Chandrayaan-1

China set to launch Chang'e-6 robotic spacecraft to 'dark' side of moon

Chang'e-6 will rely on a relay satellite orbiting the moon for communication with the earth, and the mission involves an ascent from the moon's 'hidden' side during the return journey

China says it will launch its next lunar explorer in the first half of 2024

China's space agency said on Wednesday that its latest lunar explorer had arrived at the launch site in preparation for a mission to the moon in the first half of this year. State broadcaster CCTV posted photos on its website of the unit under wraps as it was unloaded from a large cargo airplane earlier this week and then transported by flatbed truck to the Wenchang launch site on southern China's Hainan island. The announcement came a day after a US company abandoned a lunar landing planned for February 23 because of a fuel leak that started soon after takeoff on Monday. China and the US are both pursuing plans to land astronauts on the moon in what has become a growing rivalry in space. The US plans to do so in 2026, and China's target date is before 2030. The China National Space Administration said that pre-launch tests would be carried out on its Chang'e-6 probe. The mission's goals include bringing back samples from the far side of the moon. Another US moon lander from a Hou

Chandrayaan-1 data suggests electrons from Earth forming water on Moon

Scientists analysing the remote sensing data from India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission have found that high energy electrons from the Earth may be forming water on the Moon. The team led by researchers from the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa in the US discovered that these electrons in Earth's plasma sheet are contributing to weathering processes -- breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals -- on the Moon's surface. The research, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, found that the electrons may have aided the formation of water on the lunar body. Knowing the concentrations and distributions of water on the Moon is critical to understanding its formation and evolution, and to providing water resources for future human exploration, the researchers said. The new finding may also help explain the origin of the water ice previously discovered in the permanently shaded regions of the Moon, they said. Chandrayaan-1 played a crucial role in the discovery of water molecul

Chandrayaan-3: Third Lunar mission in 15 years, Moon truly beckons Isro

Three Lunar missions in 15 years! It seems the Moon truly beckons ISRO. And why not? Scientists found frozen water deposits in the darkest and coldest parts of the Moon's polar regions for the first time using data from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in 2009. Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the Moon, was launched on October 22, 2008 from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh. The spacecraft, carrying 11 scientific instruments built in India, the USA, the UK, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria, orbited around the Moon at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon. After the successful completion of all the major mission objectives, the orbit was raised to 200 km in May 2009. The satellite made more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon. The orbiter mission, which had a mission life of two years, was, however, prematurely aborted after communication with the spacecraft was lost on August 29, 2009. "Chandrayaan-1 achieve

Chandrayaan-3 to look for resources to sustain life on Moon: Space minister

The union minister in his interview with TOI said that Chandrayaan-3 will explore the possibilities of human habitat on the moon

Chandrayaan-3 lifts off: What India's moon missions have achieved so far

Chandrayaan-3 LIVE: India has taken lead in space tech, says Jitender Singh

'Fat boy' LVM3-M4 rocket will carry Chandrayaan-3 on Friday as part of the country's ambitious moon mission

Chandrayaan-3 set for launch: Here's a look at Isro's other lunar missions

The Isro is now set to launch Chandrayaan-3 today at 2:35 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota

Isro successfully test fires cryogenic engine of its moon mission rocket

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said it had successfully conducted the flight acceptance hot test of the CE-20 cryogenic engine

It's right there: Nasa discovers water on Moon's crater visible from Earth

The discovery comes on the back of several other observations made in the past, including by Chandrayaan-1. Here's why it is of critical importance

Isro's Chandrayaan-3 to lift off for Moon in early 2021, without orbiter

The mission has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and the follow-up lockdowns. The launch which was planned for 2020 will now take off for the Lunar surface sometime in early 2021

Chandrayaan-1 images indicate possible impact of Earth's atmosphere on Moon

The latest finding indicates the presence of water at the Moon's poles and this is what the scientists are trying to decipher

Chandrayaan 2's journey from ideation to the cusp of landing: A timeline

The India's second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 has gone through a long journey dotted with many events in close to 12 years since being conceived in 2007

Chandrayaan-2 manifests the best of Indian talent, will benefit nation: PM

Lander Vikram is scheduled to go on a powered descent between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. tomorrow. Touchdown likely between 1:30 a.m. and 2:30 a.m.

India's first lunar probe Chandrayaan 1 still orbiting Moon: Nasa

Isro lost communication with Chandrayaan-1 on August 29, 2009

As Moon landing nears, scientist recalls 'nail-biting' Chandrayaan-1 moment

Chandrayaan-1 scripted history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009

Chandrayaan-1 helps scientists map water on Moon

Water concentration reaches a maximum average of around 500 to 750 ppm in the higher latitudes

Isro's Chandrayaan-1, once thought lost, still orbiting the Moon: Nasa

Chandrayaan-1 is still circling some 200 kilometres above the lunar surface