Bloomberg.com
Indian 'Tricolor' Reaches Moon With Mapping Probe (Update1)
By Demian McLean
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- India planted a flag of sorts on the moon today as a probe painted in the national colors of green, white and orange slammed into the lunar landscape, marking a milestone in the country's space program.
The foil-wrapped Moon Impact Probe photographed the rocky surface and sampled the thin atmosphere during a half-hour freefall, the Indian Space Research Organization said. The device dropped from the larger, unmanned Chandrayaan-1 orbiter, circling some 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the moon.
"The space program achieved a unique feat today with the placing of the Indian tricolor on the moon's surface on Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday," the agency said, referring to the country's first prime minister, who died in 1964.
Almost 40 years after American Neil Armstrong became the first person on the moon, a growing list of nations plans manned or robotic visits over the next two decades, including the U.S. and China. India's $78.9 million mission to map the lunar terrain is a step toward landing an unmanned rover by 2012.
Chandrayaan, which means "moon craft," is expected to scan the surface from orbit for two years. It's India's first unmanned lunar probe, and was launched Oct. 22.
The smaller probe, which weighed 75 pounds (34 kilograms), was probably destroyed by today's "hard landing," the Indian agency said. Data beamed back may help engineers plan controlled landings for future missions.
Chandrayaan is also carrying mapping instruments for the European Space Agency, radiation-measuring equipment for the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and two devices for the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
One of the NASA devices will look for ice deposits on the lunar poles, and the other will assess the moon's mineral composition.
India launched its first rocket in 1963 and its first satellite in 1975.
To contact the reporter on this story: Demian McLean in Washington at dmclean8 at bloomberg.net. Last Updated: November 14, 2008 15:42 EST
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