- Srinivasa Hegde, the mission director of India’s first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1, passed away in Bengaluru.
- Mr Hegde was associated with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for over three decades. He was associated with many landmark missions undertaken by ISRO and notable among them was Chandrayaan-1 launched in 2008.
Chandrayaan-1 Mission
- India’s first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 made the pioneering discovery of water molecules on the moon.
- India’s first moon mission Chandrayaan-1 was successfully launched on a PSLV-C11 launch vehicle on October 22, 2008 from SHAR, Sriharikota.
- The spacecraft was orbiting the Moon at an altitude of 100 km from the lunar surface.
- The spacecraft also carried 11 scientific instruments built in India, the US, the UK, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria.
- The mission made more than 3400 orbits around the Moon and ended on August 29, 2009 when communication with the spacecraft was lost.