ISRO to use Nuclear Technology/Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) to power Chandrayaan-2

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Isro may give N-boost to Chandrayaan-2

Orbiter spacecraft module structure of the proposed Chandrayaan-2 mission ​

MUMBAI: Isro is mulling use of nuclear technology to increase the life span of its second moon mission Chandrayaan-2, which is slated for lift-off in 2017.

Significantly, the technology, which will use a very small amount of nuclear energy, will have no fission. Simply put, this system will ensure complete safety. It is believed Chandrayaan-2 will have a life span of one year.

The spacecraft will be carried by the indigenously developed 3-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mark 2), which — riding on a string of recent successes — has transformed from being Isro's "naughty boy" to the agency's "most adored boy".

BARC director Sekhar Basu told TOI that his organization has already initiated studies regarding the use of nuclear technology in this mission.

"We have to start from the scratch as the required nuclear material is not available and nobody will give it to us. We have to develop them on our own in our reactorsand produce them artificially," he said.

Basu, while acknowledging that the process could take time, said some aspects of the mission are still being worked out. The use of nuclear technology for this mission assumes significance as Chandrayaan-1's life span was cut short by nearly two months due to a technical problem. It was launched on October 22, 2008, with a 1-year mission life. However, it stopped communicating on August 29, 2009.

The mission profile for Chandrayaan-2 includes an orbiter, lander and a rover, which will study the mineralogy of the lunar surface.

On August 7, 2009, former Isro chief Madhavan Nair had told the media at IIT-B: "We are thinking of powering some parts of Chandrayaan-2 with nuclear power." However, in the past six years this plan had remained on paper following widespread apprehensions about use of nuclear technology in space missions. The plan has now been revived.

According to nuclear experts, the advantage of a nuclear power system in a spacecraft is that it functions independently of sunlight, which is necessary for deep space exploration.

Source:- Isro may give N-boost to Chandrayaan-2 - The Times of India

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Orbiter and Lander in stacked configuration with Rover inside the Lander craft

Rover Configuration - Chandrayaan-2 rover being tested. Photo Courtesy ISRO

A helium balloon is attached to the rover during tests to simulate reduced weight and traction under lunar gravity. Photo Credit: ISRO [via The Hindu]

​

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

The orbiter spacecraft module structure of the proposed Chandrayaan-2 mission built by it has been delivered to the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bengaluru.

The mission will be launched on board GSLV ​

 

[Arya Desa]

It should contain an enclosed ecosystem so we can study how life on the Moon could be feasible.

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs)​

A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG) is an electrical generator that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material into electricity by the Seebeck effect. An RTG has no moving parts. RTGs have been used as power sources in satellites, space probes, and unmanned remote facilities such as a series of lighthouses built by the former Soviet Union inside the Arctic Circle. RTGs are usually the most desirable power source for unmaintained situations that need a few hundred watts (or less) of power for durations too long for fuel cells, batteries, or generators to provide economically, and in places where solar cells are not practical. Safe use of RTGs requires containment of the radioisotopes long after the productive life of the unit.

The pellet is glowing red because of the heat generated by the radioactive decay (primarily alpha) of the fuel. [Photos of glowing pellets are typically taken after insulating the pellet under a graphite blanket for a period of time (minutes), removing the blanket, and taking the picture.] These pellets were used in the RTGs that powered NASA's Galilleo and Cassini spacecraft on missions to Jupiter and Saturn, respectively. The pictures now being sent back from Saturn by the Cassini orbiter are made possible through this unique fuel source.

Environmental Health Specialist Jamie A. Keeley, of EG&G Florida Inc., uses an ion chamber dose rate meter to measure radiation levels in one of three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) that will provide electrical power to the Cassini spacecraft on its mission to explore the Saturnian system. The three RTGs and one spare are being tested and monitored in the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Storage Building in the KSC's Industrial Area. The RTGs use heat from the natural decay of plutonium to generate electric power. RTGs enable spacecraft to operate far from the Sun where solar power systems are not feasible. The RTGs on Cassini are of the same design as those flying on the already deployed Galileo and Ulysses spacecraft.

