India launches first unmanned moon mission

The Chandrayaan-1, a cuboid spacecraft built by the Indian Space Research Organisation, blasted off from a southern Indian space centre shortly after dawn on Wednesday. Madhavan Nair, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, the man behind the moon mission – said that the rocket had a perfect launch. Barring any technical failure, the spacecraft will reach the lunar orbit and spend two years scanning the moon for any evidence of water and precious metals.