A Celebration Bigger than Diwali for me!

Congratulations to ISRO for launching India's dream to the Moon. When you are a young kid in India, several people promise you the Moon, we address the Moon as 'Chanda Mama' - as our maternal uncle. The Moon is hence a part of every kid's family. Today, India finally got me and everyone Indian a taste of the excitement of what it is like to be exploring new worlds. The Moon is a start I hope and I would like to see ISRO, Indian industry and universities explore further and reach Mars and beyond.

Thank you to the dedicated team at ISRO that has been working non-stop on what was initially only envisioned in early 2004 as a 'program'. Paper studies had been done, but the budget line only appeared after that year. So, well done in accomplishing this mission.

Pradeep Mohandas has been blogging and tweetering as @Chandrayaan on twitter - you can follow his microblog there!

A few other noteworthy places to get information on the mission are:

ASI Student Chapter's website: http://www.indianspace.in
ISRO Press release: http://www.isro.gov.in/pressrelease/Oct22_2008.htm
www.chandrayaan-i.com
www.isro.org/chandrayaan/htmls/home.htm
www.isro.org/chandrayaan-1/
www.planetary.org/explore/topics/chandrayaan_1/
www.planetary.org/blog/ - Emily did a great job of following the webcast till the link broke through!

More to come.
This is bigger than diwali this year for me!

What to see and find on the Moon?

I posted this note on facebook's 'notes' and received some response. GLXP was interested in having it on their discussions too, but I honestly do not know who follows this blog and who all are listening. I got some mind response to the post being very good but my curiosity stills wants to probe more...

Read along and please share with me what you want dusted off on the Moon:

"Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left behind 66 items at Tranquillity Base, from their removable lunar overshoes (which actually stamped the iconic bootprints in the dust) to a “urine collection assembly, large” and sick bag (presumably unused — none of the Apollo 11 astronauts reported throwing up during the mission). Armstrong and Aldrin stuffed personal items in a large bag and threw it overboard just before leaving. Other objects still on the surface include tools; a TV camera, its stand, and cable; and a clothesline-like contraption for hoisting equipment back into the lander at the end of the moonwalk. The astronauts also left a mission patch memorializing the astronauts killed in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire; medals honoring Soviets Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, and Vladimir Komarov, the first person to die during a space mission; a silicon disk etched with messages from world leaders; and a small, gold olive branch as a sign of peace." - Air&Space Mag, Sept issue.

And this is just Apollo 11. 6 other missions and all the metal Luna missions, experiments, and crashed spacecrafts had to offer!

I wonder what people from our generation would like to
1) See on the moon when GLXP robots get to historic sights
2) take to the moon when GLXP robots blast off, just like humans - something that reflects consciousness towards planetary protection...

WHY THE MOON?

11th ISU Annual International Symposium
21-23 February 2007, Strasbourg, France

ISU’s 11th Annual International Symposium "Why the Moon?" which will take place in Strasbourg from Wednesday 21 to Friday 23 February 2007.. More information on this event is available on the ISU website at http://www.isunet.edu/EN/573 with links to the Preliminary Program, which includes details on sessions, and information about accommodation and online registration (http://www.isunet.edu/EN/596). We have received confirmation of attendance from all of the presenters of papers listed in the program.

This event is sponsored by NASA and generously supported by Alcatel Alenia Space, the European Space Agency (ESA), Lockheed Martin, MDA Corporation, SpaceX, The Aerospace Corporation, The Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab (APL) and The Space Foundation.

If you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to contact the organizing team at symposium11@isu.isunet.edu