Chandrayaan-1, India's first lunar mission, launched in 2008, confirmed water ice on the moon and ended early after a power failure.
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01Summary
- 01Chandrayaan-1 launched on Oct. 21, 2008 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on a PSLV-XL rocket.
- 02It carried 11 instruments, including five Indian-built and others from NASA and European agencies.
- 03The Moon Impact Probe crashed into the moon on Nov. 14, 2008.
- 04In September 2009, data from the American M3 instrument detected water ice on the lunar surface.
- 05Contact was lost in August 2009 due to overheating, ending the mission 14 months early after achieving 95% of objectives.
02Why it matters
This mission demonstrated India's deep-space capability and yielded key scientific discoveries about lunar water, influencing future exploration.
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