India's moon mission is to lift off in the last week of October. Chandrayaan-1 passed a crucial test which simulated conditions that the space craft would encounter in the hostile vacuum-like environment near the moon.

According to ISRO, India's first mission to the moon is to be launched sometime around October 22-26 from Sriharikota1. The launch date could be pushed to December if the earliest launch window in October is missed.

• 1. “India's moon mission to lift off in October,” September 13, 2008, at http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080065236&ch=9...