Chandrayaan 2 An Attempt To Divert Attention From Economic Disaster: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the Central government and this time she alleged that the entire hype built around Chandrayaan 2 is nothing but an attempt to divert attention of the country from the current economic scenario.

Chandrayaan 2 will attempt a touchdown near the moon’s south pole on September 7. (File Photo/ Getty)

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday once again lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government and this time she alleged that the entire hype built around Chandrayaan 2 is nothing but an attempt to divert attention of the country from the current economic scenario. "As if the Chandrayaan launch is the first in the country. As if before they came to power, no such missions were taken up. It is an attempt to divert attention from economic disaster," she said during the state assembly session held earlier today. Launched on July 22, Chandrayaan 2 will attempt a touchdown near the moon’s south pole at 1:43 am on Saturday. It is a three-module spacecraft comprising an orbiter, lander and rover. If all goes as planned, this entire mission to moon, headed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will be successful under an unbelievable cost of Rs 978 crore. The two robots, Vikram (lander) and Pragyan (rover), on a trip to the Moon, have completed almost 90 per cent of their journey after reaching the lunar orbit. Post separating from the orbiter, to which they were attached from July 22 to September 2, they expect to attempt a soft-landing on the Moon tomorrow. “The lander is scheduled to a powered descent between 0100-0200 hours IST on September 07, 2019,” ISRO said in an official statement. Pragyaan would roll out from the Vikram' lander to carry out various tests on the lunar surface, especially detecting the presence of water and other minerals there. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will himself be at the ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru on Saturday to watch the final descent of Chandrayaan-2 on the Moon's surface. PM Modi will witness historic landing live with children from the space agency's control room. He has also urged people watch the historic moment and also share the photos of the landing on their social media accounts. “I urge you all to watch the special moments of Chandrayaan - 2 descending on to the Lunar South Pole! Do share your photos on social media. I will re-tweet some of them too,” he tweeted. Chandrayaan 1 and Mangalyaan were India’s previously undertaken orbital missions around the Moon and Mars, respectively.