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<br /><br /><ul><li><keyword id="913432" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-1">Chandrayaan 1</keyword>, India's first mission to Moon, completes 11 years today.</li><li>The landmark mission set the stage for the Indian space program going forward.</li><li>The success of Chandrayaan 1 also marked India's prowess in developing its own technology.</li></ul>Over a decade ago, India took its first steps towards the Moon off a small island on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. As most of the country slept soundly in their beds, Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) in Sriharikota rumbled as a 300-tonne rocket blasted into the skies.<br /><br />As a new dawn folded out over India, a new dawn shone over its technological prowess as well.<br /><br />And since the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has come a long way building on the path paved by Chandrayaan 1.<br /><br /><strong>Here’s how Chandrayaan 1 set the tone for India’s space programme for the coming years:<br /></strong><br /><br /><br />

Chandrayaan 1 — India marks the 11th anniversary of its first successful mission to the Moon

<br /><ul><li><keyword id="414120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-2">Chandrayaan 2</keyword>'s lander, Vikram, will attempt to soft land on the Moon at 1:30am.</li><li>During the descent, the orbiter and the lander will click a picture of each other. </li><li>These are all the pictures that Chandrayaan 2 has clicked in space so far.</li></ul>Chandrayaan 2 is going to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/where-and-how-to-watch-chandrayaan-2s-moon-landing-live-tonight/articleshow/71005746.cms">attempt a soft landing</a> on the near the Moon's South pole making this the southernmost landing ever on the lunar surface.<br /><br />As the <keyword id="116095" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Space-Research-Organisation">Indian Space Research Organisation</keyword>'s (ISRO) lander, Vikram, descends onto the flat plains between the Manzimus C and Simplelius N craters, the lander and orbiter will take pictures of each other.<br /><br /><strong>The first images that Chandrayaan 2's camera captured of Earth<br /></strong><br />The LI4 camera on Vikram, the lander, sent this picture back to ISRO on 3 August 2019 after launching from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.<br /><br />The images show Central America, the top edge of South America, Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico and southern United States.<br /><em><br /></em>
	
  
  
  <div type="image" title="moon1_edited" msid="71015108" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;An image of Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, and much of the United States with Florida in the bottom right corner.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>








<br />
  
  
  <div type="image" title="moon2_edited" msid="71015136" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;An image of Mexico, Central America and western United States.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







<br />
  
  
  <div type="image" title="moon 3_edited" msid="71015161" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;As Chandrayaan 2 gets further away, the camera&amp;#8217;s focus shifts to the Pacific Ocean.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







<br />
  
  
  <div type="image" title="moon4_edited" msid="71015186" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;An image of the Pacific Ocean.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







<br />
  
  
  <div type="image" title="moon5_edited" msid="71015213" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;An image of the Pacific Ocean near the equator.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







<br /><strong>The first images that Chandrayaan 2's camera captured of the Moon<br /></strong><br />The first image that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-is-not-just-looking-for-water-on-the-moon/articleshow/70974829.cms">Chandrayaan 2</a> sent back on 21 August 2019 shows the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-is-not-just-looking-for-water-on-the-moon/articleshow/70974829.cms">Mare Orientale basin and the Apollo crater</a> on the Moon. They're considered to be important landmarks on the lunar surface.<br /><br />
  
  
  <div type="image" title="moon6_edited" msid="71015245" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;First image that Vikram, Chandrayaan 2&amp;#39;s lander, clicked of the Moon.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







<br />The second image shows the Moon's North Pole taken from 4,275 kilometers up in space. This is the first picture shared by ISRO taken using the Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2). In comparison to the lunar south pole, the north pole has a lot less craters.<br /><br />
  
  
  <div type="image" title="moon7_edited" msid="71015268" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;An image of the Moon&amp;#39;s North Pole.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







<br />TMC-2 also send back pictures of Sommerfeld and Kirkwood craters near the lunar north pole. Sommerfeld is around 169 kilometers in diameter and Kirkwood measures 68 kilometers.<br /><br />
  
  
  <div type="image" title="moon8_edited" msid="71015285" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Sommerfled and Kirkwood craters on the far side of the Moon.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







