Aiming to take a “billion dreams” to the moon, India on Monday, 22 July, successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 onboard its powerful rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 from the spaceport in Sriharikota to explore the uncharted South Pole of the celestial body by landing a rover.
The geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle lifted-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre into cloudy skies at 2:43 pm and successfully placed the 3,850-kg Chandrayaan-2 into the earth’s orbit about 16 minutes later.
The mission’s success was a huge relief for ISRO scientists, after the 15-July launch was called off about an hour before it was scheduled due to a technical glitch in the rocket.
The Rs 978-crore mission, which will mark a giant leap in India's space research and make it the fourth country to have landed a rover on the moon, was rescheduled to launch on Monday after scientists corrected the technical glitch in the three-stage rocket.
In a textbook launch, the towering GSLV-MkIII-M1 lifted off majestically from the second launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, over 100 km from Chennai, as the Indian Space Research Organisation scientists broke into jubilation.
Scientists led by ISRO Chief K Sivan watched the launch sequence in rapt attention and broke into applause after every key stage of the rocket's flight, which progressed precisely as programmed.
Bounced Back in Flying Colours: Sivan
A visibly relieved Sivan, who announced the success of the mission, said “It is the beginning of a historical journey of India towards the moon.”
“We bounced back in flying colours after the earlier technical snag,” he said about the glitch that made the space agency reschedule the Chandrayaan-2 launch from 15 July to Monday.
There will be 15 “very crucial manoeuvres” in the next one and half month before the satellite is brought around the moon, he said in his post-launch address from the mission control centre.
“After that the D-Day will come and on that day we are going to experience 15 minutes of terror, to ensure the landing is safely near the South Pole,” he added.
Launch Rescheduled After Technical Snag
ISRO had, last week, called off the launch with just 56 minutes left of the countdown, a decision that was later hailed by space experts as a prudent measure to not risk the mission.
After taking remedial action based on analysis carried out by a team set up to look into the snag, the space agency announced the rescheduled lift-off four days ago, indicating the confidence of the scientists who stood vindicated with the successful launch.
“Chandrayaan-2 is ready to take a billion dreams to the moon now stronger than ever before! Join us for the launch on Monday 22 July 2019 at 2:43 PM IST,” ISRO had tweeted on July 18 while announcing the rescheduled launch.
No Country Has Gone This Far
Chandrayaan-2 comes eleven years after ISRO's successful first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, which made history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the moon and was operational for 312 days till 29 August 2009.
The 43.43 m tall, three-stage rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 dubbed ‘Baahubali’ for its ability to carry heavy payloads, successfully placed the Chandrayaan-2 in the earth’s orbit, ISRO said.
Chandrayaan-2, a three-component spacecraft comprising an orbiter, a lander and a rover, will undergo 15 crucial manoeuvres before landing on the moon, which is expected to take place by the first week of September.
Scientists will make a soft landing of the lander in the South Pole region of the moon, where no country has gone thus far.
Most Complex, Prestigious Mission by ISRO
Billed as the most complex and prestigious mission undertaken by 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.
About 16.20 minutes after the lift-off, the GSLV rocket placed Chandrayaan-2 into 170 km x 39059 kms earth’s orbit.
From here onwards, the mission will undergo a series of manoeuvres by scientists to carry out different phases of the mission over the next 48 days.
After the launch was rescheduled, the space agency tweaked the orbital phases, increasing the earth-bound phase to 23 days instead of the originally planned 17 days.
At the end of the earth-bound phase, the orbit of the spacecraft will finally be raised to over 1.05 lakh km before it is nudged into the Lunar Transfer Trajectory, taking it to the proximity of moon in the following two days.
Then, gradually over the next few days, it will be brought to 100x100 km circular orbit, when the lander will separate and after another few days of orbiting, will make a soft landing at a chosen place on the lunar surface.
Next Leap in Technology
The soft landing of the lander, Vikram, carrying the rover, Pragyan, one of the toughest phases of the mission and described by the ISRO chief as “15 minutes of terror” (-filled moments) will be attempted between 6-8 September.
“Chandrayaan-2 is the next leap in technology as we attempt to soft land close to South Pole of moon. The soft landing is extremely complex and we will experience approximately 15 minutes of terror.”ISRO Chief K Sivan
The mission, which carries a total of 13 payloads, including three from Europe, two from the US and one from Bulgaria, seeks to improve the understanding of the moon, which can lead to discoveries which will benefit India and humanity as a whole.
A Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) of US space agency NASA is among the payloads and is aimed to understand the dynamics of the earth's moon system and derive clues on the lunar interior.
According to ISRO, the lunar South Pole is an interesting surface area which remains in shadow more than North Pole.
There is a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it, the agency said, adding that craters in the South Pole region have cold traps and contain fossil records of the early solar system.
Vikram and Pragyan
The lander, which has been named ‘Vikram’ after the father of the Indian space research programme Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, is carrying the rover Pragyan, and will be landed in a high plain between two craters at a latitude of about 70 degrees south of the moon.
Then, the 27-kg Pragyan (which means wisdom in Sanskrit) and a six-wheeled robotic vehicle will set out on its job of collecting information about the lunar surface.
A safe site, free of hazards for landing, will be decided based on pictures sent back by the camera onboard the lander and after touchdown, the rover will carry out experiments for 14 earth days, which equals one Lunar day.
The launch was witnessed by nearly 5,000 people, who were accommodated at a viewing gallery located a few km away from the launchpad, which was thrown open to the public by ISRO last in May.
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