NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, pronounced /ˈnæsə/) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The agency became operational on October 1, 1958^. NASA has led U.S. efforts for space exploration ever since, resulting in the Apollo missions to the Moon, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. Currently NASA is supporting the International Space Station and developing new Ares I and V launch vehicles.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA seal
NASA insignia Motto: For the Benefit of All.
Agency overview
Formed	July 29, 1958 (1958-07-29) (51 years ago)
Preceding agency	NACA
Jurisdiction	United States government
Headquarters	Washington, D.C. 38°52′59″N 77°0′59″W / 38.88306°N 77.01639°W / 38.88306; -77.01639
Employees	17,900[citation needed]
Annual budget	US$17.6 billion (FY 2009) See also NASA Budget
Agency executives	Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., Administrator Lori Beth Garver, Deputy Administrator
Website
www.nasa.gov

NACA

Main article: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

Official seal for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

From late 1957 to early 1958, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) began studying what a new non-military space agency would entail, as well as what its role might be, and assigned several committees to review the concept. On January 12, 1958, NACA organized a "Special Committee on Space Technology", headed by Guyford Stever. Stever's committee included consultation from the ABMA's large booster program, referred to as the "Working Group on Vehicular Program," headed by Wernher von Braun, who became a naturalized citizen of the United States after World War II.

                   Project Mercury

NASA's earliest programs involved research into human spaceflight and were conducted under the pressure of the competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that existed during the Cold War. Project Mercury, initiated in 1958, started NASA down the path of human space exploration with missions designed to discover simply if man could survive in space.

                       Project Gemini

Launch of Gemini 1

After the Mercury project, Project Gemini was launched to conduct experiments and work out issues relating to a moon mission. The first Gemini flight with astronauts on board, Gemini 3, was flown by Gus Grissom and John Young on March 23, 1965.

                  Apollo program

The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and to bring them safely back to Earth. Apollo 1 ended tragically when all the astronauts inside died due to fire in the command module during an experimental simulation. Because of this incident, there were a few unmanned tests before men boarded the spacecraft. Apollo 8 and Apollo 10 tested various components while orbiting the Moon, and returned photographs. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed the first men on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but did return photographs.

Research centers

• Ames Research Center, Moffett Federal Airfield, Mountain View, California

The JPL complex in Pasadena, California

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
• Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York City
• Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
• John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, Cleveland, Ohio
• Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

Test facilities

• Ames Research Center, Moffett Federal Airfield, Mountain View, California
• Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Los Angeles County, California
• Independent Verification and Validation Facility, Fairmont, West Virginia
• John C. Stennis Space Center, near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
• Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

                 Construction and launch facilities

The Vehicle Assembly Building and Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center.

• George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
• John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida
• Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
• Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia
• White Sands Test Facility, Las Cruces, New Mexico
  

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International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed research facility currently being assembled in Low Earth Orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled to be completed by 2011, with operations continuing until at least 2015.

                       The station can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye^, and, as of 2009^[update], is the largest artificial satellite in Earth orbit, with a mass larger than that of any previous space station.  The ISS and its experiments are operated by long-duration Expedition crews, with the station being continuously staffed since the first resident crew, Expedition 1, arrived on 2 November 2000. This has provided an uninterrupted human presence in space for the last &0000000000000009.0000009 years and &0000000000000043.00000043 days. As of 1 December 2009 (2009 -12-01)^[update], the crew of Expedition 22 is aboard.

