Contact With Orbiter Lost Saturday

The Indian government says it has lost contact with its Chandrayaan I, or “Moon Craft" orbiter after nearly a year spent mapping the lunar surface. They announced Monday they have abandoned attempts to revive the spacecraft.

Chandrayaan I was launched October 22nd last year, and the Indian Space Research Organization told Bloomberg News that they have received over 70,000 images of the lunar surface from the orbiter. The spacecraft is carrying 11 payloads, including the imaging equipment designed to make a three-dimensional atlas of the moon, as well as mapping instruments for the European Space Agency, a Bulgarian device for measuring radiation, and NASA instruments designed to look for ice deposits and mineral composition.

Chandrayaan I was expected to orbit the moon for two years about 62 miles above the lunar surface before impacting the moon. The state-run broadcaster Doordarshan quotes  ISRO chief Madhavan Nair as saying the mission, while ending early, has been successful. “We survived for 315 days which is a good record. Many such experiments have burnt within a month in the past,” he is credited with saying. “We are disappointed with the development, but have managed to get a large volume of data."

India plans to launch Chandrayaan II, which would place a rover on the moon to prospect for chemicals. Nair said that project will not be delayed by the loss of Chandrayaan I.

Chandrayaan I Drawing

Bloomberg reports India is one of several countries with lunar ambitions. Japan currently has a probe on the moon. China plans an unmanned mission in 2012, as well as a manned mission in 2020, which is when the U.S. also plans to return to the moon. Russia hopes to have men on the moon by 2025.

FMI: www.isro.org/chandrayaan/htmls/home.htm