Tirupati, July 13
ISRO is all set for the country’s prestigious lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, and all preparations are going on for its launch on July 15, the space agency’s chairman K Sivan said on Saturday.
It is the Indian Space Research Organisation’s first mission to land on any celestial body and a follow-up to Chandrayaan-1 launched in 2008. The objective of the mission is to take up a detailed study on understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon, according to ISRO. “All preparations for Chandrayaan-2 are going on for the launch scheduled at 2.51 am on July 15 from Sriharikota,” Sivan said after offering prayers at the Lord Venkateswara hill shrine at Tirumala, near here.
ISRO had earlier said all three modules of the moon mission — Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan) — were getting ready for the launch and the lander was expected to touch down on the lunar surface in early September. Sivan, also the Secretary, Department of Space, said the lander would make a soft landing in the lunar South Pole, an uncharted territory so far, on September 6.
He ruled out rains posing a threat to the launch. “There will be no effect since the launch vehicle (GSLV Mk III) is rain protected,” he said amid a downpour here. The Chandrayaan-2 would be carried by the GSLVMkIII, dubbed ‘Fat Boy’ by Indian scientists for its ability to carry satellites weighing up to 4-tonnes. Asked about the total mission cost of Chandrayaan-2, Sivan said it was Rs 1,000 crore.
About the ‘Gaganyaan’ project, India’s maiden human spaceflight programme, he said it was progressing and the first unmanned mission would be taken up in December 2020. “At present, design phase has been completed. Realisation phase is going on.” Two unmanned missions would be taken up, the first in December 2020 and the second in July 2021. “In December 2021, we are planning to send humans into space,” he said. — PTI
Lunar Mission 2.0
- n India is set to launch on Monday its second lunar mission — Chandrayaan-2. It will be the first of its kind as it will shed light on a completely unexplored section of the moon — its South Polar region.
July 15 at 2.51 am Chandrayaan-2 satellite will be launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh
September 6
- The satellite is likely to land on the Moon near the South Pole, an uncharted territory so far thirst for water
- The aim of the mission is to improve our understanding of the moon. With Chandrayaan-2, India will continue its search for water on the lunar surface. Earlier, Chandrayaan-1 made the breakthrough of discovering the presence of water molecules on the moon’s surface.
Journey 3.84 lakh kilometre
Total cost Rs 1,000 crore
What makes it special
- 1st space mission to conduct a soft landing on the moon’s south polar region
- 1st Indian mission to explore the lunar terrain with home-grown technology
- 4th country ever to soft land on the lunar surface
the ‘Bahubali’
- India’s heavy lift rocket ‘Bahubali’ or ‘Fat Boy’, GSLV Mk III is a three-stage heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO. It weighs nearly 640 tonnes and stands 44 metres tall. The vehicle has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster, and a cryogenic upper stage
- 7,134 persons have registered online with the ISRO to watch ‘Bahubali’ roaring towards the skies carrying Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft. A gallery with a capacity of 10,000 people has been built for the purpose
The modules
Vikram Lander
The lander of Chandrayaan-2 is named ‘Vikram’ after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, the father of the Indian Space Programme. It is designed to function for one lunar day, which is equivalent to about 14 Earth days.
Pragyan Rover
Chandrayaan-2’s rover is a six-wheeled robotic vehicle named ‘Pragyan’, which translates to ‘wisdom’ in Sanskrit. It can travel up to 500m and leverages solar energy for its functioning. It can only communicate with the lander.
The challenges
- Ensuring trajectory accuracy while travelling such a long distance
- Deep space communication link between ISRO and Chandrayaan-2
- Changing route from the earth orbit to the moon orbit
- Orbiting around the moon
- Soft landing — ‘rough braking’ and ‘fine braking’
- Countering extreme surface temperature variations
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2Sc5NTZ
via Today’s News Headlines
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