First_mission_to_the_Moon:_Chandrayaan-1 Indian_Space_Research_Organisation

model of chandrayaan-1 spacecraft

chandrayaan-1 india s first mission moon. unmanned lunar exploration mission included lunar orbiter , impactor called moon impact probe. isro launched spacecraft using modified version of pslv on 22 october 2008 satish dhawan space centre, sriharikota. vehicle inserted lunar orbit on 8 november 2008. carried high-resolution remote sensing equipment visible, near infrared, , soft , hard x-ray frequencies. during 312 days operational period (2 years planned), surveyed lunar surface produce complete map of chemical characteristics , 3-dimensional topography. polar regions of special interest, possibly had ice deposits. spacecraft carried 11 instruments: 5 indian , 6 foreign institutes , space agencies (including nasa, esa, bulgarian academy of sciences, brown university , other european , north american institutes/companies), carried free of cost. chandrayaan-1 became first lunar mission discover existence of water on moon. chandrayaan-166 team awarded american institute of aeronautics , astronautics space 2009 award, international lunar exploration working group s international co-operation award in 2008, , national space society s 2009 space pioneer award in science , engineering category.