- May 10, 2024
- Kainat Shakeel
- 0
The first-ever photographs taken by Pakistan’s lunar satellite, iCube-Qamar, were communicated on Friday, according to the National Space Agency. The satellite, which is a component of China’s Chang’e-6 lunar mission, was launched on May 3 from the province of Hainan and reached the moon’s orbit safely at 1:14 p.m. on May 8. The moon is located 384,400 kilometers away from Earth on average. The Institute of Space Technology (IST) in Islamabad, China, Shanghai University (SJTU), and Suparco, the national space agency of Pakistan, collaborated to design the lunar module. Ahead of the successful mission completion, the iconic photos were presented at a ceremony held at the China National Space Agency (CNSA), according to Dr. Khurram Khursheed, head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Science at IST and spokesperson for the agency.
She said that Pakistan’s envoy to Beijing received them formally. Two optical cameras are carried by the iCube-Q spacecraft to take pictures of the lunar surface. The module is a cube satellite, sometimes known as a CubeSat. Cube satellites are tiny spacecraft that are characterized by a standardized cubic design and compact dimensions. Owing to their small size and very low cost in comparison to conventional satellites, CubeSats provided universities, research centers, and commercial organizations with chances to take part in space missions and collect important data for innovation and scientific advancement. The satellite has a one-megapixel camera weighing seven kilograms and is designed for missions with limited power. It can operate in extremely cold conditions, down to minus 100 degrees Celsius.
According to Dr. Khursheed, the satellite would be essential to deep space missions. “With its ability to transmit images at a modest 1-kbps, its surface-level analysis capabilities will provide crucial data on the locations of craters, water, and traces of ice on the moon’s surface,” he had stated. ICube-Q will orbit the moon for three to six months, taking pictures and sending them back to Earth while the Chinese lander gathers samples of rock and soil. The Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (Apsco) on behalf of the CNSA provided the chance for the CubeSat to be released from the Chang’e-6 mission into lunar orbit. Of all the Apsco member states, Pakistan’s application was approved following a careful assessment.