Indian moon mission to carry US radar, mineral mapper

PTI / May 9, 2006, 16:41 IST

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India's first mission to the moon Chandrayaan-1 will carry two US-made instruments that will look for mineral resources.

Indian moon mission to carry US radar, mineral mapper

BANGALORE: India's first mission to the moon Chandrayaan-1 will carry two US-made instruments that will look for mineral resources and ice deposits on the lunar surface, giving a boost to joint efforts by the two countries to harness space for development.
The main objective of India's unmanned mission, slated for early 2008, is to investigate the distribution of minerals and chemical elements and to carry out three-dimensional mapping of the lunar surface.
An agreement for including the American devices in the mission was inked today by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair and visiting US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) chief Michael Griffin at the Satellite Centre.
The instruments are a Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini SAR) developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University and funded by NASA, and the Moon Mineralogy Mapper jointly built by Brown University and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"It is my hope and belief that as we extend the reach of human civilisation throughout the solar system, the US and India will be partners on many more technically challenging and scientifically rewarding projects," Griffin said.
During President George W Bush's visit to India in March, the two sides had agreed to expand cooperation on space exploration and satellite navigation.
The two sides then said they were also completing agreements for the launch of US satellites and satellites with American components by Indian rockets.

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