In the past India’s space program was focused on sending satellites to space. With regards to moon exploration, it was felt
that an Indian mission would only reinvent the wheel as the U.S.A. had been there before. If schedules hold, spacecraft from India should be moon-bound by 2008. After launch, Chandrayaan will go around the earth twice before being fired towards the moon. The entire journey of 386,000 km will take 5.5 days. The
scientific community in India is very enthusiastic about this mission.
Is this expenditure is justified? ISRO Officials say that one reason for backing the lunar mission is that talented young scientists who join the organization require more challenging tasks. Besides, such cutting-edge scientific
missions can generate a number of spin-off technologies that can be applied in other areas. The possibility of exploiting precious resources on the lunar surface cannot be discounted. New discoveries have sparked off a moon rush, and India does not wish to be left behind. There are purely scientific reasons as well - one of the objectives of the Chandrayaan project will be to produce a gravity map of the moon.
The possibility of finding water (in the form of ice) in the Polar Regions has been the trigger for the current rush in lunar exploration. The presence of water could help in colonizing the moon as it would result in substantial cost savings when permanent human residence is planned.
The Chandrayaan project offers two challenges - one is technological and other is related to cost. India’s moon mission is expected to cost less than $100 million, which would make it the cheapest ever lunar mission to date. However, experts say that the problem with these missions is that they never stop at one. For making such research missions successful, isro may have to launch several probes (ranging from orbiters to landers) which could result in a huge outflow of funds.