<br />On 23 August 2019, TMC-2 captured a picture of the Jackson, Mach, Mitra and Korolev craters. It also attached a close up of the Jackson crater.<br /><br />Korolev is a massive crater that around 437 kilometers wide and contains several different craters within its perimeter.<br /><br />The Mitra crater, around 92 kilometers in diameter, is named after an Indian physicist and Padma Bushan recipient — Sisir Kumar Mitra. He's known as a pioneer in the field of ionosphere and radio physics in India.<br /><br />
  
  
  <div type="image" title="moon9_edited" msid="71015313" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;An image of the Mitra crater named after an Indian scientist and a close of the Jackson crater&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







<br />The first images were taken using the Nadir sensor but the last one was captured using the AFT sensor.<br /><br /><strong>See also:<br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/why-chandrayaan-2-will-take-7-weeks-to-reach-moon/articleshow/70346159.cms">Here's why it's going to take 7 weeks for Chandrayaan 2 to reach the Moon</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-could-find-a-lot-of-water-on-the-moon/articleshow/70356422.cms">Chandrayaan 2 is on its way to find water on the Moon — and looks like there could be lots of it</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-why-indias-isro-is-going-to-the-moon/articleshow/69893150.cms">Chandrayaan 2 will give India bragging rights even if it doesn't find water</a><br />

IN PICS: All pictures clicked by Chandrayaan 2's lander — Vikram

<br /><ul><li>The Indian Space Research Organisation's (<keyword id="6358064" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="isro">ISRO</keyword>) <keyword id="414120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-2">Chandrayaan 2</keyword> just clicked its first photo of the Moon from a distance of 2,650 kilometers. </li><li>The picture was clicked by the mission lander, Vikram, aboard the Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft.</li><li>The image shows the Apollo craters and the Mare Orientale basin — where scientists believe a lunar sea used to exist 3 billion years ago.</li></ul>India's mission to the Moon's South Pole, Chandrayaan 2, just sent back its first images of the Moon. <br /><br />
	<div type="twitter" handle="isro" handlename="ISRO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/413572279734247424/LshYgwCH_normal.jpeg" favoritecount="74477" retweetcount="19790" status="Take a look at the first Moon image captured by #Chandrayaan2 #VikramLander taken at a height of about 2650 km from… https://t.co/QK9onuAK3C" createdat="1566481816000" id="1164535259561517058"></div>



<br />The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) captured the Moon and some of its primary landmarks like the Mare Orientale basin.<br /><br />Scientists initially mistook these dark patches on the moon for ‘<keyword id="8014561" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="lunar-seas">lunar seas</keyword>', which is why they're called ‘Mare — latin for sea.'<br /><br />In reality, the dark parts of the Moon's surface are basaltic plains formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They come up darker than the rest of the lunar surface because they're reflective owing to their iron-rich composition.<br /><br />The <keyword id="8014559" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mare-oreintale-basin">Mare Oreintale basin</keyword> — one of 40 mare basins on the Moon — is a little different than others because relatively unflooded by the basalts.<br /><br />
  <div type="image" title="Mare_Orientale_-_C" msid="70798603" hostid="261"></div>


<br />But, that's not what makes it special — the 3.8 billion-year-old Mare Oreintale's is significant as it is  lies in the fact that it's the freshest impact basin on the Moon. In other words, it's where the last asteroid hit the lunar surface. <br /><br /><strong>Targeting the bulls eye<br /></strong><br />Measuring around 1,000 kilometers in diameter, the basin pans outward in a ring pattern — 3 rings to exact — the Mare Orientale basin looks like a bullseye on the lunar surface.<br />
  <div type="image" title="768px-Orientale_lro" msid="70798505" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The three rings of the Mare Orientale taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



