era of commercial spaceflight.</p> <span>Learn more</span> </div> </a> </div> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>What is Space Tourism</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/space-tourism/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/space-tourism-hero-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>Space Tourism</h3> <p>Space tourism is recreational space travel, either on established government-owned vehicles or on a growing number of vehicles fielded by private companies. </p> <span>Would you go into space</span> </div> </a> </div> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>What it means to send a signal</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/satellite-telecommunications/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/3000x1170-Space-Quiz-Heros-14-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>Satellite Telecommunications</h3> <p>Engineers developed a design for a satellite that would operate in geostationary orbit. </p> <span>Read about its origin</span> </div> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="megamenu-panel" id="megamenu-4"> <div class="container"> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>Space Exploration</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/space-exploration-quiz/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/space-exploration-quiz-hero-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>Space Exploration Quiz</h3> <p>Was Australia the last continent to be discovered? Who was the first human to orbit Earth? From treks through the South Pole to launches into space, test your knowledge of human exploration in this quiz.</p> <span>Take Your Best Shot</span> </div> </a> </div> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>Moon Vs Asteroid</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/moon-vs-asteroid-quiz/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/moon-v-asteroid-quiz-hero-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>This or That? Moon vs. Asteroid</h3> <p>So you’ve got the planets down pat—let’s see if you know your moons. Are these astronomical bodies moons or asteroids?</p> <span>What do you know?</span> </div> </a> </div> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>Small Step, Giant Leap</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/small-step-giant-leap-fact-or-fiction/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/small-step-quiz-hero-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>Small Step, Giant Leap: Fact or Fiction?</h3> <p>Is the Moon the only object in the solar system to have craters? Take a "giant leap"—or a "small step"—and learn more about the Moon in this quiz.</p> <span>Test your knowledge</span> </div> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="megamenu-panel" id="megamenu-5"> <div class="container"> <div class="mega-column mega-info"> <h4> Did you know?</h4> <div class="megamenu-ghost"> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <p>An estimated 650 Million people watched Armstrong’s televised image and heard his voice describe the event as he took “…one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” on July 20, 1969.</p> <p><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-1078 size-thumbnail" src="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/moon-landing-hero-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/moon-landing-hero-150x150.jpg 150w, https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/moon-landing-hero-300x300.jpg 300w, https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/moon-landing-hero-600x600.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>Watch The New Space Race</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/video-spacerace/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/08/spacerace-hero-1-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>Video-SpaceRace</h3> <p>From India to China, the space race is expanding. Take a few minutes to explore videos from around the globe. </p> <span>Watch on</span> </div> </a> </div> <div class="mega-column mega-feature"> <h4>Watch Moon Landing History</h4> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/video-moonlanding/" class="megamenu-feature"> <div class="megamenu-thumb" style="background-image: url('https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/07/0000138702-300x300.jpg');"></div> <div class="megamenu-excerpt"> <h3>Video-Moonlanding</h3> <p>Watch history unfold. This page highlights stories told in video from Apollo 11 Liftoff to faking the moon landing.</p> <span>Watch on</span> </div> </a> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </header> <main class="main"> <article id="post-651"> <div class="hero"> <img width="3000" height="1175" src="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/chandrayaan-hero.jpg" class="hero-blurred wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/chandrayaan-hero.jpg 3000w, https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/chandrayaan-hero-768x301.jpg 768w, https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/chandrayaan-hero-1024x401.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" /><img width="3000" height="1175" src="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/chandrayaan-hero.jpg" class="hero-featured wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" srcset="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/chandrayaan-hero.jpg 3000w, https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/chandrayaan-hero-768x301.jpg 768w, https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/chandrayaan-hero-1024x401.