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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Japan is weeks from attempting to land its SLIM spacecraft on the moon.</li><li>If SLIM succeeds, it will become the first Japanese spacecraft to land on the moon.</li></ul>On Monday, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency <a target="_blank" href="https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2023/12/20231225-1_e.html">announced </a>its SLIM moon lander had reached a crucial milestone in its historic mission: The spacecraft started to orbit the moon.Over the next several weeks, SLIM — short for Smart Lander for Investigating Moon — will tighten its orbit, inching closer to the lunar surface.Then, on January 19, 2024, the nation is scheduled to attempt what only a couple of other nations have achieved before it.Japan will try to land SLIM on the lunar surface, solidifying the country's place in the history books as the third country to softly land on the moon in the 21st century. The other two countries are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-landed-change-spacecraft-moon-rock-lunar-samples-2020-12">China</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-india-attempt-first-ever-moon-landing-2023-8">India</a>.<div type="image" title="Illustration of how JAXA's SLIM spacecraft will attempt to land on the moon." height="640" width="1712" msid="106330955" hostid="261" sizebytes="57894"></div>When it comes to the modern moon race, the US is lagging, so far.<h2>Japan's historic moon mission</h2>If Japan succeeds in January, SLIM will become the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japanese-company-ispace-fears-moon-probe-crash-landed-2023-4">first Japanese spacecraft</a> in history to softly land on the moon.Japan has sent a couple of impactors and orbiters to the moon in the past, but this is the first time the nation has sent a landing module with rover-like probes to explore the lunar surface in unprecedented detail.<div type="image" title="Photo of Shioli crater taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter." height="3000" width="3000" msid="106330956" hostid="261" sizebytes="628492"></div>You heard that right, probes — plural. SLIM is carrying two small probes on board. If all goes according to plan, they'll deploy from the landing module after touchdown to explore the surface beyond the landing point.One probe uses a hopping mechanism and the other is sphere-like and changes shape to move around, per <a target="_blank" href="https://www.voanews.com/a/japan-moon-lander-enters-lunar-orbit/7412248.html">VOA news</a>.<div type="image" title="Illustration of Japan's SLIM rover-like probes on the lunar surface." height="436" width="648" msid="106330957" hostid="261" sizebytes="46316"></div>What makes this mission even more historic is the pinpoint landing Japan wants to achieve.The spacecraft is targeting an impact crater on the moon called Shioli crater, and Japan plans to land SLIM to within 328 feet of its target. That's an "unprecedentedly high-precision landing," JAXA, <a target="_blank" href="https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2023/12/20231205-1_e.html">Japan's space agency, said</a> earlier this month.For comparison, NASA's Apollo 17 module landed over 80 miles from its target, and India's Chandrayaan-3 lander had a target window over 3.8 square miles.It's missions like Japan's SLIM, India's Chandrayaan-3, and China's Chang'e's 3, 4, and 5, that are pushing the boundaries of what landing on the moon looks like in the 21st century.That leaves the US toward the back end of the pack.<h2>The US hasn't landed anything on the moon since 1972</h2><div type="image" title="Photo of Eugene Cernan on the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission." height="1763" width="2127" msid="106330958" hostid="261" sizebytes="338878"></div>The last time the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7">US landed something on lunar grounds</a> was Apollo 17 astronauts Harrison Schmitt — the first scientist on the moon — and Eugene Cernan — the last man to walk on the moon.In the decades since <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/where-nasa-crashed-ladee-into-moon-2014-10">NASA has crashed some spacecraft</a> into the lunar surface and sent others into lunar orbit.But when it comes to landing on the moon and exploring its surface in unprecedented detail — NASA has left that for other space agencies to handle, at least for now.To be fair, it's not like NASA isn't making giant strides in space exploration. Over the decades, NASA has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-landing-nasa-perseverance-rover-touches-down-in-jezero-crater-2021-2">landed more rovers on Mars</a> than what India and China have landed on the moon, combined.Moreover, NASA aims to catch up to other countries in the modern moon race in a big way very soon.NASA's Artemis program plans to land the first humans near the moon's south pole in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-iii/">2025</a> and achieve sustainable lunar exploration by the mid- to late-2020s.