India joins the (space) race

India launched its first unmanned space craft today, joining China in an Asian space race.

The Chandrayaan-1 is heading for the Moon, which China’s own Chang’e probe visited just last year. The Indian mission will orbit the Moon for two years, creating a three-dimensional atlas of the surface and prospecting for valuable minerals.

Two NASA experiments are also on board.

More details are here.

Post to Twitter

Possibly related posts: