Continue reading

24-01-09 C1XS Catches First Glimpse Of X-ray From The Moon

The C1XS X-ray camera,jointly developed by the UK's STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),has successfully detected its first X-ray signature from the Moon.This is the first step in its mission to reveal the origin and evolution of our Moon by mapping its surface composition.In orbit around the Moon on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft,C1XS detected the X-ray signal from a region near the Apollo landing sites on December 12th 2008 at 02:36 UT. The solar flare that caused the X-ray fluorescence was exceedingly weak,approximately 20 times smaller than the minimum C1XS was designed to detect."C1XS has exceeded expectations as to its sensitivity and has proven by its performance that it is the most sensitive X-ray spectrometer of its kind in history," said Ms.Shyama Narendranath,Instrument Operations Scientist at ISRO