<div type="image" title="four astronauts in orange spacesuits pose for portrait" height="2000" width="2000" msid="106330959" hostid="261" sizebytes="290222"></div>But NASA's Artemis program has already been delayed for multiple reasons, many related to the additional complexities and costs that come with crewed missions.Meanwhile, the main theme emerging from the modern moon race recently is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-india-moon-landing-cost-cheap-compared-to-nasa-russia-2023-8">building on a budget</a>. Both Japan and India focused on building small, lightweight spacecraft to help keep costs low.Japan's SLIM weighs 1,540 pounds (with fuel) and cost about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/slim-japans-precision-lunar-lander">$120 million</a> to develop. India's Chandrayaan-3 lander weighed nearly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/key-facts-about-indias-chandrayaan-3-moon-mission-2023-08-21/">3,750 pounds</a> and cost an estimated <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/chandrayaan-3-punches-home-indias-lead-budget-space-flights-2023-08-24/">$75 million</a>.Will the US catch up, or will budgetary constraints, politics, and technical issues continue to hold the nation back?

Japan is close to becoming the 3rd nation to land on the moon in the 21st century. The US isn't one of them.

<ul><li>ISRO plans to reach the south side of the moon where no nation has gone before. </li><li>They have plans to study potential mining of <keyword id="6656023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="helium-3">helium-3</keyword>, a a source of waste-free <keyword id="53710" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nuclear-energy">nuclear energy</keyword> which is worth trillions of dollars. </li><li>If successful, the mission could add significantly to the scientific, military and commercial gains of the country and the world. </li></ul>ISRO plans to reach the south side of the moon where no nation has gone before and a rover is expected to be launched for this in October. Once they get there, they plan to study if mining the surface of the moon for water and helium-3 is possible. Helium-3 is a source of waste-free nuclear energy which, when harnessed, is worth trillions of dollars. The Helium-3 isotope can provide safer nuclear energy as it is not radioactive and doesn't produce dangerous waste products. The Helium-3 isotopes are limited on Earth but found in abundance on the moon due to the heavy solarwinds it is in contact with. If the isotopes on the moon are harnessed, they could theoretically meet the global energy demands for 250 years. However, that could require overcoming a lot of difficulties like mining the lunar surface and building of power plants for starters. The exploration on the moon is open to all countries and therefore, <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> is facing tough competition from other governments, start-ups and billionaires. However, the chairman of ISRO, K Sivan, has declared that he wants to dictate this mission of harnessing Helium-3 and not just be a part of it like the other countries. If successful, the mission could lead to the scientific, military and commercial gains of the country and world, in general. China had put a rover on the moon in 2013 with its Chang'e 3 mission and has plans to return later this year to explore the far side. Furthermore, US is calling for astronauts to return to the moon too, and NASA has proposed a $19 billion budget to launch a lunar orbiter by the early 2020s. ISRO’s estimated budget, about $1.7 billion, is less than a 10th of NASA’s, but having said that, ISRO’s hallmarks include getting the job done cheaply yet effectively. The upcoming mission will cost about $125 million which is less than a quarter of Snap Inc co-founder’s compensation last year, according to the Bloomberg Pay Index. India’s confidence in the success of this mission has increased because it has already had one successful moon mission. The Chandrayaan-1 craft, launched by India in October 2008, had discovered molecules of water in the lunar surface for the first time. The upcoming launch called <keyword id="53289" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-2">Chandrayaan-2</keyword> will include an orbiter, lander and a rectangular rover and cover an area with a 400-meter radius. It will collect information for at least 14 days and send images to the lander, to be transmitted back to ISRO for analysis. Rakesh Sharma, a famous Indian space traveller, said that even if India reaches the moon first, one can not draw boundaries there. He wants India to show that its capable of utilising <keyword id="6422364" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-technology">space technology</keyword> for the good of people.

