Indian spacecraft launches Brunel project into orbit
Dr David Smith and PhD student Jason Gow have been involved in developing the Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) lunar science instrument, which is one of 11 instruments being launched on the satellite for its two-year mission.
The Chandrayaan satellite, weighing half a tonne, entered a lunar orbit around 62 miles above the Moon's surface on 9 November 2008 and is mapping the Moon in 3D. One of India’s aims is to look at the possibility of harvesting helium 3, a key fuel for nuclear fusion and of which the Moon is thought to have a plentiful supply. To find out more about studying at Brunel University and the projects that their students are involved in, visit the University's website. To find out more about Chandrayaan-1, visit the official mission website. |
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Two academics from the School of Engineering and Design at Brunel University saw their work launched into space recently on the Chandrayaan-1 satellite, India’s first unmanned Moon mission.
The C1XS instrument, about the size of a shoe box, will record X-ray fluorescence spectra from the surface of the Moon, mapping the whole lunar globe for chemical and mineralogical composition. It will help answer questions about the evolution of the Moon and shed light on how the early Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury developed as terrestrial planets.