International Space Station

The International Space Station on 25 November 2009 as seen from the departing Space Shuttle Atlantis during STS-129.
ISS Insignia
Station statistics
NSSDC ID:	1998-067A
Call sign:	Alpha
Crew:	6
Launch:	1998–2011
Launch pad:	KSC LC-39, Baikonur LC-1/5 & LC-81/23
Mass:	344,378 kg (759,222 lb)
Length:	73 m (240 ft) from PMA-2 to Zvezda
Width:	108.5 m (356 ft) along truss, arrays extended
Height:	c.20 m (c.66 ft) nadir–zenith, arrays forward–aft
Living volume:	c.373 m³ (c.13,172 ft³)
Atmospheric pressure:	101.3 kPa (29.91 inHg)
Perigee:	336 km altitude (181 nmi)
Apogee:	346 km altitude (189 nmi)
Orbit inclination:	51.6419 degrees
Average speed:	27,743.8 km/h (17,239.2 mph, 7,706.6 m/s)
Orbital period:	c.91 minutes
Days in orbit:	4043 (15 December 2009)
Days occupied:	3332 (15 December 2009)
Number of orbits:	c.63807 (15 December 2009)
Orbital decay:	2 km/month
Statistics as of 27 November 2009 (unless noted otherwise)
References:
Configuration
Station elements as of 25 November 2009 (2009 -11-25)[update].

 The station represents a union of several space station projects including the American Space Station Freedom, the Soviet/Russian Mir-2, the European Columbus and the Japanese Kibō.

 The ISS is operated as a joint project between the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the European Space Agency (ESA)

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Chandrayaan-1

Chandrayaan-1 (Sanskrit: चंद्रयान-१, lit: moon-traveller, or moon vehicle  pronunciation) was India's first unmanned lunar probe. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008, and operated until August 2009.

                     The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor. India launched the spacecraft by a modified version of the PSLV, PSLV C11on 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north of Chennai, at 06:22 IST (00:52 UTC). The mission was a major boost to India's space program, as India researched and developed its own technology in order to explore the Moon.The vehicle was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008.





On 14 November 2008, the Moon Impact Probe separated from the Chandrayaan orbiter at 20:06 and struck the south pole in a controlled manner, making India the fourth country to place its flag on the Moon. The probe impacted near Shackleton Crater at 20:31 ejecting underground soil that could be analysed for the presence of lunar water ice.
The estimated cost for the project was Rs. 386 crore (US$ 80 million).

Chandrayaan-1

Organization	Indian Space Research Organisation
Mission type	Orbiter
Satellite of	Moon
Orbital insertion date	12 November 2008
Orbits	3400 orbits around the Moon.
Launch date	22 October 2008 00:52 UTC
Launch vehicle	PSLV-C11
Launch site	SDSC, Sriharikota
Mission duration	Intended: 2 years Achieved: 312 days
COSPAR ID	2008-052A
Home page	Chandrayaan-1
Mass	523 kg (1,153 lb)
Orbital elements
Eccentricity	near circular
Inclination	polar
Apoapsis	initial 7,500 km (4,660 mi), final 100 km (62 mi), final (wef 19 May 2009) 200 km (124 mi)
Periapsis	initial 500 km (311 mi), final 100 km (62 mi), final (wef 19 May 2009) 200 km (124 mi)

                  Objectives

The stated scientific objectives of the mission were:

• To design, develop, launch and orbit a spacecraft around the Moon using an Indian-made launch vehicle.

• Conduct scientific experiments using instruments on the spacecraft which would yield the following data:
  
  
  • Preparation of a three-dimensional atlas (with high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10 m) of both the near and far side of the Moon.
  
  
  
  
  • Chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface at high spatial resolution, mapping particularly the chemical elements magnesium, aluminium, silicon, calcium, iron, titanium, radon, uranium, & thorium.
  
  
  
  
  • To increase the scientific knowledge
  
  
  
  
  • The impact of a sub-satellite (Moon Impact
    
  
  
  
  
  • Probe — MIP) on the surface on the Moon as a fore-runner to future soft-landing missions.
  
  
  

                  End of the mission

The mission was launched in 22 October 2008 and expected to operate for 2 years. However, at 09.02 (UTC) on 29 August 2009 communication with the spacecraft was suddenly lost. The probe had operated for 312 days. The craft will remain in orbit for approximately another 1000 days, eventually crashing into the lunar surface.



