India hails Moon mission 'find'
India's inaugural Moon mission has been hailed as a "grand success"
by the head of India's space agency, after helping find evidence of
water on the Moon.
Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chief G Madhavan Nair said
a spacecraft probe found more water on the Moon "than was expected."The
mission was terminated last month after communication was lost with the
orbiting spacecraft.
The craft was launched last October for a two-year mission of
exploration.Data from three spacecraft, including India's Chandrayaan
probe, has shown that very fine films of H2O coat the particles that
make up the lunar dirt, US space agency Nasa announced.The quantity is
tiny but could become a useful resource for astronauts wishing to live
on the Moon, scientists say."We truly believe it is a path-breaking
finding. But this is just the beginning," Mr Nair said."Indians should
be proud of the fact that the Chandrayaan enabled the discovery of water
on the Moon," he said.Indian scientists have welcomed the discovery and
said more studies needed to be done to find out how much water was
available and whether it was fit for human consumption.
"The results suggest that frost rather than water is present in the
form of a thin film on the lunar surface. The quantity and its
distribution across the Moon is still an open question," K.
Kasturirangan, a former chief of Isro told the Press Trust of India
press agency."Ultimately, in the long run if humankind has to go and
inhabit the Moon, one of the important requirements is that you should
have adequate water for survival," he said.An Indian scientist working
in Nasa said it was a "significant discovery""It is a very significant
finding if we ever are to venture out to set up a base anywhere in the
solar system, the Moon is the nearest destination," Amitabha Ghosh
said.The Indian media has also hailed the role of Chandrayaan in the
finding.One Big Step for India, A Giant Leap for Mankind, headlined The
Times Of India newspaper.
"[The finding] has helped shake off the failure tag from the
Chandrayaan project that was aborted last month," the paper said.
-BBC
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