Article Posted on : - Nov 26, 2008

This is the picture of moon's surface taken from lunar orbit by Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on November 15, 2008. ISRO

BANGALORE (PTI): India's unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan is functioning normally even though there has been a rise in temperature in the moon's atmosphere, an ISRO official said today.

"It is a usual phenomenon because it is summer on the moon. There is nothing to worry. It will be normal by December," Satish, ISRO spokesperson told PTI.

He said the craft's nine payloads, which have been switched on, are working fine and sending back data.

In view of the rise in temperature, ISRO will not work on all the payloads at a given time to ensure that they are not affected by the heat, he said.

"Two of the high voltage payloads SARA and Hex will be switched on shortly. These payloads are sensitive equipment and need more voltage. By the first week of December, the atmosphere will become benign on the moon," he said.