India goes to the moon

I'm amazed, speechless actually, when did India suddenly become a space nation? In the last few days the BBC has reported about India launching an unmanned probe that is going to go to the moon, put itself into orbit, then photograph the surface of the moon in detail never done before.

This is the sort of thing I usually expect to see NASA or the Russians doing, but instead it is India that is celebrating the successful launch of its rocket and probe.

Apparently the technology is all home-grown, developed by Indian scientists and technicians. Their moon probe, Chandrayaan-1, carries a bunch of instuments, some of them owned by India, and others owned by other nations, and once it's in orbit it will drop to 100km and stay in that orbit while it completes it's mission.

Part of the mission also includes shooting a dart into the moon to measure the kinds of materials found under the surface. Very exciting stuff, and good luck to India!