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- The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced that Chandrayaan-2, India’s second Moon mission, will be launched on July 15, 2019. Its lander and rover would touch down on the moon’s surface on September 6.
- Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second mission to the moon. It is a totally indigenous mission.
- Chandrayaan-2 will comprise of an Orbiter, Lander named ‘Vikram’ (after scientist Vikram Sarabhai) and Rover named ‘Pragyan’. The orbiter will circle the moon and provide information about its surface, while the lander will make a soft landing on the surface and send out the rover. The rover will be used mostly for in situ experiments.
- Chandrayaan-2 will launch aboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III, (GSLV -MK III) rocket. The GSLV-MkIII is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle that has been designed to carry four-tonne class satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
- India’s first mission to moon Chandrayaan 1 was launched in October 2008 and operated till August 2009. Unlike Chandrayaan 2, Chandrayaan 1 was designed to just orbit the Moon and make observations with instruments on board.
- The Chandrayaan-1 mission sent one of its instruments, called Moon Impact Probe, or MIP to crash-land on the Moon’s surface. Data sent by MIP on its way to the Moon had shown evidence of presence of water. However, ISRO could not publish these finding due to anomalies in calibration.
- The confirmation for water on water on moon came through studies on data produced by another instrument on board the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, the M3 or Moon Mineralogy Mapper. M3 was put on Chandrayaan 1 by NASA.
