Chandrayaan yields unique data

Indian Space Research Organisation chairman G Madhavan Nair said yesterday that Chandrayaan-1 has given a complete picture of the moon's surface with an unprecedented five metre resolution.

''Though several moon missions were there in the past, no mission had provided pictures and data about the entire surface of the moon ... Chandrayan-1 is the first mission which will give data on the entire surface,'' Nair said. He added that even the United States, the leading country in the field of space science and research, is getting moon pictures of only 100 m resolution.

At a talk on the 'Indian Space Programme' in Salem (Tamil Nadu), the ISRO chief said the pictures sent by Chandrayaan was sending large amounts of information, which would among other things help identify minerals on the surface.

"In last two months Chandrayan-1 has sent more than 40,000 images to the base station," Nair said.