 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
India to launch unmanned lunar mission this month
Bangalore, India (AFP) Oct 6, 2008 India will launch its first lunar mission on October 22 from southern India, a top official from the country's space agency said Monday. The announcement came a week after Asian rival China said it was setting its sights on a manned trip to the moon after completing a historic mission that included the country's first space walk. "We have set October 22 as the tentative date for the launch of lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1, though the launch window will be kept open till October 26," Indian Space Research Organisation director S. Satish told AFP. "Weather permitting, the launch will take place around 6:30 am (0100 GMT)." The launch of the unmanned robotic mission was originally planned for April but was postponed because of technical reasons, local news reports said earlier this year. India will join Japan and China in moon exploration with the planned mission. The spacecraft will conduct a lunar orbit at a distance of 385,000 kilometres (240,000 miles) from Earth. Last year, China's Chang'e I lunar satellite took off on October 24 after Japan launched its Kaguya lunar orbiter on September 14. Last month, millions in China watched as astronaut Zhai Zhigang, 41, embarked on a 15-minute space walk, during which he waved a Chinese flag in the weightlessness of low orbit some 340 kilometres (210 miles) above the Earth. India's first robotic mission, budgeted at 90 million dollars, will be followed by another in 2012, ISRO has said. A timetable for a manned mission will be announced this year. Spacefaring nations are accelerating their quest to reach the moon more than three decades after the last human landing, and use it as a springboard to explore planets beyond. The US Apollo programme resulted in the only manned spaceflights to the moon, with six landings from 1969 to 1972. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com Lunar Dreams and more
NASA's Dirty Secret: Moon Dust
Boulder CO (SPX) Oct 01, 2008The Apollo Moon missions of 1969-1972 all share a dirty secret. "The major issue the Apollo astronauts pointed out was dust, dust, dust," says Professor Larry Taylor, Director of the Planetary Geosciences Institute at the University of Tennessee. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook