This is the beast that can throw about 5500kg in a Geo Transfer Orbit
http://www.gupistan.com/gallery/1/gslv.gif
http://www.gupistan.com/gallery/1/loading_rocket.gif
Oneof the 4 addon boosters is below:
http://www.gupistan.com/gallery/1/rocket_engne.gif
The diagram of the beast:
Ma'shallah! Very pretty, Allah nazar na lagaye!
The small flag painted on top suggests its Indian rocket, right?
Precisely, that is the same rocket, which India is going to be send on moon in 2004 or 2005. Once, I came up with the same thread regarding that
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/hehe.gif
Take Your Best Shot At Me
I must have missed the original thread, then. But you are laughing. Does it mean, you don’t think the rocket will work?
So the Indians are going back to the Moon?
Well its a race between the chinese and the Indians. But I dont know whether this project has actually been given the green light by the Government, one group of scientist wants the mission to go ahead whereas others think it will be just a waste of lot of money and nothing substantial shall be achieved.
sighz.. i remember jerry springfield in his comedy shows.. saying "rocket shuttle engines, each one contains 20 million horsepower, WHY are they still comparing it with the HORSE" ..
sorry, carry on, its just when it comes to horses.. i ... err.. dont worry, just go on :)
Game is neither created, nor destroyed, and surprizingly, it doesn't get over. It only changes forms. Being over is ONLY the starting.
T*®ädïTïÖñ, Höñöü®* äñd Ð里ïpLïñë, with these we shape our future
Arm chair ignorants can assume whatever they want. Indian scientists know where they are and what they are doing.
Also, they are NOT in any race with China or any other nation for that matter. And this is NOT the launch vehicle that is going to go to the moon.
This is the picture of GSLV Version 1 that was launched last year. GSLV Mark III will launch about 5500-6000 kg communication sattelite to the GTO in 2004.
GSLV version II will be launched in between and is very much on schedule.
GSLV version 1 payload was about 1200 kgs. Version II will take about 3600 kgs. Version III is expected to be about 5500-6000 kgs.
[This message has been edited by kumarakn (edited May 03, 2002).]
whistle of surprize ..
Game is neither created, nor destroyed, and surprizingly, it doesn't get over. It only changes forms. Being over is ONLY the starting.
T*®ädïTïÖñ, Höñöü®* äñd Ð里ïpLïñë, with these we shape our future
GSLV uses a cryogenic engine that will be used in the spacecraft used for a moon mission. Thus GSLV success will be a big boost for the moon mission. India should have developed its own cryogenic engine around 2000 but the project has been stretched because of 1998 tech ban. But by the year end, hopefully, we shall have our own cryogenic engine.
This is an article from India today dated July 3, 2000. As it is a pay site I cannot link it. Hope it will shed some light on the moon mission.
On many of his evening walks in Bangalore, K. Kasturirangan gets a magnificent view of a rising full moon. Surprisingly, the spirited chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) admits that he rarely stops to admire the celestial spectacle. Having studied how the earth's closest astral neighbour is a dark grey, barren, crater-ridden spherical mass, he has long since shed any romantic notions about it. Of late, though, he says he does pause to stare at the moon, but more to size up the challenge that he plans to set for the nation. This week, following months of internal and external debate, Kasturirangan will put together a special team that will study the feasibility of ISRO going where no Indian has gone before: the moon.
In the next six months the team will wrestle with the details of launching such a mission, including its cost-effectiveness and the areas in which Indian scientists can significantly add to the mountain of knowledge that has already been collected about the moon. It will form the basis of a project report that ISRO will submit to the Central Government for approval. The objective: to have an Indian lunar mission sent up by 2005. "As a motivator, it will electrify the nation," Kasturirangan explained to INDIA TODAY last week. "If we go ahead, it will demonstrate to the world that India is capable of taking up a complex mission that is at the cutting edge of space. The spins-offs for us are going to be many (see interview )."
In close to three decades of its existence, ISRO has never attempted anything as ambitious. It has so far built a dozen sophisticated satellites for communications, weather prediction and mapping natural resources. For instance, Doordarshan programmes are transmitted via INSAT channels. In rocketry, its top-of-the-line Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) can punch a satellite the size and weight of a Maruti car into an orbit 1,000 km in space. Later this year, it will test a far more powerful launcher, capable of placing a satellite into an orbit of around
36,000 km. But the moon at 3,84,467 km from the earth is still 10 times further than any distance that ISRO has attempted.
Given its current technological capability, the budgetary constraints and the time frame of five years it has set for itself, the organisation is clearly planning a modest first launch. Lunar buffs may be disappointed that India initially may not look at landing a man on the moon. What has emerged as the best option is a lunar orbiter bristling with an array of sophisticated cameras and measuring instruments that would circle the moon for several years and conduct a series of experiments.
To do this, apart from building such a hi-tech craft, ISRO would have to augment its rocketry and master the intricate and difficult task of navigating it over such a great distance and controlling it for several years. Although the moon appears like a giant football in the sky, getting a spacecraft to rendezvous with it is likened to hitting a one rupee coin placed at a distance of 25 km with a bullet from a rifle.
