Lunar mission scheduled for early '08: ISRO chief

The country's space mission to the moon is scheduled to be launched early 2008, G Madhavan Nair, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has said.

"The Moon Mission is scheduled to be launched from Sriharikota early 2008 using the polar satellite launching vehicle (PSLV) and would take five days to reach near the moon's orbit," the ISRO chief said when asked about the progress of the ambitious mission.

The unmanned space craft would revolve around the moon for two years to collect valuble data on the Earth's satellite, Nair said without elaborating on the mission.

The ISRO chairman was here to attend a function organised by the Malabar Cancer Care Society, a telemedicine provider, facilitating cancer patients in north Kerala online interaction, using satellite services, with the experts of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Regional Cancer Centre.