HYDERABAD: Saturday marks the 12th Anniversary of Indian Flag landing on Moon. Though people celebrate Diwali today, people after Sunset can locate three planets ---Mars (in East), Jupiter and Saturn (in South West Direction) as non-twinkling Star like objects.

As Supreme Court Banned use of Crackers, expect green firecrackers, Planetary Society of India requested people to celebrate this year’s Diwali realizing “Dark Sky as Ancient Heritage” and prevent pollution effecting our skies.

Plaetary Society of India Director N Sri Raghunandan Kumar in a release e-mailed to UNI said 14th November is the day when in year 2008 The Moon Impact Probe (MIP) a lunar probe developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with Indian Flag etched onto it was released by ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 mission on to the surface of moon.

The Moon Impact Probe separated from the moon-orbiting Chandrayaan-1 on 14 November 2008 at 20:06 and crash landed, as planned, into the lunar south pole after a controlled descent.

He said Moon Impact Probe struck the Shackleton Crater of Southern pole of Moon at 20:31 on that day thus making India fifth nation to land its flag on Moon.

Agencies