Yet the very nature of India's quest has already ignited fierce debate in scientific circles. Especially given that after the Soviet's Luna 2 became the first spacecraft to "impact" on its surface in 1959, the moon has been the most studied object in the solar system -- 97 per cent of its surface has already been mapped. The US stopped its man-on-the-moon programme three years after Apollo 11's historic landing in 1969. The Soviets, who were beaten in the race to the moon by the US, stopped sending orbiters to it since 1976. By then close to 382 kg of moon rock had been brought back to earth by various Apollo and Luna missions, giving scientists ample samples for research. The US and the Soviet Union then turned to exploring other planets in the solar system. Only in the '90s did interest resurface with the Japanese sending its Hiten orbiter, followed by the US-built Clementine and last year by the Lunar Prospector.
For these reasons many Indian scientists sneer at ISRO's attempt to "reinvent the wheel". Professor H.S. Mukunda, chairman, aerospace engineering department, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, says bluntly: "It is the stupidest thing to do. What others did 30 years ago, we are trying to do now. It won't bring the country any technical benefit." Mukunda instead wants ISRO to go commercial by specialising in low-cost access to space by providing the cheapest launchers in the business.
Some senior scientists also feel that the Space Department hasn't as yet fulfilled its basic objectives of collecting and transmitting accurate information about the country's resources. Data received from its remote-sensing satellites pile up unutilised though it's no fault of ISRO -- institutions to process them have still not been adequately set up. But with ISRO's limited budget, the scientists point out, it cannot afford to spend money on research and development that has no direct operational use. Instead, the money should be spent on building superior satellites.
They do have a point. Although ISRO already has six communications satellites orbiting the earth, the 80 transponders they provide form only half the projected demand. There is also a battle raging over whether building satellites should be the sole preserve of ISRO. Many private agencies feel that the space department has been too slow in perfecting its capability and either needs to speed up its act or get out of the way. They regard the moon mission as a "foolhardy" distraction.
Realising that its lunar plans were bound to raise controversy, ISRO scientists in the past year have been working quietly to build support for it. Last October, at the annual meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences, they requested a special session and briefed the country's top scientists on their mission for three hours. Professor Narendra Kumar, director, Raman Research Institute and current president of the Indian Academy of Sciences, came out convinced that ISRO was on the right trajectory. Later he elaborated: "There is no doubt the spin-off technology is enormous. We will push our rocketry, processing systems and communications to the limits of their capability. Such a mission becomes a major point of convergence for frontier technology."
There is little doubt about the tremendous hi-tech bonanza that the Apollo and Luna missions have bes-towed on the world. Whether in the development of sophisticated error-free computers, light-weight batteries or advanced composites that strengthen tennis rackets. Moreover, the mid-'90s has seen a major renewal of interest in lunar exploration. In 1998, the Lunar Prospector made the most tantalising discovery that there is water-ice in some of the moon's craters. Though much more research has to be done to confirm the findings, it holds the possibility of humans not only colonising the moon, but also using it as a base station for future outer-space missions. Currently carting a litre of water from the earth to be used by astronauts costs close to $22,000 (Rs 9.68 lakh).
There have been other discoveries on its surface that have kindled interest, especially the presence of an abundance of helium 3 that is regarded as one of the cleanest fuels but is found in sparse quantities on the earth. With technology being developed to harness the gas to generate power, the moon holds enormous potential for earthlings. All these developments have seen several nations dusting their moon plans. Apart from the US, the European Space Agency is now planning a major expedition to the moon and has long-term plans of setting up a space station. Just as in Antarctica, everyone is suddenly eager to get a share of the pie.
Scientifically too, the moon holds many unanswered mysteries. With no atmosphere and not much geological churning going on, the moon's surface rocks are said to be 4.6 billion years old or around the age of the solar system. For researchers, it is akin to looking at the pristine state of the early universe through the lunar lens. ISRO anticipates that in the next decade or so, there would be international co-operation to speed up the exploration and exploitation of the moon's resources and would like to be part of the pack.
Perhaps the major reason that ISRO is attempting such a launch is that it is eminently do-able. Says S. Rangarajan, Satcom programme chief who will be the mission co-ordinator: "We already have the heritage in terms of the spacecraft needed. Now all we need to do is optimise its performance." In rocketry, for instance, there are no major modifications to be made to the PSLV. At best, its fourth-stage rocket has to be tanked up with 10 per cent more fuel, points out V. Adimurthy, group director, Aerospace Flight Dynamics at ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSCC) in Thiruvananthapuram.
Adimurthy, a part of the feasibility team, is in charge of souping up the PSLV to meet the lunar module's long-distance journey that is expected to take five days. In a normal flight, the PSLV ejects its payload of 1 tonne within 11 minutes of lift off. But in the modified version that Adimurthy is designing, the payload, which will be a lunar orbiter, will weigh only around 350 kg. That saving in weight will allow the last-stage motor carrying the orbiter to travel at times at superfast speeds of 28,800 km per hour needed to break free of the earth's clutches and put it on course for a lunar tryst. The real challenge will come in precisely navigating the spacecraft throughout its 120-hour journey to the moon and tracking it thereafter.
