Since its founding in 1969, the Indian Space Research Organization has launched 124 of its own spacecraft—including three to the moon and one to Mars
by other countries paying to have their payloads launched atop India’s reliable boosters.
But it is the moon and Mars missions that have earned Indians the most pride—and the most headlines. The—nicknamed MOM—was launched on Nov. 5, 2013, and entered Martian orbit on Sept. 24, 2014, marking India as the first country to successfully reach Mars on its first try. The mission, with a price tag of just $75 million, famouslywhich was released the same year as the spacecraft’s launch.
The 1,752 kg lander, by contrast, carries a suite of instruments, including ones to measure the seismic activity of the south lunar pole, track the temperature fluctuations of the region, and measure the pole’s plasma field. Also tucked aboard the lander is the little, six-wheeled, 26 kg rover, which itself carries a laser spectrometer and an x-ray spectrometer, which will allow it to study the chemical and mineralogical composition of the regolith.
The lander and rover won’t have long to do their work. Powered by solar panels, they are designed to last just one lunar day—or 14 Earth days—before they plunge into the utter blackness and frigid -246°C temperature of the lunar night. Then, unpowered and forever still, they will become permanent cosmic monuments—both to the achievements of ISRO and to the ambitions of India.
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