Chandrayaan 2 Launch: All You Need To Know About India's Second Lunar Mission, Its Objectives

Chandrayaan 2 launch: The satellite is expected to explore the uncharted lunar south pole, 11 years after ISRO's successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1. It is also expected to inform the location and abundance of lunar water for exploitation by the proposed future lunar base.

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Chandrayaan 2 launch: India's second moon mission Chandrayaan-2, was launched today onboard its most powerful rocket GSLV-Mk0III-M1, almost a week after its previously scheduled lift-off was aborted due to a technical snag. Chandrayaan-2 will make India the fourth country to soft land a rover on the lunar surface after Russia, the United States and China. Here is all you need to know about India’s ambitious lunar mission and its objectives:

• The primary objectives of Chandrayaan-2 are to demonstrate the ability to soft-land on the lunar surface and operate a robotic rover on the surface.
• The satellite is supposed to explore the uncharted lunar south pole, 11 years after ISRO's successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1, which made more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.
• Scientific goals include studies of lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, the lunar exosphere, and signatures of hydroxyl and water ice.
• The orbiter will map the lunar surface and help to prepare 3D maps of it. The onboard radar will also map the surface while studying the water ice in the south polar region and thickness of the lunar regolith on the surface.
• Chandrayaan-2 will inform the location and abundance of lunar water for exploitation by the proposed future lunar base.
• Weighing about 640-tonne, the GSLV-Mk III rocket is nicknamed 'Bahubali' after the hero of a successful film of the same name. The rocket will carry the 3.8-tonne Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft.
• About 16-minutes into its flight, the Rs 375-crore GSLV-Mk III rocket is expected to sling the Rs 603-crore Chandrayaan-2 into its 170x39,120-km orbit.
• GSLV-Mk III will also be used for India's manned space mission in 2022.
• On July 15, the launch was called off 56 minutes and 24 seconds before the scheduled blast off at 1.55 am from the spaceport in Sriharikota following a technical problem in the rocket. The glitch had occurred when liquid propellant was being loaded into the rocket's indigenous cryogenic upper stage engine.
• Chandrayaan-2 will take 54 days to accomplish the task of landing on the Moon through meticulously planned orbital phases
• Billed as the most complex and prestigious mission ever undertaken by the ISRO since its inception, Chandrayaan-2 will make India the fourth country to soft land a rover on the lunar surface after Russia, the United States and China
• The average distance between Moon and the Earth is 3, 84, 000 km, Vikram lander will land on Moon on the 48th day of the mission, which begins today.