Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

India's moon mission lifts off, hopes to probe lunar south pole

INDIA launched a rocket into space on Monday (22) in an attempt to safely land a rover on the moon, the country's most ambitious mission yet in the effort to establish itself as a low-cost space power.

If successful, the Rs 10-billion mission will allow Indian scientists to carry out studies regarding the presence of water at the moon's south pole, unexplored by any other nation before.


"This mission will offer new knowledge about the Moon," prime minister Narendra Modi said in a Twitter post, praising the scientists responsible for what he called a fully indigenous mission.

China, Russia and the US are the only other nations to have sent missions to the moon.

A live broadcast showed images of the rocket, carrying the unmanned Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, blasting off from a space centre in southern India as thousands of onlookers cheered the launch, delayed for a week by a technical snag.

The boosters separated safely as the craft began its nearly 50-day journey, after which the lander will attempt a controlled landing to deploy a rover at the moon's south pole.

The spacecraft had been successfully injected into the earth's orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

The next month and a half will see the spacecraft perform crucial maneuvers to ensure a smooth landing, ISRO chairman K Sivan said, as the agency's officials congratulated each other with handshakes and bear hugs after the launch.

"We are going to experience 15 minutes of terror, to ensure that the landing is done safely near the south pole," he told reporters, describing the final moments before the craft is expected to land on the moon, about 47 days from now.

The space agency has previously said the descent on the moon could be complex, with potential problems from variations in lunar gravity, terrain and dust having to be taken into account.

Globally, Chandrayaan-2, whose name means "moon vehicle" in Sanskrit, will be the year's third bid at a moon landing, following China's successful launch of a lunar probe and the Israeli Beresheet spacecraft, which failed and crashed on the moon in April.

India's space agency suspects the south pole region of the moon contains water in the form of ice as well as craters that could reveal fossilized information about the early solar system.

Last week saw the 50th anniversary of humankind's first steps on the moon in 1969.

(Reuters)

More For You

british-muslims-iStock

The study noted that this identification was not due to any doctrinal obligation but was influenced by the perception that many Muslims do not feel fully accepted as British. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Majority of British Muslims identify by faith first, study finds

A STUDY by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) has found that most British Muslims identify primarily with their religion rather than their nationality.

The research, based on a survey of 815 British Muslim adults by Whitestone Insight, revealed that 71 per cent of respondents identified as Muslim first, while 27 per cent identified as British, English, or Scottish first.

Keep ReadingShow less
Car Tax Changes: EV Owners Now Required to Pay for the First Time

Owners of electric vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2025 will pay £10 for the first year, followed by the standard VED rate of £195 from the second year. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Car tax changes take effect: EV owners to pay for first time

FROM today, 1 April 2025, electric cars, vans, and motorcycles in the UK will be subject to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for the first time.

The change, introduced in the 2022 Autumn Statement by former Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, aims to make motoring taxation fairer.

Keep ReadingShow less
scotland-minimum-wages-iStock

Full-time workers on the National Living Wage will receive an annual pay increase of £1,400 in real terms. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Wage increase takes effect for thousands of workers in Scotland

HUNDREDS of thousands of workers in Scotland will see a pay increase as new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates take effect from Tuesday.

The changes will benefit approximately 220,000 people, according to STV News.

Keep ReadingShow less
uk-energy-bill-iStock

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

April bill increases put financial strain on single parents

A RANGE of essential household bills are increasing from April, with Citizens Advice warning that single parents will be among the hardest hit.

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased, BBC reported.

Keep ReadingShow less
Netflix drama Adolescence to be screened in UK schools
Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper in 'Adolescence'
Netflix

Netflix drama Adolescence to be screened in UK schools

THE NETFLIX drama Adolescence will be shown in UK secondary schools as part of efforts to address harmful online influences on young boys, officials announced on Monday.

The show has sparked debate over the impact of toxic and misogynistic content on the internet. Prime minister Keir Starmer met the show's creators, charities, and young people at Downing Street, calling the initiative an important step in starting discussions about the content teenagers are exposed to online.

Keep ReadingShow less