NASA locate lost Indian spacecraft orbiting moon’s north pole
- 7 years ago
FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA — NASA has located the Chandrayaan-1, a missing Indian spacecraft, nearly 8 years after it went missing.
The lunar probe, India’s first, was launched in Oct. 2008 but went missing after 312 days.
According to a NASA news release, the space agency sent microwave beams from a 230-foot antenna at their Goldstone Observatory in Fort Irwin, California.
These microwave beams were trained on the moon and the spacecraft’s predicted orbit over the lunar north pole.
The Chandrayaan-1 passed through the beam and bounced back radar echoes that were received by the Green Bank Radio Telescope in West Virginia.
The space agency say this same tracking method may have potential use in future robot and human missions to the moon.
The lunar probe, India’s first, was launched in Oct. 2008 but went missing after 312 days.
According to a NASA news release, the space agency sent microwave beams from a 230-foot antenna at their Goldstone Observatory in Fort Irwin, California.
These microwave beams were trained on the moon and the spacecraft’s predicted orbit over the lunar north pole.
The Chandrayaan-1 passed through the beam and bounced back radar echoes that were received by the Green Bank Radio Telescope in West Virginia.
The space agency say this same tracking method may have potential use in future robot and human missions to the moon.