New milestone coming soon! ISRO to launch Chandrayaan-2 with a lander and a rover to the moon on Jan 3 next year

New Delhi, August 13: India is all set to welcome next year in a unique way with launching its second lunar mission "Chandrayaan-2" and achieve a new milestone in the world of space science.

 

Notably, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its second lunar mission "Chandrayaan-2" on January 3 next year to land on the moon with a lander and rover. ISRO Chairman K. Sivan while talking to media on Sunday said that the space agency is aiming to launch the mission on January 3 next year but the window to land on the lunar surface is open till March 2019.

The 800-crore rupees lunar mission named "Chandrayaan-2" comes over a decade after India went up to the lunar orbit in November 8, 2008 after "Chandrayaan-1" launch on October 22 onboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket from the spaceport in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The 3,890-kg Chandrayaan-2, which will be launched onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-3, will orbit around the moon and study its lunar conditions to collect data on its topography, mineralogy and exosphere.

Importantly, this is the first time India will have a rover landing on the moon nearly 50 years after American astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the eerie lunar surface in 1969.

GSLV-F10/Chandrayaan-2 Mission

Chandrayaan-2, India's second mission to the Moon is a totally indigenous mission comprising of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover. After reaching the 100 km lunar orbit, the Lander housing the Rover will separate from the Orbiter.

After a controlled descent, the Lander will soft land on the lunar surface at a specified site and deploy a Rover. The mission will carry a six-wheeled Rover which will move around the landing site in the semi-autonomous mode as decided by the ground commands. The instruments on the rover will observe the lunar surface and send back data, which will be useful for analysis of the lunar soil. The Chandrayaan-2 weighing around 3890 kg and would orbit around the moon and perform the objectives of remote sensing the moon.

The payloads will collect scientific information on lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice. GSLV-F10/Chandrayaan-2 Mission is planned during the first half of 2018.