LD-CHANDRAYAAN

India's second moon mission launched successfully
    From S Vijay Karthik
    Sriharikota(AP), Jul 22 (PTI) Aiming to take a
billion dreams to the moon, India Monday successfully launched
its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 onboard its powerful
rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 from the spaceport here to explore the
unchartered south pole of the celestial body by landing a
rover.
    The geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle lifted-off
from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here into cloudy skies at
2.43 pm and successfully placed the 3,850-kg Chandrayaan-2
into the earth orbit about 16 minutes later.
    The mission's success brought in huge relief for ISRO
scientists after the July 15 launch was called off just about
an hour left following a technical glitch in the rocket.
    The Rs 978 crore mission, that will mark a giant leap
in India's space research and make it only the fourth country
to have landed a rover on Moon, was rescheduled to 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 here, 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.
    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 July 15 to
Monday.
    There will be 15 "very crucial manouvres" in the
next one and half months before the satellite is brought
around the moon, he said in his post-launch address from
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.
    ISRO had last week called off the launch with just 56
minutes of the countdown left, a decision that was later
hailed by space experts as a prudent measure not to risk the
mission.
    After taking remedial action based on an 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 which 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.
    Chandrayaan-2 comes 11 years after ISRO's successful
first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 which scripted history by
making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was
operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.
    The 43.43m tall three stage rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1
dubbed as 'Baahubali' for its ability to carry heavy payloads,
successfully placed the Chandrayaan-2 in the Earth orbit, ISRO
said.
    Chandrayaan-2, a three-component spacecraft comprising
an orbiter, lander and a rover, will undergo 15 crucial
manoeuvres before landing on the Moon, expected by the first
week of September.
    Scientists would make a soft landing of the lander in
the South Pole region of the moon where no country has gone so
far.
    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
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.
    Subsequent to the rescheduling of the launch, the
space agency has tweaked the orbital phases, increasing
Earth-bound phase to 23 days as against 17 days planned
originally.
    At the end of the Earth-bound phase, the orbit of the
spacecraft will be finally raised to over 1.05 lakh km before
nudging it into the Lunar Transfer Trajectory taking it to the
proximity of Moon in the next two days.
    Then gradually over the next few days it will be
brought to 100 X 100 km circular orbit when the lander will
separate and after another few days of orbiting it will make a
soft landing at a chosen place on the Lunar surface.
The soft landing of the lander - Vikram carrying rover
'Pragyan', one of the toughest phases of the mission and
described by the ISRO chief as "15 minutes of terror (filled
moments), would be attempted between September 6-8.
    "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," Sivan had said.
    The mission, which carries a total of 13 payloads,
including three from the Europe, two from the US and one
Bulgaria, seeks to improve understanding of the moon which
could lead to discoveries that 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 at understanding
dynamics of Earth's moon system and deriving clues on Lunar
interior.
    According to ISRO, the lunar South Pole is an
interesting surface area which remains in shadow than North
pole.
    There is a possibility of the presence of water in
permanently shadowed areas around it, the agency said, adding
craters in the South Pole region have cold traps and contain
fossil record of the early solar system.
    The lander 'Vikram', named after father of Indian
space research programme Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, carrying the
rover 'Pragyan', 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' meaning 'wisdom' in Sanskrit
and a six-wheeled robotic vehicle, will set out on its job of
collecting information on lunar surface.
    A safe site free of hazards for landing would 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, equals one Lunar Day.
    The launch was witnessed by nearly 5,000 people who
were accommodated at a viewing gallery, located a few kms from
the launchpad, thrown open to the public by the ISRO in May
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from a PTI feed.)