Chandrayaan 2 | Image credit: isro.gov.in 
Key Highlights
- Chandrayaan-2 is a robotic mission which is aimed to explore parts of the moon
- It will take off from Sriharikota on Sunday, July 15 at 2:51 am IST
- It weighs nearly 640 tonnes and measures 44 metres in height
Chandrayaan-2 India’s aspiring Moon Mission which was signed over a decade ago between the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO will finally be launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, July 15 at 2:51 am IST.
India’s mission moon 2.0 was in the works for over 10 years now. After a decade of scientific research country’s space agency on July 15 will accomplish its ambitious mission to explore the mysterious celestial body. Chandrayaan-2 is a robotic mission that will not carry any human being to the moon. It is aimed to explore the topography and composition of the moon. We are less than 48 hours away from its take-off, let’s learn 5 facts about India’s Mission moon 2.0.
5 facts about Chandrayaan 2
- India has spent about $140 million (which is roughly Rs. 9,59,84,42,000 in Indian currency) to prepare Chandrayaan 2 for country’s Mission moon 2.0.
- India will become the fourth country in the world if it accomplishes in soft landing on the moon. The three countries that have achieved the feat so far include the US, Russia and China.
- Chadrayaan 2 will “boldly go where no country has ever gone before — the Moon’s South Polar region”, according to the ISRO. Chandrayaan 1 — India’s first mission to the moon — had crash-landed near the lunar South Pole and provided the information of the presence of water molecules.
- Chandrayaan 2 is estimated to reach the moon in about 50 days. It is likely to land on September 6 pr 7, 2019, by covering almost 384,400 kilometres trip from Earth.
- Chandrayaan 2 has four key components that include a launcher, orbiter, lander and rover. Almost all the components of Chandrayaan 2 are made in India. The orbiter has a mission life of 1 year and will be placed in a 100x100km lunar polar orbit. Vikram, the lander is named after Vikram Sarabhai the Father of the Indian space programme. It has a mission life of 1 lunar day which is equivalent to about 14 days on our planet Earth. Pragyan, the rover is a 6-wheeler robotic vehicle that uses solar energy to function. India’s most powerful launcher to date, GSLV MK-III will carry Chandrayaan 2 to its designated orbit. It is a three-stage vehicle that has the capability of launching 4-tonne class of satellites to the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
