By IANS,
Hyderabad : Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Monday wished success to space scientists working on India’s maiden unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1.
“The Indian space scientists have done fantastic work. Chandrayaan will do good work. I wish them full success,” Kalam told reporters on the sidelines of a conference at National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) here.
The countdown for the launch of lunar mission began early Monday. Chandrayaan-1 will be launched by the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C11) Wednesday from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
Kalam, who mentored India’s missile programme, said the Chandrayaan mission would help India economically. The Earth, the Moon and Mars have a strategic and economic entity, he replied, when asked how the mission will help India.
India’s first spacecraft will orbit the moon and survey its surface with high resolution equipment to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and its three dimensional topography. This is also expected to help find answers to questions about the moon’s origin.