ISRO to step on unexplored side of the moon to harness trillion dollars’ worth of nuclear energy

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-plans-send-humans-to-moon-celebrates-lunar-probe-success-2023-8">India</a> is the first to ever land near <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-scientist-microbial-life-hiding-on-moon-south-pole-2023-6">the moon's south pole</a> and it succeeded without breaking the bank.</li><li>The Chandrayaan-3 moon mission cost far less than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-attempt-land-moon-ends-in-disaster-luna-25-2023-8">Russia's moon mission</a> or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-viper-moon-rover-landing-spot-lunar-south-pole-2021-9">NASA's planned rover</a>.</li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-india-attempt-first-ever-moon-landing-2023-8">India's first moon landing</a>, which touched down near the lunar south pole on August 23, was both historic and budget-friendly.At about $74 million, India's moon mission was less than half the cost of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-luna-25-crash-land-on-moon-2023-8">Russia's south-pole lander</a> ($200 million), which misfired its engines and crashed on August 20, as well as the estimated budget of NASA's planned VIPER rover to the lunar south pole ($433.5 million).The Indian mission, called Chandrayaan-3, which is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-moon-landings-on-lunar-south-pole-crashed-2023-8">the first spacecraft to ever touch down near the moon's south pole</a>, was also cheaper than the Hollywood space blockbusters "Gravity" ($100 million), "The Martian" ($108 million), and "Interstellar" ($165 million).<div type="image" title="A 3D reconstitution of the India moon lander is seen descending on the moon." height="1279" width="1705" msid="103032863" hostid="261"></div>"Good for India," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/working-for-elon-musk-spacex-workplace-culture-twitter-jim-cantrell-2022-11">SpaceX CEO Elon Musk</a> wrote, commenting on the mission's low price tag in a <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1693951114595422475?s=20">post</a> on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.Asked how they managed to keep costs so low, S. Somanath, the director of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), told reporters with a laugh: "I won't disclose such secrets. We don't want everyone else to become so cost-effective," according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/23/science/india-moon-landing-chandrayaan-3#:~:text=It%20made%20India%20the%20first,Hollywood%20space%20film%20%E2%80%9CGravity.%E2%80%9D">New York Times</a>.<div type="image" title="S. Somanath mustached man smiles surrounded by reporters with microphones in his face" height="1500" width="2000" msid="103032866" hostid="261"></div>Unlike <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-helping-private-companies-build-business-moon-make-lunar-billions-2023-6">NASA</a>, which is required to publish detailed budget proposals, India has shared very little information about its budgeting. So, it's unclear what went into the $74 million cost estimate.That's also a conversion from Indian currency, rupees, so the comparison isn't apples to apples.Still, the small price tag can be partially explained by the small size and scope of the mission, and the fact that it was a redo of an earlier flight.<h2>Small spacecraft, small costs</h2><div type="image" title="white rocket with two boosters on its sides launches through clouds with flames shooting out of boosters" height="1500" width="1999" msid="103032869" hostid="261"></div>India's main strategy for being frugal on the moon seems to be that it kept the spacecraft small.Weighing in at just 1,752 kilograms, according to <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3_Details.