India Loses Contact with Its Moon Probe

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has lost contact with its Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiting spacecraft. According to the Times of India, ISRO has not formally given up on regaining contact with the probe, but the chances do not appear promising. ISRO officials state that the probe completed 95% of its scientific objectives even though it has been collecting data for less than half the scheduled time.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched by ISRO on October 22, 2008 to conduct chemical, minerologic and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon. It achieved lunar orbit one month later and began its planned 2-year mission. The spacecraft carries eleven instruments from India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and Bulgaria.