<br />NASA scientists have been studying the Mare Orientale basin to try and figure out how the Moon's different features work while hoping that it may provide clues into the Moon's immensely complex history.<br /><br />Normally, with smaller craters than the Oreintale, the initial crater left behind is filled with information to help researchers. But in Mare Oreintale's case, none of the rings are the are from where the asteroid hit for the very first time. <br /><br />"Instead, it appears that, in large impacts like the one that formed Orientale, the surface violently rebounds, obliterating signs of the initial impact," stated <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6662">Maria Zuber</a>, who led the study.<br /><br />Another anomaly is that an asteroid impact normally reshuffled the surface to bring up material from the mantle up to the surface. But with Orientale, scientists found that the crater's surface has the same composition as the Moon's crust.<br /><br /> Brandon Johnson from Brown University simulated the event to show that the initial crater quickly collapses, material quickly then falls from the outside of the crater into the center and covers up any mantel rock that might back exposed.<br /><br /><strong>The Apollo craters<br /></strong><br />The second landmark captured in the picture taken by Vikram, Chandrayaan 2's lander, are the Apollo craters. It's a double ringed crater that's named after NASA's Apollo missions to the Moon.<br /><br />Individual craters within the Apollo basin have been named after the various astronauts on these missions are a tribute to their contribution to science. The seven most recent craters that were named were a homage to the fallen crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia.<br /><br /><strong>See also:</strong><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-enters-moons-orbit-play-by-play-of-how-it-happened/articleshow/70751884.cms">Chandrayaan 2 enters Moon’s orbit — play-by-play of how it happened</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/why-chandrayaan-2-will-take-7-weeks-to-reach-moon/articleshow/70346159.cms">Here’s why it’s going to take 7 weeks for Chandrayaan 2 to reach the Moon</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chandrayaan-2-why-indias-isro-is-going-to-the-moon/articleshow/69893150.cms">Chandrayaan 2 will give India bragging rights even if it doesn’t find water</a><br />

Chandrayaan 2’s first photo of the Moon shows where 3.8 billion-year old ‘lunar seas’ once used to exist

<strong><br /></strong><ul><li><strong>"Urge you all to watch the special moments of Chandrayaan-2 descending on to the Lunar South pole": tweeted PM Modi</strong></li><li><strong><keyword id="414120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-2">Chandrayaan 2</keyword>’s lander, Vikram will attempt to soft land near the Moon’s South Pole between 1:30 am and 2:30 am on 7 September 2019. </strong></li><li><strong>Interestingly, Chandrayaan 2 is not just looking for water on the moon. Read Business Insider India to find out more.</strong><br /></li></ul>Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> might help you get some followers, likes and retweets on <keyword id="6354616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword>. Oh no, he is not endorsing your ‘gyaan’ on life, but definitely acknowledging your valued thoughts on Chandrayaan2 - one of India’s most historic lunar missions. <br /><br />Taking to Twitter, PM said, “I urge you all to watch the special moments of Chandrayaan - 2 descending on to the Lunar South Pole! Do share your photos on social media. I will re-tweet some of them too.”<br /><br />
	<div type="twitter" handle="narendramodi" handlename="Narendra Modi" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1134082549041393672/QbihPzrL_normal.png" favoritecount="14928" retweetcount="3146" status="I urge you all to watch the special moments of Chandrayaan - 2 descending on to the Lunar South Pole! Do share your… https://t.co/PhYdWVY2qv" createdat="1567755813000" id="1169878791360925697"></div>



<br />PM Modi will be watching Chandrayaan 2’s descent on the Moon with youngsters from the <keyword id="6358064" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="isro">ISRO</keyword> Centre in Bengaluru. <br /><br />“The youngsters with whom I will watch the special moments from the ISRO Centre in Bengaluru are those bright minds who won the ISRO Space Quiz on MyGov. The large scale participation in this Quiz showcases the interest of the youth in science and space. This is a great sign!”<br /><br />
	<div type="twitter" handle="narendramodi" handlename="Narendra Modi" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1134082549041393672/QbihPzrL_normal.png" favoritecount="3866" retweetcount="744" status="The youngsters with whom I will watch the special moments from the ISRO Centre in Bengaluru are those bright minds… https://t.co/wSYkQ2SiUD" createdat="1567755703000" id="1169878328196526082"></div>



<br />India’s is going to become the first country in the world to land near the Moon’s South Pole tonight and the whole world is waiting to watch Chandrayaan 2 land. <br /><br />After seven weeks of maneuvering through space and Chandrayaan 2’s lander, Vikram, is finally reach to make its approach.<br /><br />This will be the “15 most terrifying moments” for the Indian Space Research Organisation, according Chairman K Sivan. <br /><br />
	<div type="twitter" handle="BiIndia" handlename="Business Insider India🇮🇳" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/897791968561856513/lSAPr7ui_normal.jpg" favoritecount="9" retweetcount="3" status="#WATCH | #Chandrayaan2's soft landing on #Moon on Saturday at 1:30am: Things you must know.  Read more:… https://t.co/cE9CUy9pss" createdat="1567754453000" id="1169873085995970562"></div>