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ISRO</a>, Chandrayaan-3 was likely relatively cheap to launch."Small landers imply smaller launch vehicles, smaller components, less materials," Robert Braun, head of space exploration at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, told Insider. "If the scope of the mission is small, then the cost is likely to be small."That's a lesson that ISRO first learned in 2014, when they became the first country to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-india-made-their-mars-orbiter-cheap-2014-9">successfully insert a spacecraft in Mars orbit</a> on the first try.By keeping the payload light, adapting technologies ISRO had used before, and keeping workers' salaries lean, <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/03/these-scientists-sent-a-rocket-to-mars-for-less-than-it-cost-to-make-the-martian/#:~:text=No%20space%20organization%20had%20succeeded,The%20Martian%E2%80%9D%20was%20%24108%20million." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wired </a>reported, the agency managed to keep the receipt for the Mars mission to $74 million. (Same as Chandrayaan-3. Weird coincidence!)<div type="image" title="two men in harnets and clean suits talk in front of a gold foil covered spacecraft in a large cleanroom" height="1498" width="1998" msid="103032871" hostid="261"></div>This is markedly different from how NASA's Mars orbiter, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-maven-enters-orbit-2014-9">MAVEN</a>, operated. India "kept it small," Andrew Coates, a physics professor who has worked on European and NASA Mars missions, told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29341850" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC</a> in 2014. "The payload weighs only about 15 kg. Compare that with the complexity in the payload in MAVEN and that will explain a lot about the cost."The proof of concept may lie in comparing the programs' receipts. The MAVEN mission cost NASA $582.5 million, <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/maven-cost#:~:text=The%20MAVEN%20mission%20cost%20%24582.5,operations%20during%20its%20primary%20mission." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Planetary Society.</a>But Chandrayaan-3 was actually heavier than Russia's failed mission, called Luna-25, which weighed about 1,237 kg by the time it reached lunar orbit, <a href="https://www.russianspaceweb.com/luna-glob-flight.html#0819" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Anatoly Zak, an English-language reporter covering Russia's space programs.That's where India's other strategy may come in to beat out Russia's price tag.<h2>Start small and build step by step, to the moon and beyond</h2><div type="image" title="A picture from the Apollo 11 mission shows the Earth seen from the Moon." height="3114" width="4152" msid="103032873" hostid="261"></div>This wasn't India's first attempt to land near the moon's south pole. A previous mission, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-india-israel-failed-moon-landings-failed-final-descent-2019-9">Chandrayaan-2, crashed</a> there in 2019.The costs of research, development, and testing that went into that first attempt may not be included in the cost of Chandrayaan-3."They've approached their lunar program as a series of missions," Braun said. "That is a way of managing cost."India's moon program began with Chandrayaan-1, which sent a spacecraft into lunar orbit and dropped a hard-impact probe to intentionally crash into the lunar surface.That's a much easier and cheaper mission to start building new capabilities, then build up to a soft landing and a small rover.NASA has taken a similar approach to Mars, and it has "worked very well," Braun said.Compare that to Russia's Luna-25 mission. It was the country's first mission to the moon since the 1970s and the fall of the Soviet Union. It aimed to make a soft landing on the south pole of the moon, where nobody had succeeded yet."They went with a pretty hard mission, right out of the gate," Braun said, adding, "I think an incremental approach actually is a great way to pursue space exploration. One step at a time."Correction: August 28, 2023 — An earlier version of this article misstated Robert Braun's title. He is head of space exploration at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, not head of a Space Exploration Center there. This story has been updated. It was originally published on August 24, 2023.Editor's note September 1, 2023: This article has been updated to clarify that India's spacecraft landed in the lunar south pole region, not on the point of the lunar south pole.

