Team Indus
| Type |
Aerospace Research Team For-Profit Organisation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founder(s) | Rahul Narayan, Indranil Chakraborty, Sameer Joshi, Dilip Chabria, Julius Amrit |
| Headquarters | New Delhi, India |
| Key people | Rahul Narayan, Indranil Chakraborty, Sameer Joshi, Dilip Chabria, Julius Amrit |
| Website | www.teamindus.in |
Team Indus is a for-profit organisation headquartered in New Delhi, India. The team is led by Rahul Narayan, a Delhi based IT professional.[1] The team of professionals from various backgrounds science, technology, finance and media is the only Indian team leading the charge of India to win the Google Lunar X Prize mission announced in year 2007. The mission often referred to as "Moon 2.0" is a challenge that calls for participating teams to design and land a robot on the Moon.[2] The Robot is required to travel more than 500 meters on the lunar surface and send feedback to earth.[3] The deadline of the competition is December 31, 2015.[2] The Indian entrant - Team Indus will be competing against 29 teams from 17 countries to win the US$20 million grand prize and additional prize worth US$5 million.[2]
Mission
The Team Indus aims at reaching the destination ahead of the other participating teams. Team also plans to attempt the endurance and distance bonus prizes. To accomplish the same, they reckon on designing not one but two rovers. The mission type being a lunar lander with multiple (two) rovers. The two rovers together shall only weight around 15 kg, in the moon.[4] One rover will compete for the main task i.e. to travel more than 500 meters on the lunar surface and send feedback to the earth. The other rover will compete for the US$5 million worth prize by completing additional tasks beyond baseline requirements to win grand or the second place prize, such as survival and range.[5]
The spacecraft is envisaged to transport the two rovers in the lunar lander, from earth's surface to orbit around the moon. The lunar lander will be the primary communication and control center and will also absorb the lunar touchdown impact.[5]
The team proposes the launch of the rovers sometime in the year 2014.[6] The mission to the moon is planned as a Launch - Coast - Burn- Direct Lunar Descent trajectory. Team Indus plans at launching the rovers by PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) operated by ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation, for which the proposal has been made. The planned mission duration is 30 earth days. The mass at launch is approximated at 900 kg and total Lunar payload mass is approximated at 40 kg.[6]
Team Indus Lunar Lander code named HHK1 is envisioned as a universal airless body landing platform. The team plans at further modification of the HHK1 for other terrestrial and inter-stellar application, after the Google Lunar X Prize is over. For the present mission the HHK1 is the main communication and control unit consisting of Payload, Propulsion, Structural and other sub-systems.[6]
References
- ↑ e-news, ibnlive. "ibnlive blog".
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Google Lunar X Prize". Retrieved 19 October 2012.
- ↑ The times of India E-newpaper http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=19§id=edid=&edlabel=TOIM&mydateHid=19-02-2011&pubname=Times+of+India+-+Mumbai&edname=&articleid=Ar01906&publabel=TOI
|url=missing title (help). - ↑ "Indian team in lunar rover competition". Hindu e-news (Chennai, India). 10 April 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Team Indus is moving to Center Stage".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Team Indus Website". Retrieved 19 October 2012.
External links
| ||||||||||||||