              A member of the science advisory board of Chandrayaan-1 said that it is difficult to ascertain reasons for the loss of contact. ISRO Chairman -Madhavan Nair- said that due to very high radiation, power-supply units controlling both the computer systems on board failed, snapping the communication connectivity. The mission which ended traced water on moon.

Water discovered on moon

These images show a very young lunar crater on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth, as viewed by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mappicleshow/5057854.cms ISRO found water on moon 10 months ago

This was confirmed on 24 September 2009, when Science Magazine reported that NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on Chandrayaan-1 has detected water on the moon.

M3 detected absorption features near 2.8-3.0 µm on the surface of the Moon. For silicate bodies, such features are typically attributed to hydroxyl- and/or water-bearing materials. On the Moon, the feature is seen as a widely distributed absorption that appears strongest at cooler high latitudes and at several fresh feldspathic craters. The general lack of correlation of this feature in sunlit M3 data with neutron spectrometer H abundance data suggests that the formation and retention of OH and H2O is an ongoing surficial process. OH/H2O production processes may feed polar cold traps and make the lunar regolith a candidate source of volatiles for human exploration.

Award for Chandrayaan-1

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has selected ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 mission as one of the recipient's of its annual, AIAA SPACE 2009, awards, which recognize key contributions to space science and technology.




The International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) chose the Chandrayaan-1 team for giving the International Cooperation award, M, Annadurai, project director, Chandrayaan-1.

                      The Chandrayaan team of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was chosen for the award for accommodation and tests of the most international lunar payload ever (from 20 countries consisting of India, the European Space Agency representing 17 European countries, NASA and Bulgaria) and the successful launch of the probe on PSLV rocket on 22 October and the lunar insertion of the spacecraft carried out subsequently.



The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an imaging spectrometer, was one of the 11 instruments on board Chandrayaan-I that came to a premature end on 29 August. M3 was aimed at providing the first mineral map of the entire lunar surface.

                      Team

The scientists considered instrumental to the success of the Chandrayaan-1 project are:

• G. Madhavan Nair – Chairman, Indian Space Research Organization
• Dr. T. K. Alex – Director, ISAC (ISRO Satellite Centre)
• Mylswamy Annadurai – Project Director, Chandrayan-1
• S. K. Shivkumar – Director - Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network
• Mr. M.Pitchaimani – Operations Director, Chandrayan-1
• Mr. Leo Jackson John – Spacecraft Operations Manager, Chandrayan-1
• Dr. K.Radhakrishnan – Director, VSSC
• George Koshy – Mission Director, PSLV-C11
• Srinivasa Hegde – Mission Director, Chandrayaan-1
• M C Dattan – Director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota
• Prof. J N Goswami – Director of Physical Research Laboratory and Principal Scientific Investigator of Chandrayaan-1

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Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (Hindi: ध्रुवीय उपग्रह प्रक्षेपण यान), commonly known by its abbreviation PSLV, is an expendable launch system developed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

                     It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into sun synchronous orbits, a service that was, until the advent of the PSLV, commercially viable only from Russia.

                PSLV can also launch small size satellites into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The PSLV has launched 41 satellites (19 Indian and 22 from other countries) into a variety of orbits till date. In April 2008, it successfully launched 10 satellites in one go, breaking a world record previously held by Russia.