How India landed on the moon and flew to Mars at a fraction of the cost of NASA and Russia missions

ISRO on Wednesday announced that four Indian Air Force pilots have been selected for the ambitious 'Gaganyaan' manned space mission programme, whose astronaut training would commence soon in Russia. A day after Union Minister Jitendra Singh said India will launch Chandrayaan-3 most likely in 2020, Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Sivan said the activities for the mission were going on very smoothly and the take-off may shift to next year. Addressing a press conference here, Sivan said four Indian Air Force airmen have been identified for the country's maiden manned space mission and their astronauts training would start from the third week of this month in Russia. "We had good progress in 2019 as regards Gaganyaan. And many of the designs were completed and astronauts' selection process is over. Now four are identified for training purpose..that process is also completed," Sivan said. On Chandrayaan-3, he said the work was going on smoothly. "One major announcement I wanted to make here officialy is that the government has approved Chandrayaan-3 and the project has been formed. The activities are going on for Chandrayaan-3 very smoothly and its configuration will be similar to that of Chandrayaan-2," he said. It will have a lander, rover and a propulsion module, he noted. Asked about the launch date, he said it would be announced only when the project nears completion. He also said the launch of Chandrayaan-3 may shift to next year. Work on both Chandrayaan-3 and Gaganyaan, was going on simultaneously, he added. Noting that Chandrayaan-2 orbiter's mission life was seven years, he said it would be used for the third lunar mission as well. Giving an estimate of the project cost for Chandrayaan-3, Sivan said, "This particular cost of lander and rover configuration thing is about Rs 250 crore. The total cost of the project is Rs 615 crore." The objective of Chandrayaan-3 would also be to land in the lunar south pole, he said. On the launch pad to come up at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, Sivan said, "apart from the space port at the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, the land acquisition for a second one has been initiated in Tuticorin district." As regards the choice of location, he said, "It was mainly to get advantages of southward launch especially for SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle)." Observing that the pad, once set up, would be used for launching SSLVs initially, he said it may be expanded for big ones in future. On future missions, he said, "25 missions have been planned for 2020." "The missions that were planned in 2019 and could not be completed would be finished by March this year," he said. Asked what went wrong with the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-2, he said it was due to velocity reduction failure. "The velocity reduction failure was due to internal reasons," he said. Chandrayaan-2 mission was India's first attempt to land on the lunar surface. ISRO had planned the landing on the south pole of the lunar surface. However, Vikram hard-landed. Sivan also congratulated the Chennai based techie who recently located the Vikram lander that hard-landed and maintained that it was the space agency's policy not to release pictures of the crashed module. The space agency has sought an allocation of Rs 14,000 crore from the Centre in the budget for 2020-21 for various projects. India has signed agreements with Russia and France for cooperation on the ambitious Gaganyaan mission, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech in 2018. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/chandrayaan-3-and-gaganyaan-top-priorities-for-isro-in-2020/articleshow/73063629.cms?src=hp_nav">India's second mission to land on the Moon, Chandrayaan 3, confirmed by ISRO chief</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-moon-is-shining-brighter-than-the-sun-and-that-is-dangerous/articleshow/70737236.cms">The Moon is shining brighter than the Sun — and that is dangerous</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/supermassive-black-hole-is-eating-meals-worth-four-moons-thrice-a-day/articleshow/71090624.cms">Supermassive black hole is eating meals worth four Moons thrice a day</a>

ISRO selects four IAF pilots for Gaganyaan to train in Russia