<br />Modi also said — “The moment 130 crore Indians were enthusiastically waiting for is here! In a few hours from now, the final descent of Chandrayaan - 2 will take place on the Lunar South Pole. India, and the rest of the world will yet again see the exemplary prowess of our space scientists.”<br /><br />
	<div type="twitter" handle="narendramodi" handlename="Narendra Modi" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1134082549041393672/QbihPzrL_normal.png" favoritecount="6523" retweetcount="1280" status="I am extremely excited to be at the ISRO Centre in Bengaluru to witness the extraordinary moment in the history of… https://t.co/3cEPhtGiUp" createdat="1567755702000" id="1169878325763788800"></div>



<br />Chandrayaan 2’s lander, Vikram, separately from the orbiter on 2 September 2019 and is currently in the process of putting itself in the correct position to begin its soft-landing. <br /><br />It’s a milestone for India since it will be landing one of the most cratered regions on the Moon — that too with indegenious built technology for the first time. <br /><br />Chandrayaan 2 will also make India the fourth country to soft-land on the lunar surface, if it’s successful. <br />Excited over ISRO’s achievements, the prime minister said, “I have been regularly and enthusiastically tracking all updates relating to Chandrayaan - 2 since it was launched on 22nd July 2019. This Mission manifests the best of Indian talent and spirit of tenacity. Its success will benefit crores of Indians.”<br /><br />
	<div type="twitter" handle="isro" handlename="ISRO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/413572279734247424/LshYgwCH_normal.jpeg" favoritecount="24026" retweetcount="4906" status="We have the same wishes for Vikram, Orbiter. Want to stay in touch with Vikram and Pragyan as they make their way t… https://t.co/rL4mBBjpVF" createdat="1567740649000" id="1169815188972826625"></div>


<br /><strong>Here’s where and how to watch Chandrayaan 2 land on the Moon:<br /></strong><br />National Geographic will be hosting the live broadcast on 7 September 2019 between 1.30 am to 2.30 am. The show will be hosted by National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) astronaut, Jerry Linenger. <br /><br />Linenger will walk viewers through the soft landing and also share his own experiences in space with them, according to the channel. <br /><br />Hotstar users can also watch the Moon landing live through the streaming platform. <br /><br />ISRO will also reportedly live stream the event from the Satellite Control Centre (SCC) in Bengaluru. The feed will be able on ISRO’s official site as well as through their channel on YouTube. <br /><br />Chandrayaan 2 is inching close to the Moon's South Pole, and India hopes to be the first country to land on its cratered surface. <br /><br />India's Moon mission will scan the lunar surface for clues about its composition. And, that unlock what's inside — like precious metals, according to a new study published in Nature GeoScience. <br /><br />
	<div type="twitter" handle="isro" handlename="ISRO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/413572279734247424/LshYgwCH_normal.jpeg" favoritecount="15464" retweetcount="3337" status="Watch this video to find out more about Vikram — Chandrayaan 2’s Lander — and the different stages of its journey t… https://t.co/Wm4uS7yxQW" createdat="1567701269000" id="1169650015347732481"></div>



<br />Geologists believe that since there are similarities between the Earth and the Moon, the composition of mineral deposits found on the planet could be parallel to what might be found on the natural satellite. <br /><br />"Examination of mineral deposits on Earth suggests that iron sulfide is a great place to store precious metals, like platinum and palladium," stated James Brenan, the lead author of the paper. <br /><br />And, in order to confirm his findings, "the South pole seems like a good choice for sampling". <br /><br /><strong>How will Chandrayaan 2 help?<br /></strong><br />The primary objective of the mission is to build on Chandrayaan 1's discovery of water on the Moon. <br /><br />The high tech instruments aboard the lander, Vikram, and the rover, Pragyan, will analyse the elemental composition of the Moon. Scientists are hoping that the information will help them find out more about other elements as well — like where there may find more Sulphur. <br /><br />"We have been able to link the Sulfur content of lunar volcanic rocks to the presence of iron sulfide deep inside the moon," said Brenan. <br /><br />"Our results show that sulfur in lunar volcanic rocks is a fingerprint for the presence of iron sulfide in the rocky interior of the moon, which is where we think the precious metals were left behind when the lavas were created," he added. <br />

PM Modi might retweet you tonight, here's how you can feature on his Twitter timeline

