Moon is the only celestial body towards which dozens of manned and unmanned spacecraft have been launched. Moreover, moon is the only world other than Earth on which humans have set foot. The unmanned and manned spacecraft sent to the moon have provided plenty of information of scientific value. But this does not mean that every important aspect of the moon is known to humans. On the contrary, there are many secrets which the moon is yet to reveal. For example, there is no unanimous agreement in the scientific community about the origin and evolution of the moon. Additionally, mineralogy of the moon is yet to be understood in much finer detail. Similarly, the presence of Helium-3, said to be a relatively clean fuel for the future nuclear fusion reactors, is yet to be quantified on the Moon. And, the debate over the presence of water in the permanently shadowed regions of the moon's polar areas is not yet settled. |
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Clementine (1994) U.S.A |
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SMART-1 (2003) ESA |
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Kaguya (2007) Japan |
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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (2009) U.S.A |
Thus, from the point of view of human intellectual quest as well as in the context of the future of humanity, exploration of the moon is very important.
In the past few years, there has been a renaissance with regard to lunar exploration. Many countries and international space agencies, including the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan, China, the US and Russia have undertaken or in the process of undertaking unmanned exploratory missions to the moon. These missions intend to seek answers to some of the fundamental questions that concern the moon. India's Chandrayaan-1 is an integral part of that renewed interest of the international scientific community about the moon.