Even before orbiting astronauts on India's first manned mission to the space in December 2021, the Indian Space Research Organisation will send 'Vyomamitra', a '<keyword id="7617165" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="lady-robot">lady robot</keyword>', in unmanned <keyword id="6797456" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaganyaan">Gaganyaan</keyword> spacecraft. The robot was the centre of attraction at the inaugural session of the "<keyword id="1064783" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="human-spaceflight">Human Spaceflight</keyword> and Exploration - Present Challenges and Future Trends" here on Wednesday. Vyomamitra, a combination of two Sanskrit words Vyoma (Space) and Mitra (Friend), took everyone by surprise when she introduced herself to the audience gathered there. "Hello everyone. I am Vyomamitra, the prototype of the half-humanoid, been made for the first unmanned Gaganyaan mission," the robot said. Explaining about the role in the mission, she said, "I can monitor though module parameters, alert you and perform life support operations. I can perform activities like switch panel operations..." The robot said she can also be a companion and converse with the astronauts, recognise them and can also respond to their queries. ISRO chairman K Sivan told reporters the humanoid will simulate human functions in space and also interact with the environment control life support system. "It will be simulating exactly the human functions there (in space). It will check whether the system is right. This will be very useful to simulate, as if a human is flying," said Sivan. Earlier, addressing the inaugural function, Sivan said ahead of the launch of India's maiden human spaceflight venture 'Gaganyaan' in December 2021, ISRO will undertake two unmanned missions in December 2020 and June 2021. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/isros-gsat-30-satellite-successfully-rides-the-ariane-5-rocket-into-orbit-abroad-the-first-launch-of-2020/articleshow/73312278.cms">ISRO's GSAT 30 satellite successfully rides the Ariane 5 rocket into orbit abroad the first launch of 2020</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-2020-isro-needs-rs-666-cr-for-chandrayaan-3/articleshow/73462546.cms">Exploring space is expensive — and ISRO needs more money from the 2020 Union Budget</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/chandrayaan-3-and-gaganyaan-top-priorities-for-isro-in-2020/articleshow/73063629.cms">India's second mission to land on the Moon, Chandrayaan 3, confirmed by ISRO chief</a>

ISRO's humanoid lady robot will fly into space before they send astronauts out on Gaganyaan

Ahead of the launch of India's maiden human spaceflight venture '<keyword id="6797456" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaganyaan">Gaganyaan</keyword>' in December 2021, the Indian Space Research Organisation will undertake two unmanned missions in December 2020 and June 2021, ISRO chairman K Sivan said on Wednesday. Addressing the inaugural session of a symposium on "Human Spaceflight and Exploration - Present Challenges and Future Trends," Sivan said the Gaganyaan mission not only aims at India's maiden human flight to the space but also setting up a new space station for 'continuous space human presence'. "We are doing all this (Gaganyaan) on three points - short term plan of two unmanned mission in December 2020 and June 2021, followed by human space flight demonstration in December 2021. We have the mid term goal of sustaining the human space programme and continuous space human presence in space on a new space station", he said. In this regard, the ISRO has initiated a full-fledged astronaut training facility in close proximity to Bengaluru for meeting its future requirements. The space agency is also in talks with NASA and other space agencies and industries on how it can collaborate on human space flight and learn from their experience. The Gaganyaan will also assist in ISRO's long term goal of inter-planetary mission. "Inter-planetary mission is also on the agenda in the long term," the ISRO Chief said. On Gaganyaan mission, Sivan said the space agency has already developed and demonstrated key technologies such as having an operational launcher with 10-tonne playload capability to lower orbit, demonstration ofmission design and management, and recovery system like space qualified parachutes. "The only missing element were human life science and life support system, which we are developing now," he said. ISRO, Sivan said, has taken onboard many national labs, academic institutions, DRDO labs, Indian Air Force, CSIR Labas well as many industries as stakeholders for Gaganyaanprogramme. Noting that the astronauts have been selected from a pool of Indian Air Force test pilots, Sivan said the generic space flight training will commence in India shortly. A mission specific training will be carried out in India using a host of simulators and other facilities, he added. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-2020-isro-needs-rs-666-cr-for-chandrayaan-3/articleshow/73462546.cms">Exploring space is expensive — and ISRO needs more money from the 2020 Union Budget</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/chandrayaan-3-and-gaganyaan-top-priorities-for-isro-in-2020/articleshow/73063629.cms">India's second mission to land on the Moon, Chandrayaan 3, confirmed by ISRO chief</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/madhavans-rocketry-isro-spy-case-nambi-narayan-gets-1-3-compensation/articleshow/72991747.cms">An Indian rocket scientist lost 25 years falsely accused of being a spy— now he will get $180,000 as compensation</a>

ISRO will send two unmmaned missions into space before Gaganyaan