PSLV costs 17 million USD flyaway cost for each launch.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

PSLV-C8 (CA Variant) carrying the AGILE x-ray and γ-ray astronomical satellite of the ASI lifting off from Sriharikota
Function	Medium Lift Launch System
Manufacturer	ISRO
Country of origin	India
Size
Height	44 metres (140 ft)
Diameter	2.8 metres (9 ft 2 in)
Mass	294,000 kilograms (650,000 lb)
Stages	4
Capacity
Payload to LEO	3,250 kilograms (7,200 lb)
Payload to HCO	1,600 kilograms (3,500 lb)[1]
Payload to GTO	1,060 kilograms (2,300 lb)[1]
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Sriharikota
Total launches	16 PSLV: 10 PSLV-CA: 5 PSLV-XL: 1
Successes	14 PSLV: 8 PSLV-CA: 5 PSLV-XL: 1
Failures	1 (PSLV)
Partial failures	1 (PSLV)
Maiden flight	PSLV: 20 September 1993 PSLV-CA: 23 April 2007 PSLV-XL: 22 October 2008
Notable payloads	Chandrayaan-1
Boosters (Stage 0)
No boosters	6
Engines	1 solid
Thrust	502.600 kN
Specific impulse	262 sec
Burn time	44 seconds
Fuel	HTPB (solid)
First stage
Engines	1 solid
Thrust	4,860 kN
Specific impulse	269 sec
Burn time	105 seconds
Fuel	HTPB (solid)
Second stage
Engines	1 Vikas
Thrust	725 kN
Specific impulse	293 sec
Burn time	158 seconds
Fuel	N2O4/UDMH
Third stage
Engines	1 solid
Thrust	328 kN
Specific impulse	294 sec
Burn time	83 seconds
Fuel	Solid
Fourth stage
Engines	2 liquid
Thrust	14 kN
Specific impulse	308 sec
Burn time	425 seconds
Fuel	MMH/UDMH

                        Development

 

PSLV is designed and developed at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The inertial systems are developed by ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) at Thiruvananthapuram.

                  The liquid propulsion stages for the second and fourth stages of PSLV as well as the reaction control systems are developed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), also at Thiruvananthapuram. The solid propellant motors are processed by Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, which also carries out launch operations.


                         After some delays, the PSLV had its first launch on 20 September 1993. Although all main engines performed as expected, an altitude control problem was reported in the second and third stages. After this initial setback, ISRO met complete success with the third developmental launch in 1996. Further successful launches followed in 1997, 1999, and 2001.

Variant	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
PSLV (Standard)	10	8	1	1
PSLV-CA (Core Alone)	5	5	0	0	Launched 10 satellites in one go.
PSLV-XL (Extended)	1	1	0	0	Launched Chandrayaan I.

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Astrosat all set to be launched next year: Isro

India’s first science satellite Astrosat is all set to be launched next year, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Madhavan Nair said today.

One more satellite ‘Aditya’ to study Sun’s coronal mass ejection (CME) would be launched in two years while the science mission to planet Mars by 2013, Nair said, addressing a galaxy of scientists from India and abroad and the student community at the Grand Finale function of Bhabha Centenary celebrations, which concluded today.

The multi-wavelength astronomy mission Astrosat on an Indian remote sensing satellite-class satellite in a 650-km, near-equatorial orbit would be launched next year, he said, adding it will be launched by the Indian launch vehicle PSLV from the Sriharikota launchpad. The expected operating life time of the satellite will be of five years.

‘Adiyta’ will be launched in next two years to study the properties of CMEs, that are gigantic bubbles of electrified gas that billow away from the Sun.

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Star sensors in Chandrayaan I fail

India's ambitious Chandrayaan-I Moon mission might come to a premature end as star sensors on board the spacecraft have failed.
          'Star sensors are malfunctioning,' S Satish, spokesperson of the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told PTI.


Star sensors played the crucial role of orientation towards the Moon. ISRO said it has devised innovative technology and is using antenna pointing mechanism and gyroscopes to overcome the problem.
   
But the space agency is not confident on how long they can hold to this mode. 'We are not sure how long we will be able to sustain it. The life of Chandrayaan-I designed for two years may be reduced,' Satish said.
   
He, however, maintained that the mission is not crippled adding, 'it is continuing satisfactorily.' Chandrayaan-I was launched from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on October 22 last year.

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