Up In The Air! Chandrayaan 2, Things To Know About India's Second Trip To The Moon

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A proud day for space-science enthusiasts and Indians all over the world, India's most ambitious space mission has taken off at 14.43 (IST) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Two days after the anniversary of NASA's Lunar Landing Mission on July 20, India's second mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-2's launch is successful.

[Source: IndiaToday]

ISRO launched the Chandrayaan-1 mission onboard a PSLV rocket in October 2008, with two payloads, a lunar orbiter and a lunar impactor. The lunar impactor enabled the process of India becoming the fourth country to hoist their flag on the Moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union and Japan.

Objectives Of Chandrayaan-2

The second trip to moon planned and structured by the ISRO is developed to explore the south polar region of the Moon, a region that has not been explored by any country.

As mentioned by the ISRO, "Chandrayaan-2 attempts to foster a new age of discovery, increase our understanding of space, stimulate the advancement of technology, promote global alliances, and inspire a future generation of explorers and scientists".

Still surrounded by curiosity, the origin of the Moon is still unclear, affronting scientists to trace its origin and evolution. The trip of Chandrayaan-2 is highly influenced by that of Chandrayaan-1 under the Chandrayaan programme, as the initial mission discovered evidence of water molecules on the moon ^[1] .

The location, lunar South Pole has been chosen as its surface is shadowed and raises the possibility of the areas having water bodies. ISRO further pointed out that, "In addition, the south polar region has craters that are cold traps, containing a fossilised record of the early Solar System".

No Technical Glitch Can Stop ISRO

Chandrayaan-2 was originally planned for July 15, 2019, but was delayed when the scientists came across a 'technical snag' in the launch vehicle system, 56 minutes before the scheduled lift-off.

ISRO had tweeted, "A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system... As a measure of abundant precaution, Chandrayaan 2 launch has been called off for today. Revised launch date will be announced later".

Significance Of Chandrayaan-2

• It is the first space mission to conduct a soft landing on the Moon's south polar region ^[2] .
• Chandrayaan-2 is India's first attempt at a soft landing on the lunar surface with home-grown technology.
• The mission is the first to explore the lunar terrain with home-grown technology.
• Upon landing, Chandrayaan-2 will make India the fourth country to soft-land on the lunar surface.

The Journey Of Chandrayaan-2

Chandrayaan-2 will reach its orbit with the help of GSLV MK-III, which is capable of carrying 4-tonne class of satellites to the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Advanced that its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2 has three components - an orbiter, a lander and a rover.

The mission was approved on 18th September 2008, by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The launch window of the mission was from July 9, 2019, to July 16, 2019.

The orbiter will be deployed at an altitude of 100 kilometres above the surface of the Moon. Then, the lander will be separated from the orbiter and will (attempt to) make a soft landing on the surface of the Moon, using the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, in a high plain between two craters, Manzinus C and Simpelius N - at a latitude of about 70° south - unlike the previous mission which crash-landed near the lunar south pole^[3] .

And It's Up In The Air

ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 lifted-off successfully at 14.43 (IST), and at 14.46 the L-10 ignited and the S200 was separated. And by 14.55 (IST), the mission was successfully launched into space, with the lander and rover expected to make a landing on the moon, on 7 September 2019 ^[4] .

With appreciations coming in from all the sides, today, July 22, 2019, is a glorious day for Indian and the world of space research.