Earlier I mentioned how India was set to launch Chandrayaan-1, their unmanned mission to the moon, on the 22nd of October.

Guess what day it is.

And guess what went off without a hitch.

That’s right!  Reports are already in.  The launch was a success!  I’m sure there’s much celebration going on in India.  If for no other reason than maybe now the government can get back to spending money on its people instead of on a space race.  But the point is, they did it.  They got an unmanned moon probe up past our gravitational pull.  And now India too can get all sorts of neat lunar scientific experiments going.

Well, sort of.

On the 22 of October, India’s first unmanned moon mission, the Chandrayaan-1, is set to launch.  It will probe the moon’s surface with cameras, lasers, and x-rays.  It will even drop off a lander probe.  This is all pretty big stuff for anyone to accomplish with a budding space program.

Of course, that has been one of the noteworthy comments made.  India, a country still lacking in standard of living for many, is aiming awfully high and spending a considerable amount to aim at their jaunt into the space race.  They have also already pushed back the launch from April to October because of technical issues.  They have a lot riding on this mission.  Let’s hope that they at least manage to pull it off without a hitch.