India’s first unmanned moon mission entered lunar space early Tuesday as part of its final journey this week into the moon’s orbit, a top space official said.<\/p>\n
The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched with an Indian-built rocket on October 22 from the country’s southeastern coast.<\/p>\n
“The operation to put Chandrayaan into lunar space went off very well,” S. Satish, director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told AFP.<\/p>\n
The spacecraft is now 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the moon, enabling its terrain-mapping camera to shoot pictures of it.<\/p>\n
Scientists are preparing for the next major stage to enable the spacecraft to enter lunar orbit on Saturday and position itself about 100 kilometres from the moon’s surface.<\/p>\n
Once the mission is in the lunar orbit, it will stabilise in about a week, after which it will send a probe instrument to the moon’s surface.<\/p>\n
Chandrayaan carries 11 payloads — five from India and others from abroad.<\/p>\n
During a two-year orbital mission, it will provide a detailed map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon’s surface.<\/p>\n
The mission will cost India 80 million dollars.<\/p>\n
India’s first unmanned moon mission entered lunar space early Tuesday as part of its final journey this week into the moon’s orbit, a top space official said. The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched with an Indian-built rocket on October 22 from the country’s southeastern coast. “The operation to put Chandrayaan into lunar space went off very … <\/p>\n