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Chandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 Onboard Chandrayaan-2 to Study the Lunar Neutral Exosphere


Affiliations
1 Directorate of Technology Development and Innovation, Department of Space, ISRO Headquarters, Antariksh Bhavan, New BEL Road, Bengaluru 560 094, India
2 Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
 

The CHandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 (CHACE-2) experiment aboard Chandrayaan-2 orbiter will study in situ, the composition of the lunar neutral exosphere in the mass range 1–300 amu with mass resolution of 0.5 amu. It will address the spatial and temporal variations of the lunar exosphere, and examine water vapour as well as heavier species in it. In this article, results of the major characterization and calibration experiments of CHACE-2 are presented, with an outline of the qualification tests for both the payload and ground segment.

Keywords

CHACE-2, Chandrayaan-2, Exosphere, Mass Spectrometer.
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  • Chandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 Onboard Chandrayaan-2 to Study the Lunar Neutral Exosphere

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Authors

Tirtha Pratim Das
Directorate of Technology Development and Innovation, Department of Space, ISRO Headquarters, Antariksh Bhavan, New BEL Road, Bengaluru 560 094, India
Smitha V. Thampi
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
M. B. Dhanya
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Neha Naik
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
P. Sreelatha
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
P. Pradeepkumar
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
G. Padma Padmanabhan
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
B. Sundar
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Dinakar Prasad Vajja
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Amarnath Nandi
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
R. Satheesh Thampi
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Vipin K. Yadav
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
J. K. Abhishek
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Md. Nazeer
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
P. T. Lali
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Rosmy John
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
A. V. Aliyas
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Vijay Kumar Sen
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
M. Ramprabhu
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
A. Ajay Krishna
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India

Abstract


The CHandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 (CHACE-2) experiment aboard Chandrayaan-2 orbiter will study in situ, the composition of the lunar neutral exosphere in the mass range 1–300 amu with mass resolution of 0.5 amu. It will address the spatial and temporal variations of the lunar exosphere, and examine water vapour as well as heavier species in it. In this article, results of the major characterization and calibration experiments of CHACE-2 are presented, with an outline of the qualification tests for both the payload and ground segment.

Keywords


CHACE-2, Chandrayaan-2, Exosphere, Mass Spectrometer.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv118%2Fi2%2F202-209