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BENGALURU / NEW DELHI: India's space research organization (Isro) announced on Wednesday its intention to launch Chandrayaan-2, the second Indian lunar mission in India, in the launch window from 9 to 16 July, although sources indicated that a lot of work remains to be done. waiting to bring the project to the launch site.
"All the modules are preparing for the launch of Chandrayaan-2 in the window from 09 to 16 July 2019, with a planned landing of the Moon on September 06, 2019 (sic)," Isro said in a statement.
Chandrayaan-2 has three modules: the orbiter, the LG (Vikram) and the mobile (Pragyan). "The orbiter and landing gear modules will be mechanically interfaced and stacked together as an integrated module and housed inside the GSLV MK-III launch vehicle. The rover is housed inside the lander, "said Isro.
Once Chandrayaan-2 has reached the lunar orbit, Vikram will separate from the orbiter and soft-land at the predetermined site near the South Pole, which has not been explored yet. by other countries.
Isro's president, K Sivan, told TOI: "Once Vikram will have landed on the lunar surface on September 6, the Prayan robot will come out and deploy on the lunar surface for a distance of 300 to 400 meters. He will spend 14 Earth days on the moon to conduct various scientific experiments. In total, there will be 13 payloads in the spacecraft. Three payloads in the Pragyan mobile and the other ten charges in the Vikram lander and the orbiter. "The mobile will analyze the content of the lunar surface and send data and images to the Earth by the orbiter within 15 minutes," he said.
TOI had previously indicated that Isro had not respected the deadlines of last year and a deadline the first month of this year, as the space agency had to adapt to many changes after the design change. In addition, the LG's qualifying model (Vikram) had suffered damage during a test further delaying the launch, as reported for the first time by the TOI.
The launch of India's second lunar mission was originally planned for last April, but Isro postponed it because of the complexity of the mission. In fact, the four-legged Vikram underwent a fracture to one of his legs during a test run earlier this year. India had also almost lost the race against Israel to become the fourth country in the world after Russia, the United States and China to land the spacecraft on the moon. However, as Israel's Beresheet failed to land on the moon on April 12 this year, the landing of Chandrayaan-2 on September 6 will make India the fourth country in the world to land on the moon.
The landing of the 3,290 kg Chandrayaan-2 will be much more difficult than the Israeli Beresheet. While Beresheet was attempting to land on a solidified lava plain known as the Sea of Serenity, which has a flattened surface and is more exposed to the sun, Chandrayaan-2 will explore the unexplored southern pole. In January, only the Chinese satellite Chang'e 4 had landed on the far side of the moon, also known as the dark side, as it faces the Earth and remains relatively unknown.
India had first launched its Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission, which concerned only one orbiter, on October 22, 2008. The satellite had made more than 3,400 orbits around the moon during which time he had taken hundreds of images of the moon. The mission of 386 crores of rupees ended when communication with the satellite was lost on August 29, 2009. Chandrayaan operated for 312 days, instead of the planned two years, but the mission reached 95 percent of its targets.
"All the modules are preparing for the launch of Chandrayaan-2 in the window from 09 to 16 July 2019, with a planned landing of the Moon on September 06, 2019 (sic)," Isro said in a statement.
Chandrayaan-2 has three modules: the orbiter, the LG (Vikram) and the mobile (Pragyan). "The orbiter and landing gear modules will be mechanically interfaced and stacked together as an integrated module and housed inside the GSLV MK-III launch vehicle. The rover is housed inside the lander, "said Isro.
Once Chandrayaan-2 has reached the lunar orbit, Vikram will separate from the orbiter and soft-land at the predetermined site near the South Pole, which has not been explored yet. by other countries.
Isro's president, K Sivan, told TOI: "Once Vikram will have landed on the lunar surface on September 6, the Prayan robot will come out and deploy on the lunar surface for a distance of 300 to 400 meters. He will spend 14 Earth days on the moon to conduct various scientific experiments. In total, there will be 13 payloads in the spacecraft. Three payloads in the Pragyan mobile and the other ten charges in the Vikram lander and the orbiter. "The mobile will analyze the content of the lunar surface and send data and images to the Earth by the orbiter within 15 minutes," he said.
TOI had previously indicated that Isro had not respected the deadlines of last year and a deadline the first month of this year, as the space agency had to adapt to many changes after the design change. In addition, the LG's qualifying model (Vikram) had suffered damage during a test further delaying the launch, as reported for the first time by the TOI.
The launch of India's second lunar mission was originally planned for last April, but Isro postponed it because of the complexity of the mission. In fact, the four-legged Vikram underwent a fracture to one of his legs during a test run earlier this year. India had also almost lost the race against Israel to become the fourth country in the world after Russia, the United States and China to land the spacecraft on the moon. However, as Israel's Beresheet failed to land on the moon on April 12 this year, the landing of Chandrayaan-2 on September 6 will make India the fourth country in the world to land on the moon.
The landing of the 3,290 kg Chandrayaan-2 will be much more difficult than the Israeli Beresheet. While Beresheet was attempting to land on a solidified lava plain known as the Sea of Serenity, which has a flattened surface and is more exposed to the sun, Chandrayaan-2 will explore the unexplored southern pole. In January, only the Chinese satellite Chang'e 4 had landed on the far side of the moon, also known as the dark side, as it faces the Earth and remains relatively unknown.
India had first launched its Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission, which concerned only one orbiter, on October 22, 2008. The satellite had made more than 3,400 orbits around the moon during which time he had taken hundreds of images of the moon. The mission of 386 crores of rupees ended when communication with the satellite was lost on August 29, 2009. Chandrayaan operated for 312 days, instead of the planned two years, but the mission reached 95 percent of its targets.
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