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>India's space agency called off its lunar mission on Monday after it observed a "technical snag" just one hour before its scheduled launch time.&#xa0;</strong></li><li><strong>The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said in a tweet on Monday that Chandrayaan 2 was called off&#xa0; "as a measure of abundant precaution," and said it would be announcing a new launch date in the future.&#xa0;&#xa0;</strong></li><li><strong>The mission was approved in 2008 and was slated to touch down on the moon's uncharted South Pole on September 6.</strong></li><li><strong>According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-exploration-india-moon/indias-second-lunar-mission-delayed-due-to-technical-snag-isro-idUSKCN1U90N7">Reuters</a>, the 10 billion rupee ($146 million) mission's success would put India alongside the US, the former Soviet Union, and China as the only countries in the world to have completed a soft landing on the moon's surface.&#xa0;&#xa0;</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.</a></strong></li></ul><p>I<span>ndia's space agency called off its lunar mission on Monday after it observed a "technical snag" just one hour before its scheduled launch time.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced the delay of Chandrayaan 2, which means "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/yoursay/weird_words/other_languages/chandrayaan_hindi.shtml">lunar vehicle</a>" in Hindi, on <a href="https://twitter.com/isro/status/1150520298761936896">Twitter</a> 56 minutes before the rocket was set to liftoff. </span></p><p><span>The spacecraft was set to be launched on the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III, or GSLV Mk-III, which the space agency referred to as "India's most powerful launcher to date."</span></p><p><span>"A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at 1 hour before the launch," the agency said on Twitter.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>"As a measure of abundant precaution, #Chandrayaan2 launch has been called off for today."</span></p><p><span>It added that a new launch date would be announced in the future.&#xa0;</span></p><p>Chandrayaan 2 was approved by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008, and was slated to touch down on the moon's uncharted South Pole on September 6. The mission has three elements, including a lunar orbiter, rover, and lander, and will be the most complex mission the agency has undertaken.&#xa0;</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-exploration-india-moon/indias-second-lunar-mission-delayed-due-to-technical-snag-isro-idUSKCN1U90N7">Reuters</a>, the 10 billion rupee ($146 million) mission's success would put India alongside the US, the former Soviet Union, and China as the only countries in the world to have completed a soft <span>landing on the moon's surface.&#xa0;&#xa0;</span></p><p><strong>Read more:</strong><em> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-israel-beresheet-moon-landing-failed-2019-4">Israeli scientists' attempt at the first private moon landing failed because of a glitch that caused a high-speed crash into the lunar surface</a></em></p><p><span>In <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-israel-beresheet-moon-landing-failed-2019-4">April</a>, Israel's Beresheet spacecraft crashed into the moon's surface after a technical glitch in one of its components caused its main engine to malfunction. SpaceIL, the Israeli nonprofit which sponsored the private moon mission, announced days later that it would build and launch a second mission.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>India successfully launched its first lunar mission, <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Spacecraft/chandrayaan-1">Chandrayaan 1</a>, in October 2008, which orbited the moon at a height of 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the lunar surface. The mission concluded in August 2009 after communication with the spacecraft was lost.&#xa0;&#xa0;</span></p><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roborace-self-driving-autonomous-race-cars-2019-6">Inside Roborace: the Formula One for self-driving cars</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

India calls off the launch of its $146 million lunar mission due to a 'technical snag'

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></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><p>India's moon-bound spacecraft may have crashed into the lunar surface during its descent on Friday, an astronomer said.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Sivan later announced that the landing had been going according to plan until the 1.3-mile mark.</p><p>"The data is being analyzed," he said.</p><h2>Why Vikram has probably crashed into the moon</h2><p>Screens in mission control, which showed data related to Vikram's landing, do not paint a great picture for the fate of the spacecraft.</p><p>"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>.</p><p>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.</p><p>Bassa <a href="https://twitter.com/cgbassa/status/1170070679250714624">said in a tweet</a> that the data indicated the lander "has crashed."</p><p>"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>.</p><p>If the spacecraft did crash, it's unclear whether it tumbled to the surface, rockets blazing, or simply went dead and fell.</p><p>"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>.</p><p>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.</p><h2>Not the first moon-landing failure this year</h2><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>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.</p><p>If Vikram failed, however, it'd mark the second time a lunar-landing spacecraft has crashed into the moon this year.</p><p>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>.</p><p>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>.</p><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>

