NEW DELHI: India launched its first mission to the moon yesterday, rocketing a satellite up into the pale dawn sky in a two-year mission to redraw maps of the lunar surface.
Clapping and cheering scientists tracked the ascent on computer screens after they lost sight of Chandrayaan 1 from the Sriharikota Space Centre in southern India. Chandrayaan means “Moon Craft” in ancient Sanskrit.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said the mission is to “unravel the mystery of the moon.”
“We have started our journey to the moon and the first leg has gone perfectly well,” he said.
Chief among the mission’s goals is mapping not only the surface of the moon, but what lies beneath. If successful, India will join what’s shaping up as a 21st century space race with Chinese and Japanese crafts already in orbit around the moon.
To date only the US, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China have sent missions to the moon. As India’s economy has boomed in recent years, it has sought to convert its newfound wealth — built on the nation’s high-tech sector — into political and military clout. It is hoping that the moon mission — coming just months after finalizing a deal with the United States that recognizes India as a nuclear power — will further enhance its status.
Until now, India’s space launches have mainly carried weather warning satellites and communication systems, said former NASA Associate Administrator Scott Pace. “You’re seeing India lifting its sights,” he said.
While much of the technology involved in reaching the moon has not changed since the Soviet Union and the US did it more than four decades ago, analysts say new mapping equipment allows the exploration of new areas, including below the surface. India plans to use the 3,080-pound lunar probe to create a high-resolution map of the lunar surface and the minerals below. Two of the mapping instruments are a joint project with NASA.
