“The launch of Chandrayaan-1, as the vehicle is called (it means, roughly translated, ‘Moon Craft-1’) comes about a year after China’s first moon mission. The Indian mission is scheduled to last for two years, prepare a three-dimensional atlas of the moon and prospect its surface for natural resources, including uranium, a coveted fuel for nuclear power plants, according to the Indian Space Research Organization, or I.S.R.O. Allusions to an Asian space race could not be contained, even as Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, was due for a visit to China later in the week.” [Link]
The Indian mission is scheduled to last for two years,
Holy mother of Vishnu! Two years?? The logistics of that are staggering. They’re going to need a heck of a lot of chapatti to last ‘em two years.
Unmanned! I missed that.