India lost contact with its moon lander, and an astronomer thinks the spacecraft crashed into the lunar surface

<br /><ul><li>The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope has caught the first-ever direct image of two planets outside the <keyword id="52393" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Solar-System">solar system</keyword> orbiting an Earth-like star. <br /></li><li>The trio captured on camera seems a lot like a much younger version of our own solar system, according to Alexander Bohn who led the research team. <br /></li><li>The similarities could help scientists detail the evolution of our solar system and help with the hunt for other habitable worlds. <br /></li></ul>The Very Large Telescope (VLT) has caught the first-ever direct photograph of a solar system that looks very much like our own — only much younger. Nearly 300 light-years away, it has a Sun-like star with two giant planets in orbit. <br /><br /><div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75860057" title="In a fiery swirl of orange gas, a new planet is born — witnessed by astronomers for the very first time" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><br />Dubbed TYC 8998-760-1, this system could help scientists understand how our own solar system came into existence. It could also lay the foundation for finding other <keyword id="1721015" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="habitable-planets">habitable planets</keyword> outside the solar system. <br /><br /><strong><keyword id="122247" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Exoplanets">Exoplanets</keyword> are shy<br /></strong>Exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — are not the most photo-friendly of celestial objects. Only a handful of them have ever been directly photographed. When it comes to capturing two or more exoplanets, a mere two system systems have been directly observed. Even then, their stars were remarkably different from the Sun. <br /><br /><div type="image" title="eso2011b" msid="77125130" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The two planets are visible as two bright dots in the centre (TYC 8998-760-1b) and bottom right (TYC 8998-760-1c) of the frame, noted by arrows. Other bright dots, which are background stars, are visible in the image as well. &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br />“This discovery is a snapshot of an environment that is very similar to our solar system, but at a much earlier stage of its evolution,” said <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2011/">Alexander Bohn</a>, who led the research project published in <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aba27e">The Astrophysical Journal Letters</a>. <br /><br />“Direct observations are important in the search for environments that can support life,” added co-author Matthew Kenworthy. <br /><br /><strong>Further and heavier<br /></strong>One of the two gas giants is orbiting the Star at 160 times the distance between the Sun and Earth. The other is around 320 times further. But when you compare the distance to the gas giants in our solar system — Jupiter and Saturn — the distance is only 5 and 10 times greater, respectively.<br /><br />It’s not the distance between the star and its planets that are further but the exoplanets are also much heavier than Jupiter and Saturn. The inner planet has 14 times Jupiter's mass and the outer planet is six times denser.<br /><br />“The possibility that future instruments, such as those available on the ELT [Extremely Large Telescope], will be able to detect even lower-mass planets around this star marks an important milestone in understanding multi-planet systems, with potential implications for the history of our own Solar System,” said Bohn.<br /><br />The ELT is expected to be ready for use in 2025. It will have the potential to test whether these planets formed at their current location and so far away from their stars or if they migrated from somewhere else.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/supercomputer-earth-3d-videos-show-how-planet-may-have-lost-half-of-its-atmosphere-to-create-the-moon/articleshow/77098789.cms">WATCH: Supercomputer generates 3D videos that show how Earth may have lost half of its atmosphere to create the Moon</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/uae-mars-mission-hope-probe-on-its-way-to-red-planet-here-is-everything-you-need-to-know/articleshow/77064837.cms">The Hope Probe is on its way to Mars — everything you need to know about the UAE’s first jump into interplanetary space</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/chandrayaan-2s-data-release-with-include-the-highest-resolution-3d-map-of-the-moon-and-information-from-its-8-high-tech-instruments/articleshow/77103682.cms"><strong>Chandrayaan 2’s data release will include the highest-resolution 3D map of the Moon and information from its 8 high tech instruments</strong></a><br />

A Sun-like star and two exoplanets 300 light-years away could reveal how Earth’s solar system came to be

