A week ahead of the fireworks and lights celebrating the festival of Diwali, the Indian Space Research Organisation鈥檚 own rocket show should have got off the ground.
As 快猫短视频 went to press, ISRO was preparing to launch an uncrewed spacecraft to map the moon in more detail than ever before 鈥� a far cry from ISRO鈥檚 beginnings in the 1960s, when its first office was a church in Kerala.
India鈥檚 maiden moon mission Chandrayaan may have cost less than other countries鈥� lunar missions 鈥� $80 million as opposed to $140 million for the European Space Agency鈥檚 SMART-1 鈥� but its aims are no less ambitious. 鈥淔or the first time we hope to have a comprehensive mapping of the entire moon,鈥� says ISRO scientist Parameswaran Sreekumar.
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The rocket, designed and built in India carries various instruments from around the world: for example, a US radar to image the moon鈥檚 poles in search of water ice. Upgraded versions of two spectrometers used in SMART-I are to gather clues on the origin and evolution of the lunar crust. Moon maps will be invaluable for the crewed moon mission that India is planning for 2014 or 2015.
Some Indian development-policy analysts question whether the money might not be better spent on tackling India鈥檚 myriad social needs. 鈥淭hey asked the same question when we built our first satellite Aryabhata in the 70s,鈥� notes Mylswamy Annadurai, Chandrayaan project director. 鈥淚SRO has done fairly good work in using space for societal needs. Today we have satellites for education, crops, health and communications鈥� Chandrayaan is today鈥檚 equivalent of Aryabhata.鈥�
