Indian mission finds water on the moon.

Time for some undiluted flag-waving.

India’s maiden mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, has found water on it, fundamentally changing our perception of the moon. After five decades of exploration of the moon, the breakthrough came from an American probe on the Indian orbiter. It was one of 6 non-Indian probes representing 20 countries that were carried free of cost. Chandrayaan’s 2-year intended mission came to an abrupt end at the 312-day mark, when it stopped transmitting at 1.30 am on 29 August. Inexpensively built with only $80 million, Chandrayaan has already made the most important scientific discovery of the 21st century yet.

It was cheap and it failed halfway through, and it sputtered and died and did something extraordinary. It is, by all means, a very Indian story. Chandrayaan-2, its successor, is already delayed pat on schedule according to Indian standard time, which is actually a good sign that things are being done properly. Oh and this time we’re working with our Russian comrades. You know, the partnership that brought us BrahMos, the world’s fastest cruise missile.

Shout out to all our South Indian scientists and engineers, who pretty much run the space programme. Yenna rascalas… you did find it!

(Other things that will eventually be found on the moon, in due time – one Nair tea stall, one neatly folded lungi, one old copy of Malayala Manorama, and one Indian restaurant owned by a Bangladeshi.)