Moon landing 6-7 September 2019
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch India’s second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 on 15 July at 2:51 am, aiming to land on the Moon either on 6 or 7 September 2019.
Announcing the launch date on 12 June 2019 in Bengaluru ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said: “We are going to land on the Moon either on 6 or 7 September, that day happens to be the beginning of a lunar day. For one full lunar day, the lander and rover will be functioning and will carry out scientific experiments.”
Chandrayaan-2’s three modules are Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan). The Orbiter and Lander modules will be interfaced mechanically and stacked together as an integrated module and accommodated inside the GSLV MK-III launch vehicle. The Rover is housed inside the Lander.
The Chandrayaan-2 Mission cost is Rs.603 crore, mainly for the satellite portion, including the support from foreign agencies as well as for navigation.
Dr Sivan outlined ISRO’s vision on space science and interplanetary missions. Understanding the secrets of the inner solar system is an aspiration of both national and international scientific community.
Dr Sivan specially mentioned about the highly demanding task of soft landing on the lunar surface and termed it as “15 terrifying minutes”.
The Lander will separate from the Orbiter and soft land at the predetermined site close to lunar South Pole. fiinews.com
