Aiming for Moon, ISRO to launch Chandrayaan 2 at 2:43 pm today

New Delhi: Chandrayaan-2, India’s indigenous moon mission is set to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh at 2.43 pm today. The 20-hour countdown for the launch of India’s second lunar exploration mission after Chandrayaan-1, began on Sunday evening.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Sivan said that the Chandrayaan-2 will perform 15 crucial manoeuvres in the days to come. Sivan said that all the preparatory works regarding the launch have been completed and technical snags that developed in the first attempt have been rectified.

ISRO had successfully completed the launch rehearsal of the Chandrayaan-2 mission on Saturday. The Chandrayaan-2 was scheduled to be launched on July 15. However, less than an hour before the launch, the mission was aborted after a technical snag was detected.

ISRO Chief said that Chandrayaan-2 will be landing on the moon very slowly. “It will land on the South Pole. There is a lot of scientific testing to be done regarding the mission. Scientists around the world are looking forward to the launch,” said Sivan.

Chandrayaan-2 will explore a region of Moon where no mission has ever set foot. The spacecraft consists of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover together referred to as “composite body.” The probe’s total mass is 3.8 ton and is expected to land on the Moon’s south polar region on September 6 or 7 this year.

It will be the first Indian expedition to attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface. This mission will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to carry out a soft landing on Moon.