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Chandrayaan-2’s lander and rover simulated surface tests
Why is it in news?
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) created a proto-Lunar Terrain Test Facility (LTTF) at its advanced satellite testing unit, ISITE, in Bengaluru.
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- Challenges for LTTF:(1) Equipping the LTTF and making it look and feel like being on the moon was the first challenge.(2) It needed lunar ‘soil’ with almost all its features and texture, lunar temperatures, low gravity and the same amount of sunlight as on the moon.
- Indigenous solution: Instead of importing costly simulated lunar soil from the U.S., India decided to find its own solution at a lower cost.
- Creation of simulated lunar soil:(1) Geologists of various national agencies had found that a few sites near Salem in Tamil Nadu had the ‘anorthosite’ rock that somewhat matches lunar soil in composition and features.(2) It turned out to be a ₹25 crore project: experts from the National Institute of Technology in Tiruchi, Periyar University in Salem, and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, joined in, working without any fee.
- Test site: Chandrayaan-2 lander Vikram tested over ‘craters’ created at Challakere Science City.
- Mission Info graphics:
Source
The Hindu