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'Chandrayaan could spark lunar land grab' |
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By: Agencies |
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Date:
2008-10-22 |
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Place: . |
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India's lunar mission could spark off a land grab on the moon, a British paper speculated yesterday. The Chandra- yaan mission signals the "possibility of a race for mineral wealth on the lunar surface", particularly Helium-3, it said.
With Chandrayaan-1, India has joined the race for Helium-3, a replacement for fossil fuels, with USA, Russia, Japan, China and some European nations. One of the mission objectives is to quantify the Helium-3 stocks buried there. No one is sure whether there is Helium-3 on the moon. But Chandrayaan-1 will make this belief a reality, said astrophysicist N Sri Raghunandan Kumar.
Advantage India
Once Chandrayaan-1 relays its data on Helium-3 stocks, India will have a larger claim on the lunar resources when man begins to colonise it. We will have a greater advantage under the IPR regime, since we've not only spent Rs 386 crore on the mission, but also come out with new findings on Helium-3.
While Earth is believed to have 15 tonnes of Helium-3, the moon is thought to have up to 5 million tonnes.
The report quoted a former ISRO director as saying the moon might have "enough [Helium-3] to produce energy for 8,000 years".
The head of China's lunar project had said in 2006 that "each year three space shuttle missions could bring enough [Helium-3] for all humans across the world". Incidenta-lly, a tonne and a half of it can light up India for a year.
Current ISRO officials are, however, tight-lipped over the prospects of a race for lunar minerals.
Rs 386 cr
The cost ($79 m) of the unmanned Chandrayaan-1 mission. It is cheaper than spacecrafts launched by Asian rivals. China's first lunar probe cost over $187 m, while Japan's Kayuga cost $480 m.
1.3 tonnes
The take-off weight of Chandrayaan. The rocket carries 11 payloads - five from India, two from the USA, and one each from Germany, Britain, Sweden and Bulgaria.
2 years
The duration of the mission during which Chandrayaan will orbit the moon. It plans to map a three-dimensional atlas of the moon and the surface's chemical and mineral composition
1,000
The number of scientists who have worked on the project for four years. India's constellation of seven earth-observation satellites is the largest in the world
2020
The year in which India plans to send a manned mission to the moon. The government has also approved the launch of Chandrayaan-2, which is expected to take of between 2010 and 2012
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