Bangalore, Sep 25 - By finding water on the lunar surface, India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has completed Disagreeing with a section of the media, which dubbed the moon mission a 'failure' when it was abruptly aborted Aug 30 after Chandrayaan lost radio contact with the earth, Nair maintained that it was a wonderful mission.
'Earlier I had stated that it had completed 95 percent of its scientific objectives. Today, I will say it has completed 110 percent of the objectives,' Nair told reporters.
'The presence of water molecules on the lunar surface has shattered the belief that the moon is bone dry,' Nair told reporters.
The ISRO chairman, however, made it clear that as per the data available there is no life on the moon.
Terming the stunning discovery as path-breaking for humankind, Nair said the volume of data collected by the mooncraft has been phenomenal and has filled computers in the Indian space agency as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the US.
'We had very dramatic moments in this mission starting from its launch Oct 22, 2008, onwards. We as Indians can be really proud that we have contributed to the significant finding of water on the moon through our Chandrayaan-1,' Nair said.