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>India's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-space-mission-chandrayaan-2-set-to-land-on-moon-2019-9">first moon-landing attempt</a> appears to have ended in failure.</li><li>The Chandrayaan-2 mission's Vikram lander was descending toward the moon when it suddenly went off-trajectory just 1.3 miles above the lunar surface.</li><li>Moments later, mission control lost communication with Vikram.</li><li>An astronomer said data from a radio telescope on Earth indicates the lunar lander may have crashed.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul>India's moon-bound spacecraft may have crashed into the lunar surface during its descent on Friday, an astronomer said.Called Vikram, the robot is part of a larger $140 million mission called Chandrayaan-2. Vikram deployed from an orbiting spacecraft earlier in the day to make its descent, and everything was going as planned until about <a href="https://twitter.com/VishnuNDTV/status/1170083163818737664">1.3 miles</a> (2.1 kilometers) above the surface of the moon's south pole.At that point, the Vikram lander spacecraft diverged from its expected trajectory. Moments later, spacecraft operators control lost contact with its communications systems. Mission control fell silent, and somebody patted India's space program director, K. Sivan, on the back.This occurred during a landing phase that Sivan had previously said would be "15 minutes of terror," the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/science/india-moon-landing-chandrayaan-2.html">reported</a>. The spacecraft's on-board computers had to complete a series of steps in the right sequence, with no room for error.Sivan later announced that the landing had been going according to plan until the 1.3-mile mark."The data is being analyzed," he said.<h2>Why Vikram has probably crashed into the moon</h2>Screens in mission control, which showed data related to Vikram's landing, do not paint a great picture for the fate of the spacecraft."Those screens reported the spacecraft was 1.09 kilometers [0.6 miles] above the surface, traveling at a horizontal speed of about 48 meters per second [107 mph] and a vertical speed of about 60 meters per second [134 mph], just over 1 kilometer [0.62 mile] from the landing site," Jason Davis, digital editor at the Planetary Society, <a href="http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/vikram-apparently-crash-lands.html">wrote in a post</a>.Astronomer Cees Bassa, who works with the LOFAR low-frequency radio telescope, was monitoring the spacecraft's descent on Friday when the situation appeared to devolve.Bassa <a href="https://twitter.com/cgbassa/status/1170070679250714624">said in a tweet</a> that the data indicated the lander "has crashed.""After the rough braking phase the Doppler curve from @radiotelescoop shows some wiggles, and then, at 20:20:01UTC the signals disappeared," Bassa <a href="https://twitter.com/cgbassa/status/1170070679250714624">tweeted</a>.If the spacecraft did crash, it's unclear whether it tumbled to the surface, rockets blazing, or simply went dead and fell."Knowledge of the altitude and velocity at the end of the rough braking phase should be able to tell if the loss of signal matches the time it takes to free fall to the surface," Bassa <a href="https://twitter.com/cgbassa/status/1170092552982282240">said</a>.NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has the most powerful camera system for looking down at the moon. But it could take about a month for that team to release a photo of the crash-landing site.<h2>Not the first moon-landing failure this year</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>It's possible that Vikram's loss of signal was a communications glitch. If the spacecraft did stick the landing, India would become the fourth country to make a successful landing on the moon without damaging its spacecraft.If Vikram failed, however, it'd mark the second time a lunar-landing spacecraft has crashed into the moon this year.Beresheet, a privately built lunar lander, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/beresheet-first-private-moon-mission-fails-lunar-landing-2019-4">slammed into the moon's surface</a> in April, apparently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-israel-beresheet-moon-landing-failed-2019-4">due to a software glitch</a>.India's mission has been relatively low-budget compared to many space missions. According to the <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/trends/chandrayaan-2-mission-cost-india-rs-978-crore-avengers-endgame-film-made-rs-2443-crore/story/366550.html">Indian news website Business Today</a>, the entire mission cost the Indian government the equivalent of $142 milion. The BBC cites <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-49404019">a figure of $145 million</a>.<div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-video-apollo-16-lunar-rover-drive-on-moon-2017-11">NASA footage shows what it's like to drive on the moon first-hand</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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