Chandrayaan 2: India's mission to moon launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched its second mission Chandrayaan-2 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on Monday at 2.43 pm.

However, this is the second attempt at launch. The first attempt was called off on July 15 due to the technical glitch.

After the successful GSLVMkIII-M1 injects Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into earth orbit , Indian Space Research Organisation Chief K Sivan and other scientists celebrate.

According to ISRO, Chandrayaan-2 will attempt to soft-land Vikram and Pragyan in a high plain between two craters, Manzinus C and Simpelius N, at a latitude of about 70° south.

On Sunday, ISRO chief K Sivan told that India’s second lunar landing mission will perform 15 crucial manoeuvres in the days to come. Also, all the technical issues have been rectified that caused the delay in the launch.

He also added that the spacecraft will be landing on the moon very slowly.
ISRO chief also said, "It is the beginning of a historic journey of India towards moon and to land at a place near South Pole to carry out scientific experiments."

Chandrayaan-2 launched onboard ISRO’s most powerful launcher, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) weight 640-tonne rocket. Measuring 44 metres in height, the launcher of Chandrayaan-2 has been nicknamed ‘Bahubali’.

Interestingly, the Chandrayaan-2 mission is being led by two women. Muthayya Vanitha is responsible for the entire project, from start to finish. While Ritu Karidhal, the mission director, who will coordinate Chandrayaan-2 when the satellite is injected into orbit.

Why ISRO calls off chandrayaan 2 mission? reason is here, read full

 “A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system... As a measure of abundant precaution, Chandrayaan 2 launch has been called off for today. Revised launch date will be announced later,” ISRO tweeted.

India’s ambitious second Lunar mission, Chandrayaan 2 suffered a jolt in the early hours of July 15 after a technical snag forced the Indian Space Research Organisation to call off the launch for the time being. ISRO aimed to touch down on the South Pole of the moon where no country had gone before.

A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system one hour before the launch. As a measure of abundant precaution, Chandrayaan 2 launch has been called off for today. Revised launch date will be announced later,” ISRO tweeted. President Ram Nath Kovind had flown in to Sriharikota to witness the launch.

Confusion prevailed at the media centre as the countdown timer stopped with 56.24 minutes to go for the lift-off. Mission Control made an announcement that the countdown has been held back. “It is not possible to make the launch within the launch window. A new schedule will be announced later,” Mission Control said.

ISRO had a launch window that ends on July 16 for the launch during this period. The launch of Chandrayaan 2 has suffered multiple setbacks with ISRO missing many deadlines since 2018. It was scheduled to be launched in a window between January and mid-February this year, but was put off yet again.

ISRO finally announced the current launch window and its chairman K. Sivan had then told The Hindu that the launch window was final and would be met. But that too fell apart in the early hours of July 15.

The mission was aborted just 20 minutes after ISRO announced the completion of filling of liquid hydrogen in the cryogenic stage of the GSLV-Mk-III.

The mission is set to be a test bed to demonstrate technologies required for deep space missions. The
Chandrayaan 2 module, carrying an indigenous rover Pragyaan and a lander Vikram, was set to have separated 16 minutes after lift off, and touch down on the moon 54 days later. But with the calling off of the launch on July 15, the wait to reach the Lunar South Pole just got longer.

IANS adds:
“The technical snag was noticed. We first have to approach the vehicle to assess the problem. First we have to empty the fuel loaded in the rocket, then the rocket will be taken back for further investigation,” an ISRO official told IANS.

“This process will take 10 days after that only we can decide on the launch schedule,” he added.