Deep takes over the world!

India began the countdown Monday to the launch of its first unmanned mission to the moon, adding a third nation to the Asian space race.

The lunar-orbiting spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, is scheduled to blast off aboard an Indian-built rocket at 6:20 am (0050 GMT) on Wednesday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on India's southeastern coast.

The launch is a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with regional space competitors Japan and China. Last month, China became only the third country in the world to independently carry out a space walk.

All three countries have eyes on a share of the commercial satellite launch business and also see their space programmes as an important symbol of international stature and economic development.

The Chandrayaan-1 is being sent on a two-year, 80-million-dollar mission to provide an in-depth map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon's surface.