Save the date! ISRO gear up for ‘India’s most complex lunar mission’ Chandrayaan-2 on July 15
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Bengaluru, Jun 13: India is taking another giant leap in the lunar expedition. India’s most awaited lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2 is all set to launch on July 15. India’s Chandrayaan-2 is scheduled to lift off at 2:51 am on July 15 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
Now, ISRO is working on final touches to its 3.8-ton satellite which is an ambitious project of India.
After launch on July 15, the Chandrayaan- 2 will take several weeks before it will land on perplexing soft-land on the south pole of the moon, the region still untouched by any spacecraft.
On this mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Dr. K. Sivan said, "as the mission date approaches, there is a nervous excitement as this is the most complex mission ever to be undertaken by India's space agency that costs under Rs. 1000 crore".
Further, Dr. Sivan said, "last-minute touches are being given Chandrayaan-2 and that and it will be launched using the "Baahubali" or the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III)".
Chandrayaan-2 consists of an orbiter, a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyaan and the nominal mission life of the lander is expected to be 14 earth days or one lunar day. The lander will also measure moonquakes. The rover is carried inside the lander and will do on-site experiments on the lunar surface for about 14 days and it is solar powered.
Chandrayaan-2 will explore a region of moon where no mission has ever set foot.
The ISRO chief stated, the landing site, at about 70 degrees south latitude, is the southernmost for any mission till date. No country has attempted this before.
The mission will demonstrate soft landing for future missions and it carries 13 Indian scientific instruments that will help analyze the minerals on the moon, map the moon surface and search for water.
A NASA instrument for LASER ranging is being carried "free of cost", Dr. Sivan said. Hence, in a way, India is giving a free ride to the American space agency to the moon.
Though Chandrayaan-2 is an indigenous mission, India will use the Deep Space Network of NASA on payment basis for navigation and guidance.
Dr. Sivan, who tamed the agency's "naughty boy", the GSLV Mk II, said, "Chandrayaan-2 is exciting and as days approach, there is a kind of churning in the stomach since it is a complex mission."
"It is the most complex mission ever to be undertaken by ISRO," he said.
He added, "There will 15 terrifying minutes when the lander separates and before it soft lands on the moon, currently slated for September 6, 2019.