Posted: Tue, May 9, 2006, 8:28 AM ET (1228 GMT)
NASA will provide two instruments for India's first lunar mission under an agreement the heads of the two space agencies signed Tuesday. Under the agreement NASA will contribute the Mini-SAR and Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instruments for the Chandrayaan-1 mission, scheduled for launch in 2007 or 2008. Mini SAR is a small synthetic aperture radar designed to look for water in permanently-shadowed craters in the Moon's polar regions. M3 will detect and map the locations of minerals on the lunar surface. NASA had planned to offer the instruments for the mission for some time, but required approval of higher-level accords on space cooperation between the two nations before the deal could be completed. The European Space Agency previously agreed to fly three instruments on the same mission, which will also have five Indian payloads.

Related Links:

•  PTI article
•  AFP article
•  ISRO press release