In the clean room at KSC’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians prepare the New Horizons spacecraft for a media event. Photographers and reporters will be able to photograph the New Horizons spacecraft and talk with project management and test team members from NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The RTG seen in this picture is not the real flying unit and is only a mockup. The real RTG was installed shortly before launch.

Abandoned Beta-M type RTGs on the Kola Peninsula.

The RTG of Apollo 14's ALSEP. Original caption: MET 117:17:41, Down-Sun picture of the RTG with the Central Station in the background. The fins on the RTG provide radiative cooling. Note the relatively large amount of dust that has been kicked on to the RTG. The smaller object in the background is the LRRR. The mortar pack is at the right edge.

Curiosity's RTG is the large unit attached to the rover's rear.

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[Ind4Ever]

Orbiter and Lander in stacked configuration with Rover inside the Lander craft

Rover Configuration - Chandrayaan-2 rover being tested. Photo Courtesy ISRO

A helium balloon is attached to the rover during tests to simulate reduced weight and traction under lunar gravity. Photo Credit: ISRO [via The Hindu]

​

Complex mission this time . Last time we just had orbiter right ? Not lander or rover ? Chan1

 

[Skull and Bones]

Here we are making a nuclear powered rover and our neighbour can't even make a 2-stroke engine.

No need for that rhetoric here.

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Complex mission this time . Last time we just had orbiter right ? Not lander or rover ? Chan1

There was a Moon Impact Probe (MIP) on board the orbiter which was launched and had a hard landing, as planned, into the lunar south pole after a controlled descent. It discovered the presence of water on the Moon. The probe was a product of former President Abdul Kalam's vision who felt that since the Chandrayaan orbiter was already going so near to the moon, the mission would have more scientific relevance if the probe was included.

MIP planted the Indian Tricolour on its surface as well - Mission Accomplished: India fifth in world to reach moon - The Times of India

Moon Impact Probe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Echo_419]

There was a Moon Impact Probe (MIP) on board the orbiter which was launched and had a hard landing, as planned, into the lunar south pole after a controlled descent. It discovered the presence of water on the Moon. The probe was a product of former President Abdul Kalam's vision who felt that since the Chandrayaan orbiter was already going so near to the moon, the mission would have more scientific relevance if the probe was included.

It was the first Asian object on the moon and planted the Indian Tricolour on its surface as well - Mission Accomplished: India fifth in world to reach moon - The Times of India

Moon Impact Probe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Didn't the Chinese landed a proven in 2007?

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Didn't the Chinese landed a proven in 2007?

China's Chang'e 1 launched in 2007 was a lunar orbiter only - The first Asian probe that was part of a lunar landing program was our Moon Impact Probe (MIP) released from Chandrayaan-1 in 2008.

India might have been the fifth country to reach moon but our Tricolour was the fourth national flag to be planted on the moon's surface after that of US, USSR and Japan.
Tricolour's 4th national flag on moon - timesofindia-economictimes

 

[SP!TF!R3]

so,we're going to nuke Moon now??

 

[PatriotLover]

Here we are making a nuclear powered rover and our neighbour can't even make a 2-stroke engine.

Haha What a joke. Half of India is illiterate and cant even pronounce the name. First teach your country and give them education.

 

[gslv mk3]

Haha What a joke. Half of India is illiterate and cant even pronounce the name.

Literacy rate

India : 75%
Pakistan : 63%

First teach your country and give them education.

 

[ni8mare]

Literacy rate

Pakistan : 63%

its 54 % only.................which includes madrasa graduate + DOC on islamic studies

 

[IND151]

Orbiter and Lander in stacked configuration with Rover inside the Lander craft

Rover Configuration - Chandrayaan-2 rover being tested. Photo Courtesy ISRO

A helium balloon is attached to the rover during tests to simulate reduced weight and traction under lunar gravity. Photo Credit: ISRO [via The Hindu]

​

The mission will be very complex.

Good luck to ISRO.

BTW will they use GSLV Mk II or MkIII?