en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-2#Vikram_lander
3 corrections found
The Chandrayaan-1 probe had detected water on the Moon for the first time in early 2008.
This date is wrong: Chandrayaan-1 launched on October 22, 2008, so it could not have detected lunar water in early 2008.
Full reasoning
This claim is chronologically impossible.
- ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 science page says the mission was launched successfully on October 22, 2008.
- NASA’s Chandrayaan-1 mission page also lists the launch date as Oct. 22, 2008.
- NASA further says that the mission’s landmark water result was published in September 2009, when scientists reported data from the M3 instrument showing hydroxyl- and/or water-bearing molecules on the Moon.
Because the spacecraft did not launch until late October 2008, it could not have detected water on the Moon in early 2008.
2 sources
- Chandrayaan-1_Science
Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to Moon, was launched successfully on October 22, 2008 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
- Chandrayaan-1 / Moon Impact Probe - NASA Science
Launch Date and Time: Oct. 22, 2008 / 00:52:11 UT ... In September 2009, scientists published results of data collected by the American M3 instrument which had detected absorption features ... linked to hydroxyl- and/or water-bearing molecules.
The Orbiter releases over 48TB of research data every year.
ISRO’s reports describe about 48 TB as the cumulative amount of Chandrayaan-2 data released so far, not an annual amount released every year.
Full reasoning
ISRO’s own reports treat this as a running total, not a yearly release rate.
- In ISRO’s Annual Report 2023–2024, Chandrayaan-2 had released about 20 TB of data so far.
- In ISRO’s Annual Report 2025–2026, the mission is described as having 48 TB of data released to over 10,000 users.
Those figures show cumulative growth over time (about 20 TB, then 48 TB), which contradicts the statement that the orbiter releases over 48 TB every year.
2 sources
- ISRO Annual Report 2023-2024
Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter completed more than 4 years around the Moon. A total of ~20 TB of data have been released so far in the public domain, and there are 4275 users registered on the ISSDC website.
- ISRO Annual Report 2025-2026
The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter continues its sustained scientific exploration ... with 48 TB of data released to over 10,000 users.
conducted a joint series of Radio occultation measurements of each other's signals.
ISRO says scientists analyzed radio-occultation data from Chandrayaan-2 and Mars Orbiter Mission, not that the two spacecraft measured each other’s signals.
Full reasoning
This wording overstates what ISRO reported.
- ISRO’s 2025–2026 annual report says scientists analyzed the radio occultation data from Chandrayaan-2 and the Mars Orbiter Mission. That describes combining data from two missions, not the two spacecraft making mutual measurements of one another’s radio signals.
- ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 DFRS description explains that Chandrayaan-2 radio occultation uses signals transmitted from the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and received at the ground station at Byalalu, Bangalore.
- ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission FAQ says MOM was a spacecraft orbiting Mars, having reached Mars orbit on 24 September 2014. Since MOM was at Mars while Chandrayaan-2 was at the Moon, the claim that they conducted radio-occultation measurements of each other’s signals is not supported by ISRO’s mission descriptions.
The underlying true statement appears to be that scientists used radio-occultation data from both missions in their analysis.
3 sources
- FAQ - Mars Orbiter Mission
Mangalyaan / Mars Orbiter Mission is a space probe orbiting Mars ... Mars Orbiter Mission reached the orbit of Mars on 24 September 2014.
- ISRO Annual Report 2025-2026
Scientists from the Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) has analyzed the radio occultation data from Chandrayaan-2 and the Mars Orbiter Mission, offering new insights into lunar and solar wind plasma environments.
- DFRS payload onboard Chandrayaan-2 orbiter detects high density plasma in the Lunar wake region
It uses two coherent signals at the S-band (2240 MHz) and X-band (8496 MHz) of radio frequencies, transmitted from the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and received at the ground station at Byalalu, Bangalore to explore the lunar plasma ambiance using the radio occultation (RO) technique.