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" /> </div> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="content col-12"> <h1 class="entry-title"><span>Chandrayaan</span></h1> <header class="entry-meta"> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/category/space-race/" class="cat-link"><span class="cat-icon"><img src="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/09/icon-rocket.png" /></span><span class="cat-label">Space Race</span></a> <span>·</span>Indian space probe <div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_34 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/chandrayaan-1/" data-a2a-title="Chandrayaan"><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fexplore.britannica.com%2Fexplore%2Fspace%2Fchandrayaan-1%2F&linkname=Chandrayaan" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fexplore.britannica.com%2Fexplore%2Fspace%2Fchandrayaan-1%2F&linkname=Chandrayaan" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fexplore.britannica.com%2Fexplore%2Fspace%2Fchandrayaan-1%2F&linkname=Chandrayaan" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fexplore.britannica.com%2Fexplore%2Fspace%2Fchandrayaan-1%2F&linkname=Chandrayaan" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a></div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p class="has-drop-cap"><strong>Chandrayaan</strong>, series of Indian lunar space probes that found water on the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Moon">Moon</a>. Chandrayaan-1 (<em>chandrayaan</em> is <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hindi-language">Hindi</a> for “moon craft”) was the first lunar space probe of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indian-Space-Research-Organisation">Indian Space Research Organisation</a> (ISRO) and found water on the Moon. It mapped the Moon in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/infrared-radiation">infrared</a>, visible, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/X-ray">X-ray</a> light from lunar <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/orbit-astronomy">orbit</a> and used reflected radiation to prospect for various <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/chemical-element">elements</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/mineral-chemical-compound">minerals</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/ice">ice</a>. It operated in 2008–09. Chandrayaan-2, which launched in 2019, was designed to be ISRO’s first lunar lander.</p> <div class="ad-unit ad-leaderboard acf/ad-billboard" id="adunit-block_5ce7feaada135"> <div class="ad-wrapper"> </div> </div> <p>A <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/launch-vehicle#ref272739">Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle</a> launched the 590-kg (1,300-pound) Chandrayaan-1 on October 22, 2008, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Andhra-Pradesh">Andhra Pradesh</a> state. The probe then was boosted into an elliptical polar orbit around the Moon, 504 km (312 miles) high at its closest to the lunar surface and 7,502 km (4,651 miles) at its farthest. After checkout, it descended to a 100-km (60-mile) orbit. On November 14, 2008, Chandrayaan-1 launched a small craft, the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), that was designed to test systems for future landings and study the thin lunar atmosphere before crashing on the Moon’s surface. MIP impacted near the south pole, but, before it crashed, it discovered small amounts of water in the Moon’s atmosphere.</p> <div class="wp-block-ugb-divider ugb-divider"><hr align="center" style="background-color:#dddddd;width:50%;height:1px"/></div> <p style="text-align:center"><strong>See related articles:</strong></p> <div class="wp-block-ugb-image-box alignfull ugb-image-box ugb-image-box--v3 ugb-image-box--columns-3 ugb-image-box--overlay-6" style="text-align:center"><div class="ugb-image-box__item" style="background-image:url(https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/1-7.jpg);height:277px;text-align:center;justify-content:center;border-radius:0"><a class="ugb-image-box__overlay" href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/spacecraft-exploration-gaspra/"></a><div class="ugb-image-box__content"><h4 class="ugb-image-box__title" style="color:#ffffff">spacecraft exploration</h4></div></div><div class="ugb-image-box__item" style="background-image:url(https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/0000191745.jpg);height:277px;text-align:center;justify-content:center;border-radius:0"><a class="ugb-image-box__overlay" href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/solar-system-asteroids-comets/"></a><div class="ugb-image-box__content"><h4 class="ugb-image-box__title" style="color:#ffffff">Solar system </h4></div></div><div class="ugb-image-box__item" style="background-image:url(https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/mars-orbiter-mission-hero.jpg);height:277px;text-align:center;justify-content:center;border-radius:0"><a class="ugb-image-box__overlay" href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/mars-orbiter-mission/"></a><div class="ugb-image-box__content"><h4 class="ugb-image-box__title" style="color:#ffffff">Mars Orbiter Mission</h4></div></div></div> <div class="wp-block-ugb-button ugb-button-wrapper ugb-button--align-center"><div><a class="ugb-button ugb-button--align-center ugb-button--size-normal" href="https://cloud.email.britannica.com/PreferenceCenter"><span class="ugb-button--inner">Like what you’re reading? Sign up to receive a free newsletter delivered to your inbox.</span></a></div></div> <div class="wp-block-ugb-divider ugb-divider"><hr align="center" style="background-color:#dddddd;width:50%;height:1px"/></div> <p>The U.S. