MONDAY, September 22, (News Locale) - India's first ever unmanned mission to the moon called Chandrayaan-1 is due to blast off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at the spaceport of Sriharikota in October this year. However the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said it will launch the mission in December should the weather situation worsen during October.

The first launch window is between October 19 and 26. But worsening weather conditions in the Bay of Bengal could play havoc with the launch timeline. Therefore December could be a realistic launch date as the cyclone season would have passed by then.

The Chandrayaan-1 will be launched from the upgraded version of the 316 tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL). Mission objectives include mapping helium-3 (He-3) on the lunar surface.

Helium-3 is a non-radioactive mineral that is scanty on the Earth's surface, but is believed to be found in plenty on the moon. This mineral is expected to fuel fusion-based nuclear reactors to generate power. Dr T K Alex, the director of ISRO, said He-3 has the potential to produce a large amount of energy.

Other mission objectives include:
* Search for surface or sub-surface water-ice on the moon, especially at lunar pole
* To map the height variation of the lunar surface features along the satellite track
* High resolution mineralogical and chemical imaging of permanently shadowed north and south polar regions

Chandrayaan itself will not land on the moon, but will enter the lunar atmosphere and hover around the Earth's only satellite. The cost of the mission is estimated to be $83 million or Rs 386 crore. The mission will carry 11 different payloads including some from other countries as well.

Chandrayaan-1 has a 2-year operational life. ISRO has intimated it will begin work on Chandrayaan-2, which is a joint lunar mission involving a lunar orbiting spacecraft and a Lander/Rover on the Moon’s surface. ISRO aims to be ready for this mission by 2012.

Chandrayaan-I, which was unveiled last week, is presently set to undergo vibration and acoustic tests at the ISRO Satellite Center in Bangalore.