Page 4 - Moon

Aim for space station by 2035, India on Moon by 2040: PM Modi to scientists

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked scientists to aim to send the first Indian to the Moon by 2040 and set up an Indian space station by 2035, according to an official statement. He gave these directions during a meeting to review the preparedness of the Gaganyaan mission and the first demonstration flight of the crew escape system test vehicle scheduled for October 21. "The meeting evaluated the mission's readiness, affirming its launch in 2025," the statement said. During the meeting, the prime minister outlined the future of India's space exploration endeavours and urged scientists to work towards interplanetary missions, including a Venus Orbiter Mission and a Mars Lander. "Building on the success of Indian space initiatives, including the recent Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L1 missions, the prime minister directed that India should now aim for new and ambitious goals, including setting up 'Bharatiya Antariksha Station' (Indian space station) by 2035 and sending first ..

Govt declares August 23 as National Space Day to mark moon landing

The government has notified August 23, the day Chandrayaan-3 made a soft landing on the moon, as National Space Day. "...the Government of India has declared the 23rd Day of August of every year as the 'NATIONAL SPACE DAY' to commemorate this historic moment," said a notification issued by the Department of Space dated October 13. India has become the fourth nation in the world to land a spacecraft on the moon and the first to land near the south pole of the lunar surface. The Vikram lander had also deployed the Pragyan rover on the moon to study the lunar surface. "The outcome of this historic mission will benefit mankind in the years to come," the notification said. It added that August 23 marked an important milestone in the country's advancements in Space Missions, which inspired younger generations towards enhanced interest in pursuing STEM and provided a major impetus to the Space sector. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to the Indian Space Research Organisatio

Maybe in your lifetime, people will live on the Moon and then Mars

This time around, the stay will be long-term. To make it happen, Nasa is going to build houses on the moon - ones that can be used not just by astronauts but ordinary civilians as well

China's 2024 lunar mission Chang'e-6 to carry payload from Pakistan

China's next lunar mission scheduled for 2024 will also carry a payload from Pakistan, the country's space agency has said, as the two all-weather friends step up their cooperation in the space sector. The Chang'e-6 lunar mission is currently undergoing research and development work as planned, state-run news agency Xinhua reported on Friday quoting China National Space Administration (CNSA). The Chang'e-6 mission, with the launch scheduled for around 2024, is tasked with bringing back samples from the far side of the moon. To date, all 10 lunar sampling missions conducted by humans have taken place on the near side of the moon, The Global Times newspaper reported. The far side is generally older and contains the Aitken Basin, one of the three major lunar landforms, making it of significant scientific value, the report said, quoting CNSA. The Chang'e-6 mission aims at landing the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side to explore and collect lunar samples from different regions and

Pragyan rover has done what it was expected to do on moon: Isro chief

Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) S Somanath on Thursday said the Pragyan rover of its moon mission Chandrayaan-3 has done what it was expected to do, and it would not be a problem even if it fails to 'wake up' from the current sleep mode. The national space agency is now gearing up for XPoSat or X-ray Polarimeter Satellite launch which may take place in November or December, he said at a news conference here after visiting the famous Somnath temple in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat. On the status of Pragyan, currently in sleep mode on the moon, the ISRO chief said it will wake up if its electronic circuits have not been damaged due to the extreme weather on the moon as the temperature dipped nearly 200 degrees Celsius below zero. "It is OK if it does not wake up because the rover has done what it was expected to do," he added. ISRO had said last week that with dawn breaking on moon, it made efforts to establish communication with lunar mission Chandrayaan-

Isro makes attempt to wake up Chandrayaan-3's lander, no signals so far

ISRO on Friday said it has made efforts to establish communication with its lunar mission Chandrayaan-3's lander Vikram and rover Pragyan to ascertain their 'wake-up condition' after they had been put into sleep mode early this month -- but no signals have been received from them as of now. Attempts to make contact with the lander and rover will continue, the national space agency said on social media platform X. With dawn breaking on the Moon, ISRO attempted to reestablish communication with the lander and rover, to revive them so that they can continue with scientific experiments. Both the lander and the rover were put into sleep mode earlier this month on September 4 and 2 respectively, ahead of the lunar night setting in on Earth's only natural satellite. However, their receivers were kept on. "Efforts have been made to establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to ascertain their wake-up condition. As of now, no signals have been received from them. Effor

Isro moves to wake up Chandrayaan-3 rover, lander as dawn breaks on Moon

The solar-powered modules were put to sleep on September 4 after completed Isro's main scientific objectives on the south pole of the Moon

