08-31-2009, 10:46 PM
<b>India Ends Lunar Mission After Losing Probe</b> Signal <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Indiaâs space agency ended an $82 million mission to map the surface of the moon after failing to restore contact with its unmanned Chandrayaan I craft.
Contact was lost with the probe two days ago and scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation were unable to restore communications, said S.K. Shivkumar, the director of the ISROâs Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network. The craft began orbiting the moon last November.
âThe mission has been terminated,â Shivkumar said by telephone from Bangalore, adding computers on the craft failed.
<b>Chandrayaan I, or âMoon Craft,â was launched on Oct. 22 last year to map the lunar terrain as a first step toward landing an unmanned rover there by 2012.</b> The moon is again the focus of international exploration 40 years after American Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on its surface, with the U.S., China, South Korea and Russia planning manned or unmanned missions in coming years.
<b>âWe survived for 315 days which is a good record. Many such experiments have burnt within a month in the past,â</b> state- run broadcaster Doordarshan cited ISRO chief Madhavan Nair as saying yesterday...........<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Contact was lost with the probe two days ago and scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation were unable to restore communications, said S.K. Shivkumar, the director of the ISROâs Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network. The craft began orbiting the moon last November.
âThe mission has been terminated,â Shivkumar said by telephone from Bangalore, adding computers on the craft failed.
<b>Chandrayaan I, or âMoon Craft,â was launched on Oct. 22 last year to map the lunar terrain as a first step toward landing an unmanned rover there by 2012.</b> The moon is again the focus of international exploration 40 years after American Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on its surface, with the U.S., China, South Korea and Russia planning manned or unmanned missions in coming years.
<b>âWe survived for 315 days which is a good record. Many such experiments have burnt within a month in the past,â</b> state- run broadcaster Doordarshan cited ISRO chief Madhavan Nair as saying yesterday...........<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->