Indian Lunar Probe Goes Global.

India wants its upcoming mission to the moon to be an international affair. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that there was room for a 10-kg payload on its orbiting lunar probe and that Canada, Russia and Israel have already expressed interest. Chandrayaan-I, scheduled for a 2008 launch, will spend 2 years mapping the lunar topography and conducting spectroscopic studies from 100 kilometers above the surface. This month the Indian government gave ISRO a down payment of $18 million for the mission, about one-fifth of the total cost.