Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced on May 1 that India’s second lunar mission — Chandrayaan-2 is scheduled to be launched in July. ISRO said that this mission will include three modules – Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyam). The mission includes studying the lunar topography, mineralogy and finding signs of water ice.
ISRO seeks to create history by attempting to land Chandrayaan-2 on the Moon’s South Pole region. ISRO has chosen a landing area at the hitherto unexplored lunar south pole, making it the first space agency to touch down at the south pole if it succeeds in its first landing attempt. No other country has reportedly attempted to land a spacecraft in that region.
Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on a GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) Mark-III rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota. This comes 11 years after ISRO launched its first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, which found evidence of water molecules on the Moon. The mission didn’t include a rover like Chandrayaan-2. The expected moon landing of Chandrayaan-2 is on 6 September 2019.
(By Sharada Bastia)
