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Space, The Next Frontier

On November 14, 2008, the Moon Impact Probe, (MIP) crash-landed on the lunar surface 20:31 Indian Standard Time near Shackleton Crater at the south pole. Chandrayaan-1, the first mission to the moon launched by India's national space agency the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on October 22, created a milestone in the history of India`s space exploration. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is planning 2nd moon mission Chandrayaan-2 by 2011. This is India’s first mission into space. But space exploration is more than three decades old now. It all began with Russia’s ‘Sputnik’ and America’s ‘Explorer’. Man first stepped on the moon in 1969 and walked on the lunar soil. Then came the space stations ‘Skylab’, ‘Salyut’, and ‘Mir’. Man learned to walk in space without tethers and to retrieve and repair lost satellites. Some 12 Americans walked on the Moon during the Apollo programme, bringing back 380 kg of rocks and soil. These samples from the moon, along with scientific measurements made on the surface and from the orbiting mother craft, have helped scientists to piece together a detailed picture of our nearest space neighbour. However, there are critics who say that space exploration is a waste of resources; they believe that poorer countries like India should not venture into this field. Others say that the excitement of exploring Space also generates a wealth of scientific data about our universe and others and also promotes technological innovations. In this community we will bring to you the latest on Space exploration. Also open will be discussions on the social and economic impact of this venture.

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Created on: Jan 24, 2009

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