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/NASA">National Aeronautics and Space Administration</a> contributed two instruments, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M<sup>3</sup>) and the Miniature <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Synthetic">Synthetic</a> Aperture Radar (Mini-SAR), which sought ice at the poles. M<sup>3</sup> studied the lunar surface in wavelengths from the visible to the infrared in order to isolate signatures of different minerals on the surface. It found small amounts of water and hydroxyl radicals on the Moon’s surface. M<sup>3</sup> also discovered in a crater near the Moon’s equator evidence for water coming from beneath the surface. Mini-SAR broadcast polarized radio waves at the north and south polar regions. Changes in the polarization of the echo measured the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/dielectric-constant">dielectric constant</a> and porosity, which are related to the presence of water ice. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Space-Agency">European Space Agency</a> (ESA) had two other experiments, an infrared spectrometer and a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/solar-wind">solar wind</a> monitor. The Bulgarian Aerospace Agency provided a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/radiation">radiation</a> monitor.</p> <p>The principal instruments from ISRO—the Terrain Mapping Camera, the HyperSpectral Imager, and the Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument—produced images of the lunar surface with high spectral and spatial resolution, including stereo images with a 5-metre (16-foot) resolution and global topographic maps with a resolution of 10 metres (33 feet). The Chandrayaan Imaging X-ray Spectrometer, developed by ISRO and ESA, was designed to detect magnesium, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/aluminum">aluminum</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/silicon">silicon</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/calcium">calcium</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/titanium">titanium</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/iron-chemical-element">iron</a> by the X-rays they emit when exposed to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/solar-flare">solar flares</a>. This was done in part with the Solar X-Ray Monitor, which measured incoming <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/solar-radiation">solar radiation</a>.</p> <p>Chandrayaan-1 operations were originally planned to last two years, but the mission ended on <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/August">August</a> 28, 2009, when radio contact was lost with the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/spacecraft">spacecraft</a>. </p> <p>Chandrayaan-2 launched on July 22, 2019, from Sriharikota by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III. The spacecraft consisted of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover. The orbiter will circle the Moon in a polar orbit for one year at a height of 100 km (62 miles). The mission’s Vikram lander (named after ISRO founder Vikram Sarabhai) was planned to land on September 7 in the south polar region where water ice could be found under the surface. The planned landing site would have been the farthest south any lunar probe had touched down, and India would have been the fourth country to have landed a spacecraft on the Moon—after the United States, Russia, and China. Vikram carried the small (27-kg [60-pound]) Pragyan (Sanskrit: “Wisdom”) rover. Both Vikram and Pragyan were designed to operate for 1 lunar day (14 Earth days). However, just before Vikram was to touch down on the Moon, contact was lost at an altitude of 2 km (1.2 miles). </p> <p></p> <p><em><strong>Written by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Dave-Dooling/764">Dave Dooling</a></strong></em> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419"><strong><em>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</em></strong></a>.</p> <div class="ad-unit ad-leaderboard acf/ad-billboard" id="adunit-block_5ce7feb9da136"> <div class="ad-wrapper"> </div> </div> <p><em>Top Image Credit: Doug Ellison</em></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <aside class="row"> <div class="col-12 col-2-3-m"> <div class="entry-related"> <h4 class="color-default">More Articles on Space Race</h4> <ul class="list-block list-rules"> <li> <img width="370" height="280" src="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/06/space-station-hero-370x280.jpg" class="attachment-list size-list wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" /> <div> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/space-station/" title="Space Station">Space Station</a> <p>A space station is an artificial structure placed in orbit with the environmental systems necessary to support human habitation for extended periods.</p> </div> </li> <li> <img width="370" height="280" src="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/05/5-unforgettable-moments-hero-370x280.jpg" class="attachment-list size-list wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" /> <div> <a href="https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/5-unforgettable-moments-in-the-history-of-spaceflight-and-space-exploration/" title="5 Unforgettable Moments in the History of Spaceflight and Space Exploration">5 Unforgettable Moments in the History of Spaceflight and Space Exploration</a> <p>Humans have made great strides in spaceflight and space exploration. 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