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<br /><ul><li>A team of researchers from <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory have discovered that water is released from the Moon when it gets struck by meteoroids. </li><li>They were able to track the phenomenon using observations made by NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE).</li><li>This is a stepping stone in understanding the history of water on the Moon and how it can be used to help human space exploration missions.</li></ul>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists have <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2019/ladee-lunar-water">discovered</a> that water is released from the Moon as meteoroids strike the surface. <br /><br />Scientists had long speculated that meteorite impacts could have such an impact, but this is the first time that they’ve actually observed the phenomenon — but it also shows that meteoroid impacts release water faster than the Moon can replace it.<br /><br />Even so, these findings go a long way in helping the scientific community understand the history of <keyword id="521065" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lunar-water">lunar water</keyword> and its continued evolution as well as help them understand how water on the Moon can be a potential resource for future exploration endeavours — on the Moon and in deep space.<br /><br />
  
  
  
  <div type="ExtQuote" text="The water being lost is likely ancient, either dating back to the formation of the Moon or deposited early in its history." auname="Mehdi Benna of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and lead author of the study, published in Nature Geosciences"></div>









<br />Essentially, when debris from a comet in the form of a meteoroid hits the Moon, it vaporises on impact. That impact, in turn, creates a shock wave in the lunar soil. If an impact is big enough, the shockwave will be large enough to breach through the soil’s top layer that’s mostly dry and release the water molecules from underneath. <br /><br />
	
	
  
  <div type="image" title="figure_3-infographic" msid="68902724" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Infographic showing the lunar water cycle based on the new observations from the Neutral Mass Spectrometer on board the LADEE spacecraft&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>









<br />NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) was able to track these water molecules as they entered the lunar atmosphere. Using those observations, researchers from NASA and <keyword id="210763" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Johns-Hopkins-University">Johns Hopkins University</keyword> Applied Physics Laboratory discovered four new meteoroid streams.<br /><br />
  
  
  
  
  <div type="ExtQuote" text="We traced most of these events to known meteoroid streams, but the really surprising part is that we also found evidence of four meteoroid streams that were previously undiscovered." auname="Mehdi Benna of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland"></div>










<br />One could speculate that the water detected could be a result of the meteoroids’ water mass rather than the Moon. But, the team was able to determine that this cannot be the case since the water being released is in excess of the water mass detected in the meteoroids.<br /><br />
  
  
  
  <div type="ExtQuote" text="We know that some of the water must be coming from the Moon, because the mass of water being released is greater than the water mass within the meteoroids coming in." auname="Dana Hurley of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the second author of the paper"></div>









<br />The <keyword id="116095" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Space-Research-Organisation">Indian Space Research Organisation</keyword> (ISRO) was the first to discover water on the Moon in 2008 when its spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, used the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) on the Shackleton Crater located at the Moon’s south pole. Even then, it was the subsurface debris that was analysed to determine the presence of water. <br /><br />
  
  
  
  <div type="Youtube" id="wZxUyH7vuRk" title="Water Released from Moon During Meteor Showers" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wZxUyH7vuRk/mqdefault.jpg"></div>









<br /><strong>See also:<br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/evidence-of-water-on-moons-surface-but-terms-and-conditions-apply/articleshow/65499784.cms">Evidence of water on Moon’s surface, but terms and conditions apply</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/NASA-has-found-evidence-that-an-ice-covered-moon-of-Saturn-could-sustain-alien-life/articleshow/58172657.cms">NASA has found evidence that an ice-covered Moon of Saturn could sustain alien life</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/china-releases-detailed-360-degree-photo-from-the-first-mission-to-land-on-the-far-side-of-the-moon/articleshow/67490540.cms">China releases detailed 360-degree photo from the first mission to land on the far side of the Moon</a><br />

NASA discovers that meteoroids are depleting the moon’s water supply

<sup>(PSLV C31 taking off. Photo source: <keyword id="6358064" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="isro">ISRO</keyword>)<br /></sup><br /><ul><li><strong>The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch over 30 satellites on Thursday using the PSLV C43 rocket. </strong></li><li><strong>The rocket’s payload will also include ISRO’s <keyword id="2059663" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hyperspectral-imaging">Hyperspectral Imaging</keyword> Satellite (HySIS) capable of identifying 55 spectral bands from 630 kms above ground. <br /></strong></li><li><strong>The agency plans on applying this technology to various geological environments like agriculture, coastal zones and soil quality.</strong></li></ul>The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will <a href="https://deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/241118/nellore-hyperspectral-imaging-satellite-to-be-launched-on-november-29.html">launch</a> its Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HySIS) along with 30 other foreign <keyword id="7066763" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="commercial-satellites">commercial satellites</keyword> on Thursday from the Sriharikota launch centre using the PSLV C43 rocket. <br /><br />The new satellite is a big leap from the time when satellites could only capture general outlines of countries and detect weather patterns. Hyperspectral imaging — also called <keyword id="7022239" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Imaging-spectroscopy">imaging spectroscopy</keyword> or <keyword id="7066764" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="hypex-imaging">hypex imaging</keyword> — <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/isro-develops-optical-imaging-detector-array-hyperspectral-imaging-applications">enables</a> satellites to distinctly identify objects from outer space.<br /><br />
	
