(a) whether Chandrayaan-2 would be a lone mission by
India without Russian tie-up;
(b) if so, the details thereof including the changes in the
mission profile, if any, on account of this;
(c) whether the Government proposes to send a
seismometer on board the landing instrument of
Chandrayaan-2, scheduled to be launched in 2014/15
and if so, the details thereof; and
(d) Whether the sensors have undergone calibrations and if
so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PG & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER`S OFFICE
(SHRI V. NARAYANASAMY):
(a) Yes, Madam.
(b) Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Russian Federal Space Agency
(ROSCOSMOS) have been pursuing Chandrayaan-2 as a joint mission under which, ROSCOSMOS had the
responsibility for the Moon Lander and ISRO had the responsibility to realize the Rover Module,
Orbiter and the launch by GSLV. Chandrayaan-2 as originally envisaged and approved by Government
in September 2008 (at cost of ? 425 crores, excluding cost of GSLV and Lander) is an important
step in India`s Planetary exploration.
ISRO has shown its capability for Moon Orbiter (thru` Chandrayaan-1). Development of Rover
Module and a few scientific instruments to be flown on the Orbiter and Rover has made good
progress. Some level of experimental studies for the Moon Lander has also been undertaken at
ISRO.
Consequent to the failure of the Russian-led interplanetary mission Phobos-Grunt, a sample
return mission to Phobos (one of the moons of Mars), decisions have been taken by ROSCOSMOS
to increase the reliability of their planetary missions. This would result in increase in
the mass of the Moon Lander (planned for Chandrayaan-2). ROSCOSMOS suggested that ISRO may
provide Indian Rover for launch scheduled in 2015 or in 2017, also indicating that the 2015
opportunity involves mass limitation for Rover and higher risk.
Since these inputs from Russian side called for a major programmatic re-alignment, an integrated
programmatic review on Chandrayaan-2 (chaired by Prof U R Rao) was carried out to critically
assess our capability to design and deploy a Landing craft in a short time frame. The integrated
review of Chandrayaan-2, recommended that India could realize the Lander module in the next few
years. Currently the spacecraft is being reconfigured for the proposed Indian Rover and Lander
modules.
The details of changes in the configuration and the mission profile are under finalization.
(c) At present, the list of possible payloads considered onboard the Lander also includes
seismometer. The payloads on the Lander will be finalized in due course taking into account the
weight, volume and power constraints of the Lander.
(d) The calibration of sensors will be done on the flight models after the realization of
the lab/engineering models.