Chandrayaan-1, which is the first unmanned mission to the moon being conducted by India, will be launched in September at the earliest, a senior official has informed. The official added that the precise date for this unique exploratory mission of moon will be declared the coming month. The chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Mr G Madhavan Nair underscored that a lot is being expected out of this Chandrayaan-1 mission. He said it will be a special mission as it will undertake a full mapping of the moon, which does not exist today.   

To the question of the exact date for the launch of this $100 million worth Chandrayaan-1 mission, the ISRO chairman replied, ‘The launch date will be announced next month. September is the earliest.’ It was also pointed out that the lunar craft will not land on the moon. Rather it will revolve around the moon in a polar orbit about 100 km above the surface. The job of the lunar craft will be to study the surface of the moon and collect information on the polar icecaps which may contain traces of water. It will take the spacecraft a minimum of two years to complete its moon mission. ‘We are trying to look for rare elements on the surface of the moon. The information will help us in further exploration’, Mr Nair said.