Chandrayaan-1 data suggests electrons from Earth forming water on Moon

Scientists analysing the remote sensing data from India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission have found that high energy electrons from the Earth may be forming water on the Moon. The team led by researchers from the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa in the US discovered that these electrons in Earth's plasma sheet are contributing to weathering processes -- breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals -- on the Moon's surface. The research, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, found that the electrons may have aided the formation of water on the lunar body. Knowing the concentrations and distributions of water on the Moon is critical to understanding its formation and evolution, and to providing water resources for future human exploration, the researchers said. The new finding may also help explain the origin of the water ice previously discovered in the permanently shaded regions of the Moon, they said. Chandrayaan-1 played a crucial role in the discovery of water molecul

Indians defy lunar legalities, buy Moon land after Chandrayaan-3 success

UN Outer Space Treaty Prohibits lunar land ownership, but private sellers persist

Japan launches X-ray satellite, Moon Sniper lunar lander. Details here

Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is taking a uniquely long route to the Moon and is scheduled to make a landing in four to six months

Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully undergoes last Moon-bound maneouvre

India's ambitious third Moon mission's spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 on Wednesday successfully underwent a fifth and final Moon-bound orbit maneouvre, bringing it even closer to the lunar surface. With this, the spacecraft has completed its lunar-bound maneouvres and it will now prepare for the propulsion module and the lander module separation, ISRO said. "Today's successful firing, needed for a short duration, has put Chandrayaan-3 into an orbit of 153 km x 163 km, as intended. With this, the lunar bound maneuvres are completed.It's time for preparations as the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module gear up for their separate journeys," the national space agency tweeted. Separation of the lander module from the propulsion module of the spacecraft is planned for August 17, it said. Post its launch on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 entered into the lunar orbit on August 5, following which three successive orbit reduction maneouvres were carried out on August 6, 9 and 14 to move closer to the .

Aditya-L1 LIVE: PM Modi, Congress congratulate Isro for successful launch

Catch all the latest updates related to the Aditya-L1 mission as it completes separation

Vikram lander's ILSA payload records natural event on lunar surface: Isro

ILSA comprises a cluster of six high-sensitivity accelerometers, which are indigenously fabricated using the Silicon Micromachining process

The Secret to Isro's Low Cost Moonshots

On August 23, Chandrayaan-3 landed on the lunar south pole for just $74 million, costing less than movies like "Gravity", "The Martian", and "Interstellar", and Bollywood's 'Adipurush'.

Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan captures new snap of Vikram Lander, details inside

The ISRO on Monday posted the images of a crater that Pragyan, the rover carried by Vikram, the lander of Chandrayaan-3, experienced. There were many images shared by the Indian space agency

What is Super Blue Moon?

August 30 brought us a dazzling celestial spectacle. The sky showcased a rare Blue Moon event. But it wasn't just any Blue Moon – it was also a Super Moon! Watch the video to know more

Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover confirms sulphur in lunar region: Isro

Another instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-3 mission's rover 'Pragyan' has confirmed the presence of sulphur in the lunar region by deploying a different technique, ISRO said on Thursday. The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope (APXS) has detected sulphur, as well as other minor elements on the Moon, the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency said in a social media post. "This finding by Ch-3 compels scientists to develop fresh explanations for the source of Sulphur (S) in the area: intrinsic?, volcanic?, meteoritic?,......?" read the post. ISRO also released a video of the rover rotating in search of a safe route. The rotation was captured by a lander imager camera. "It feels as though a child is playfully frolicking in the yards of Chandamama, while the mother watches affectionately. Isn't it?" ISRO quipped in the social media post. The space agency released a video showing an automated hinge mechanism rotating the 18 cm tall APXS, aligning the detector head to be ...

A big, gleaming 'super blue moon' will rise today. Here's how to see it

The lunar event that will occur on Wednesday won't happen again for many years

Isro's Vikram lander observes Moon temperature, records high of 70 deg C

ISRO on Sunday released a graph of the temperature variation on the lunar surface and a senior scientist of the space agency expressed surprise over the high temperature recorded on the Moon. The national space agency said Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) payload onboard Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander measured the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole to understand the thermal behaviour of the Moon's surface. "Here are the first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander. ChaSTE (Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment) measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon's surface," ISRO said in an update on social media platform 'X'. Speaking about the graphic illustration, ISRO scientist B H M Darukesha told PTI: "We all believed that the temperature could be somewhere around 20 degree centigrade to 30 degree centigrade on the surface but it is 70 degree ...

Isro shares first observations from Vikram Lander's ChasSTE payload

ISRO on Sunday released a graph of the temperature variation on lunar surface with increase in depth measured by the ChaSTE payload onboard Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander module. According to the space agency, Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) measured the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the south pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the Moon's surface. Here are the first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander. ChaSTE measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon's surface, ISRO said in an update on X', formerly Twitter. The payload has a temperature probe equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism capable of reaching a depth of 10 cm beneath the surface. The probe is fitted with 10 individual temperature sensors. The presented graph illustrates the temperature variations of the lunar surface/near-surface at various depths, as recorded during