Anusree Jana, Kolkata : ‘Let the count down begin’-seems to be the chant going through the mind of Indians. As ISRO(Indian Space research Organisation) is all set to launch Chandrayaan-2 at 2.43 pm on Monday.Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second exploratory mission to the moon that is going to commence after 11 years to the first mission of Chandrayaan-1 in 2008.
Chandrayaan-2 was supposed to launch on July 15 but due to a technical snag, the launch was aborted at the last minute. But the team of ISRO has managed to cure the problem and the mission is all set to be launched and a 20-hour count down began on Sunday.
The mission is planned to be launched to the Moon by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III and try to land on the Moon by September 7. The Chandrayaan-2 consists of a lunar orbiter, lander, and rover, all designed indigenously.
This orbiter will orbit 100 km from the Moon surface. The Lander and Rover are planned to soft-land on the Moon surface. The Lander upon landing will remain stationary and gauge the elements of the Moon surface near the landing site but the six-wheeled Rover will disintegrate from the main body and crawl the Moon surface to study the Moons atmosphere. The Lander and the Rover are indigenously named Vikram(strength) and Pragyaan(wisdom).
The Lander is supposed to creat history upon its arrival on the lunar surface as it is planned to land near the south pole of the Moon surface where no other earlier mission has gone.
The 978 crore Chandrayaan-2 mission’s main objective is to validate the existence of water on the Moon as was found on the Chandrayaan-1 mission. As the planned area for the landing that is near the south-pole has craters, rocks that will be a valuable source for not only water source confirmation but the history of Moon’s origin and various other valuable sources.
Chandrayaan-2 mission will bring India among the group of countries to touch down the Moon surface like U.S. A, Russia, China.
Image Courtesy – ISRO
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