Chandrayaan 2, India's second lunar exploration mission by Roshan Gawand
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its second ambitious lunar mission on July 22, 2019 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota. Chandrayaan-2, worth less than $150 million, aspired to be the first to make a soft landing near the Moon's less-explored south pole.
Chandrayaan 2, India's second lunar exploration mission by Roshan Gawand
While a software glitch prevented it from landing as planned, the mission continues to orbit and observe the Moon from above, serving as a milestone in the country’s progress in lunar exploration.
SRIHARIKOTA, India .NASA
The first Moon mission
Chandrayaan-2 was preceded by Chandrayaan-1, launched on October 22, 2008 by a PSLV rocket. Encouraged by K. Kasturirangan, the mission was launched with ISRO’s Srinivasa Hegde as mission director, for a cost of less than $100 million.
It is best known for having definitively confirmed the presence of water on the Moon.
It is best known for having definitively confirmed the presence of water on the Moon. The mission achieved this using a small impact probe designed by ISRO, which strategically struck a crater to release lunar debris for analysis and the ‘M3’, or Moon Mineralogical Mapper, by NASA. It encouraged Moon explorations by several countries, and boosted India’s own ambitions in planetary science.
Chandrayaan 2, India's second lunar exploration mission by Roshan Gawand
The second mission and its vehicle
Chandrayaan-2 stands out for having been developed and launched independently by India. K. Sivan, ISRO chief at the time, called it, “the most complex space mission ever to be undertaken by the agency.”
The spacecraft consisted of a combination of a lunar orbiter, a lander named Vikram, and a rover called Pragyan. Its purpose was to focus on researching the lunar surface, searching for water and minerals, and studying moonquakes, among other things.
The mission involved more sophisticated instruments, intending to build on Chandrayaan-1’s findings.
Chandrayaan 2, India's second lunar exploration mission by Roshan Gawand
Launch and landing
Chandrayaan-2 reached the Moon’s orbit in less than a month, by August 20, and began to position itself for the lander to touch down.
Chandrayaan 2, India's second lunar exploration mission by Roshan Gawand
The lander was named Vikram after Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of India's space program.
Chandrayaan 2, India's second lunar exploration mission by Roshan Gawand
Due to a software malfunction, however, it lost contact and crashed during its lunar landing in September 2019.
Chandrayaan 2, India's second lunar exploration mission by Roshan Gawand
It would have touched down near the Moon's south pole, at a latitude of about 70 degrees south. The six-wheeled robotic Pragyan rover was not deployed.
Chandrayaan 2, India's second lunar exploration mission by Roshan Gawand
Chandrayaan-3
India plans a third exploration to demonstrate the soft landing that it had hoped for in the second mission.
Meanwhile, Chandrayaan-2’s orbiter continues to capture valuable information using high spatial resolution cameras, spectrometers, and solar X-ray monitors.
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