October 23, 2008
A New Beginning
image from Indian Space Research Organization
Congratulations to India for a successful launch of the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter! In addition to gaining deserved prestige from joining the technologically advanced nations that have developed the capability to send a rocket to the Moon (Soviet Union, USA, Europe, China and Japan), India has built a sophisticated spacecraft that will gain information to significantly advance understanding of the Moon. And we can hope that unlike Europe, China and Japan, India will quickly and fully share its discoveries with the world. Chandrayaan-1 carries 11 different sensors that will map topography, determine elemental compositions of the surface, and look for polar water and He3. It also carries a hard-landing probe (like Ranger) that will image the surface on the way in and somehow image the dust from the impact. The scientists at ISRO are already planning Chandrayaan-2, in collaboration with Russia and other nations, to place a lander and rover on the Moon, and are hoping to send an Indian astronaut (what will the Hindi word be?) there sometime around 2015. The next decade will truly be the Second Golden Age of Lunar Exploration, and will differ from the First by the greater number of participants, and, so far, with a lack of overt political rivalry.
Chuck Wood
(Sorry for no LPOD yesterday - I was on a plane most of the day, arriving home after midnight, so missed a day.)
Related Links
A bizarre story reminiscent of Tommy Gold's dust traps on the Moon.
Yesterday's LPOD: Fractured, Tilted And Flooded
Tomorrow's LPOD: Inside Shackleton
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