Updated By: LatestGKGS Desk
ISRO launching lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-2’ in July 2019
ISRO launching lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-2’ in July 2019: Details, Significance, Highlights
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that India’s second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 is scheduled to be launched between July 9 and 16 2019.
Chandrayaan-2’s lander will touch down near Moon’s south pole on 6th September 2019.
Chandrayan-2 is India’s second lunar mission. It would be launched using India’s most powerful rocket GSLV MK-III from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
Chandrayan-2 mission main objective is to collect scientific information on lunar (moon) topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice.
Chandrayan-2 has three modules (a detachable self-contained unit of a spacecraft) namely Orbiter, Lander named Vikram and Rover named Pragyan. All the three modules namely Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) & Rover (Pragyan) are developed by India.
Chandrayan-2 mission would land on the southern pole of the moon, which is still unexplored by any of the countries. Therefore landing of spacecraft near lunar’s south pole would be historically significant as it would give ISRO opportunity to name that site on the moon.
Unlike Chandrayan-1 (India’s first lunar mission) launched using PSLV rocket and which involved only orbiting the moon, Chandryaan 2 would attempt a soft landing close to the lunar south pole.
