India lands spacecraft near south pole of moon in historic first
Vikram lander touches down at lunar south pole shortly after 6pm India time
Indians celebrated the double triumph of being the first to land on the south pole and the fourth to land on the moon.
One of the mission's major goals is to hunt for water-based ice which, scientists say, could support human habitation on the Moon in future. It could also be used for supplying propellant for spacecraft headed to Mars and other distant destinations. Scientists say the surface area that remains in permanent shadow there is huge and could hold reserves of water ice.
The lander and the rover are carrying five scientific instruments which will help discover the physical characteristics of the surface of the Moon, the atmosphere close to the surface and the tectonic activity to study what goes on below the surface.
water-based ice
Is that like regular water ice, but extra based? 😂
My point is that this kind of language padding (by the bbc) cracks me up.
(Yes, I know other kinds of solids are called ice - but they are also not '-based', they just are [and also irrelevant in this context])
Water-based ice, as in, contains impurities but is predominantly water.
Congratulations! Any indians here who can tell me what chandrayaan means?
Chandra means Moon
Yaan means craft
Spacecraft for moon => Chandra yaan
Pretty straightforward
Not Indian but Chandrayaan means “moon craft” in Sanskrit
Meanwhile, at the cosmodrome...
I'm happy for the team and excited to see what they find! Large amounts of water there would change the logistics for deep space exploration significantly.
It would be wonderfully convenient if we had a great big gas station nearby.
Saw the photos. Fewer penguins than I was expecting.
