USRA Scientist Principal Investigator for MiniSAR Instrument on India's Chandrayaan-1 Lunar Mission
The Chandrayaan-1 mission, which launched successfully on October 22 from India's Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), will put the unmanned Chandrayaan spacecraft into orbit around the moon and use an 11 instrument package carried on the spacecraft to conduct mineralogical and chemical mapping of the lunar surface. This mapping will be achieved through high-resolution remote sensing in the visible, near infrared, microwave, and X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The result of Chandrayaan's 2 year mission will be a 3-dimensional atlas of the lunar surface as well as the chemical and mineralogical mapping.
'We are very proud of Dr. Spudis' participation as Principal Investigator on the MiniSAR team,' said USRA CEO and President, Dr. Frederick A. Tarantino, 'This is an outstanding example of the type of collaborative scientific effort that is absolutely critical to the future of space science and exploration and is an important part of USRA's overall mission.'
The Lunar and Planetary Institute, a division of the Universities Space Research Association, was established during the Apollo missions to foster international collaboration and to serve as a repository for information gathered during the early years of the space program. Today the LPI is an intellectual leader in lunar and planetary science.
The Universities Space Research Association, established in 1969 by the National Academy of Sciences, is a private, nonprofit consortium of 102 universities offering advanced degrees in space- and aeronautics-related disciplines. USRA's mission is to conduct leading-edge research, develop innovative technologies, promote education and policy across the breadth of space science, and operate premier science and technology facilities by involving universities, private industry and government.