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Communication Lost With Indian Moon Satellite

Posted by timothy on from the that's-a-shame dept.

stoolpigeon writes "All communication links with the only Indian satellite orbiting the Moon have been lost, India's space agency says. Radio contact with the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was lost abruptly early on Saturday, said India's Bangalore-based Space Research Organization (ISRO)."

1 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Orbiting the moon is exceptionally difficult by QuoteMstr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Orbiting the moon is a lot harder than orbiting the earth. The moon's gravitational field is exceptionally lumpy because of concentrations of mass beneath the surface. If not actively corrected for, these mass concentrations will make a satellite's orbit go through increasingly violent gyrations until it eventually intersects with the surface.

    I wonder if this is what happened to the Indian probe.