	
	<div type="twitter" handle="planetlabs" handlename="Planet" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1013830287724183552/1x8il-Pu_normal.jpg" favoritecount="25321" retweetcount="11763" status="At 597 feet, India’s Statue of Unity is now the tallest statue in the world and clearly seen from space! Oblique Sk… https://t.co/72MxyYfxdf" createdat="1542307445000" id="1063140598704553984"></div>







<br />This trend in Earth observation allows for a high level of differentiation that’s a huge improvement over the normal optical images used in conventional satellites. Experts in earth observation have <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/isro-to-develop-full-fledged-earth-observation-satellite/article19458651.ece">called</a> the technology the ‘CATSCAN’ of Earth from space. <br /><br />The agency plans on using this technology to help with agriculture, soil quality, coastal zones, and inland waters among other geological environments.<br /><br /><strong>It’s all about the chip<br /></strong><br />Hyperspectral imaging has been around for a while but each country has its own take on how to implement it. In <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>’s case, the crux of hypex imaging lies in an optical imaging detector chip <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/isro-develops-optical-imaging-detector-array-hyperspectral-imaging-applications">developed</a> by the Space Applications Centre (SAC) and manufactured by Semi Conductor Limited (SCL). <br /><br />The chip is capable of capturing images that can read upto 1,000 x 66 pixels. <br /><br />
	
  
  <div type="image" title="fig.-2_chip-on-board" msid="66811441" hostid="261"></div>







<sup>(Chip on board. Photo source: ISRO)<br /></sup><br />Hyperspectral imaging consists of much narrower bands as compared to multispectral imagery. <br /><br />Narrower measurement of wavelengths translates into more detailed imaging. Even in terms of scope, the former can identify 55 different spectral bands while the latter is only capable of capturing a maximum of 10 bands. <br /><br />India has already experimented with imaging spectroscopy when it launched the Chandrayaan-1, which had a hyperspectral camera on board to help map out the mineral resources available on the moon.<br /><br />The chairman of ISRO, K Sivan, told the <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/isro-to-launch-hyperspectral-imaging-sat-with-30-foreign-satellites-on-nov-29/articleshow/66801810.cms">Times of India</a>, “We are going to launch HySIS at 9.59 am on November 29 from Sriharkota. Over 30 foreign satellites, including nano and mini satellites, will also be launch.”<br /><br /><strong>See also:<br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-successfully-launches-communication-satellite-gsat-29-using-its-heaviest-rocket/articleshow/66623518.cms">India successfully launches communication satellite GSAT-29 using its heaviest rocket</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/russia-to-help-india-with-its-first-manned-space-mission-may-train-astronauts-abroad-the-iss/articleshow/66086890.cms">Russia to help India with its first manned space mission, may train astronauts abroad the ISS</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/mars-orbiter-mission-completes-4-years-in-pictures/articleshow/65972664.cms">Mars Orbiter Mission completes 4 years: In pictures</a><br />

You Searched For "chandrayaan 1 photos" and got 10 results

Chandrayaan 1 — India marks the 11th anniversary of its first successful mission to the Moon

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IN PICS: All pictures clicked by Chandrayaan 2's lander — Vikram

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Chandrayaan 2’s first photo of the Moon shows where 3.8 billion-year old ‘lunar seas’ once used to exist

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PM Modi might retweet you tonight, here's how you can feature on his Twitter timeline

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India calls off the launch of its $146 million lunar mission due to a 'technical snag'

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India lost contact with its moon lander, and an astronomer thinks the spacecraft crashed into the lunar surface

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A Sun-like star and two exoplanets 300 light-years away could reveal how Earth’s solar system came to be

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NASA discovers that meteoroids are depleting the moon’s water supply

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India’s space agency is planning a massive launch of over 30 satellites this week, including one capable of ‘hyperspectral’ imaging

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