When did Chandrayaan-1 launch and from where?
Chandrayaan-1 launched on the 22nd of October 2008 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The PSLV-XL rocket lifted off at 00:52 UTC to begin the mission.
Chandrayaan-1 launched on the 22nd of October 2008 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The PSLV-XL rocket lifted off at 00:52 UTC to begin the mission.
Chandrayaan-1 carried eleven scientific instruments including five Indian payloads and six international contributions. These tools included the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, Mini-SAR radar, and Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument to map surface composition and search for water ice.
Chandrayaan-1 operated for 312 days instead of the planned two years before communication ended on the 28th of August 2009. Engineers attributed the loss of contact to very high radiation levels damaging critical components during early 2009.
ISRO announced the discovery of water on the 24th of September 2009 after the Moon Impact Probe struck the south pole near Shackleton crater. Data collected by Chandra's Altitudinal Composition Explorer provided evidence of water in 650 mass spectra readings just before impact.
The Soviet Union achieved lunar orbit in 1959 followed by the United States in 1962, Japan in 1993, and the European Space Agency in 2006. India became the fifth nation to place a vehicle in lunar orbit when Chandrayaan-1 entered its final elliptical orbit on the 8th of November 2008.