The orbiter itself will be designed and built at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore. Says P.S. Goel, the centre's director who is likely to head the team: "There is nothing fundamental that we have not already done." They do need to build sophisticated instruments such as spectrometers, reflectometers and stereoscopic cameras that will collect and process an array of data from the moon's surface as the orbiter regularly goes around it and transmits the information back to earth. Lunar expert N. Bhandari, a senior professor at ISRO's Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad, is chalking out a range of experiments that Indians can do including studying such curious phenomenon as unexplained levitation of dust in the airless lunar environment and also exploring the possibility of water in the moon.
TO GO OR
"The spin-off technologies would be tremendous. It will make us self-confident" N.Kumar, Director, Raman Research Institute
» It will demonstrate that India is on the cutting edge of technology.
» With renewed interest in the moon's potential, there is need to get a foothold quickly.
» It will reinvigorate ISRO which has reached the limit of its current vision.
» It will boost India's overall technological capability in cyber systems.
NOT TO GO
"It is a bankruptcy of ideas. What US did 30 years ago we are trying to do now." H.S.Mukunda, Chairman, Aerospace Dept. IISC
» India needs the money spent to build more and superior satellites.
» Moon's surface thoroughly explored. Nothing new we can contribute to it.
» Plenty of gaps in utilisation of space data. Fill these first before trying anything new.
» Better to develop commercial competency in niche areas like low-cost launches.
What makes the orbiter the most feasible option is the cost. In all with the PSLV launch costing around Rs 120 crore, the lunar spacecraft around Rs 100 crore and the data centres for tracking and telemetry another Rs 130 crore, the country for as little as Rs 350 crore could send a mission to the moon. It is less than half the price of a Boeing 747. The other option of having a lander would mean there would have to be a compromise on the number of experiments that can be carried out by the lunar craft, apart from the difficult task of ensuring a softlanding on the surface.
Perhaps the costliest alternative is putting a man on the moon. The country does not as yet have powerful rockets to launch a lunar module weighing a minimum of 2 tonne to such a distance. Apart from that, work would have to be done to make the module livable by reducing the noise and vibration levels. More importantly, India would have to set up a centre to train astronauts to withstand the tremendous strain in space. All these would jack up costs considerably putting it out of reach for the country's space researchers.
For ISRO, the moon mission comes at a time when, having fulfilled some of its basic objectives like building and launching satellites, it is now setting its sights on new challenges. Also, India has not been able to make major breakthroughs either in building civilian aircraft or in increasing the speed of its railways engines. What Indian technology requires is excitement and confidence. Goel cites the US parallel where the moon mission in the '60s ignited the American public and pushed the country ahead in its race for technology with the Soviet Union. He says, "The money spent on such a mission by India will be nothing in comparison to the delta of confidence we will derive and the feeling in the public that even our country can do it."
The coming months will determine whether India's proposed mission to the moon will be a giant leap for the country's space programme or just in the mind of its scientists.
[This message has been edited by Brahmos (edited May 03, 2002).]
Brahmos (nice name), I meant, that this GSLV 1D is NOT going to be launched to reach moon.
Also, the lunar project is not even yet on drawing board yet.
PS: My stupid comp gives me a error when I visit the site. However I do know about ISRO's declassified strategic plans of sending a FLY-BY mission to the moon.
I see you have edited your post with the text from the link. Thanks! More info always helps....
[This message has been edited by kumarakn (edited May 03, 2002).]
BTW: I still dispute your comment that India is racing against China to achieve this. The chinese haven't done this yet. But they have done many more things that we haven't.
Never ever have I come across that thier is a race here or anything like that.
Well I had read in an earlier article about China's moon mission vis-a-vis the Indian. Its not a race as such but whoever gets there first will get a tremendous ego boost.
And thanks, well its not an original idea. Its the name of our new supersonic cruise missile Brahmos named after Brah(maputra)-Mos(kova). (You would most likely know that but still...)
[This message has been edited by Brahmos (edited May 03, 2002).]
i would hate to see india in orbit or moon
What about THIS Indian on GS!
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/rotato.gif
BTW don’t you think hate is a kinda strong word.
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/smile.gif
Peace dude!
I was born with a defective eye 
[quote]
Originally posted by tipz:
i would hate to see india in orbit or moon
[/quote]
whats wrong with it??
~~Khud ko yun mahsur kar baithi hun apni zaat mein
manzilain charon taraf haiN rasta koee nahin~~
magar yae to koi n a janay meri manzil hain kahaaaaan!!;~)
Maybe they'll relocate to the moon?
Only if Pakistanis would come with us too.
If Indian AF can't even keep half their planes flying what makes you think they will do what the Americans did? even if it was fourty years ago?