Chandrayaan-1

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Launch: October 22, 2008             Site: Satish Dhavan Space Centre, Sriharikota

The objectives of the programme were:

  1. To develop and orbit a spacecraft around moon using an Indian-made launch vehicle.
  2. To prepare a three-dimensional atlas of both the near and the far side of the moon.
  3. Chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface.
  4. To study the impact of Moon Impact Probe on the surface of the moon as a fore-runner to future soft landing missions.

NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) had on Chandrayaan-1 had detected water on the surface of moon. The mission was expected to last two years. However, the communication with the satellite was lost on 29 August 2009 and the mission was declared over. It lasted for 312 days and achieved 95 percent of its objectives.

Chandrayaan-1 was selected by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) as one of the recipients of its annual AIAA SPACE 2009 awards for contributions to space science and technology.