Chandrayaan-1 launched on 22 October 2008 and orbited the Moon for 312 days, completing more than 3,400 orbits. It dropped India's flag onto the lunar surface with the Moon Impact Probe and carried the instrument that found water molecules on the Moon — before contact was lost on 29 August 2009.
From launch to the last signal and the discovery that outlived it: 6 moments.
6 milestones from 2008 to 2009: 3 successes, 0 failures, 1 partial successes and 2 other milestones.
Chandrayaan-1 carried 11 instruments — five Indian and six from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria — on a 1,380 kg spacecraft launched by the first PSLV-XL.
22 Oct 2008 · PSLV · Success
The first PSLV-XL, with longer strap-on boosters, placed Chandrayaan-1 in an elongated Earth orbit. A series of engine burns over the following two weeks raised the orbit until the spacecraft was on its way to the Moon.
8 Nov 2008 · Success · India's first spacecraft in lunar orbit
Chandrayaan-1 fired its engine near the Moon and was captured into lunar orbit — India's first spacecraft to orbit another world. Further burns over the next days lowered it to a circular 100 km orbit.
14 Nov 2008 · Success
The 35 kg Moon Impact Probe separated from the orbiter and struck the surface near the lunar south pole at 20:31 IST, carrying the Indian flag painted on its sides and sending back data during its 25-minute descent. The impact site was later named Jawahar Point.
Overheating and the failure of its star sensors made the spacecraft harder to control in its 100 km orbit. ISRO raised the orbit, kept operating as long as it could, and lost contact ten months into a two-year mission.
19 May 2009 · Milestone
With its main objectives met, ISRO raised Chandrayaan-1's orbit from 100 km to 200 km. The higher orbit reduced the heat load from the lunar surface and let the remaining instruments map wider areas.
29 Aug 2009 · Ended early
Communication with the spacecraft was lost, ending the mission after 312 days and more than 3,400 orbits — about ten months into its planned two years. ISRO said most of the mission's scientific objectives had been met.
24 Sep 2009 · Milestone · Water on the Moon
Results published in the journal Science showed that NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), flying on Chandrayaan-1, had detected the signature of water and hydroxyl molecules across the lunar surface, strongest near the poles — confirmed by data from two other spacecraft.
Chandrayaan-1's radar later found signs of water ice in permanently shadowed polar craters. Those findings shaped Chandrayaan-3's landing near the south pole.
On 22 October 2008, by PSLV-C11 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. It entered lunar orbit on 8 November 2008.
Its best-known result is the detection of water and hydroxyl molecules on the lunar surface by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, one of its 11 instruments. Its radar also found signs of water ice in permanently shadowed craters near the poles.
A 35 kg probe that separated from Chandrayaan-1 on 14 November 2008 and deliberately crashed near the lunar south pole, recording data on the way down. It made India the fourth country to place its flag on the Moon.
Communication was lost on 29 August 2009, ten months into a planned two-year mission, after the spacecraft had suffered from overheating and the failure of its star sensors. By then ISRO said most of its scientific objectives had been achieved.
Related: Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3 Tracker, PSLV, ISRO Missions Timeline.