India's moon mission has been terminated abruptly. Indian scientists had to abandon the10-month maiden moon mission after the spacecraft lost contact with its controllers much ahead of its two-year mission period.
"Net result is we do not have any communication with the satellite and the mission is terminated," ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.
But its next version, Chandrayaan-II, remains on schedule.
However, some tough questions remain unanswered. What went wrong aboard the moon craft? And why it's too optimistic to make a lunar mission last two years?
ISRO says it has achieved 95 per cent of the mission's objectives in the first 10 months.
"Chandrayaan mission was completely successful. All instruments worked satisfactorily. Ninety five per cent objectives of the mission have been completed," Nair said.
Chandrayaan will aimlessly orbit the moon now and possibly disintegrate in the next three to four years, just when Chandrayaan-II gets ready to take to the skies. But before losing contact, Chandrayaan-I has sent enough data to keep scientists busy for the next two to three years.
The next mission to moon, slated for 2012, promises to be even bigger. The design of the spacecraft has been completed and it will have a buggy which will hopefully run around the moon.
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