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ISRO
The rocket weighs as much as a loaded jumbo
India must launch its second lunar mission. If successful, it will become the fourth country to make a soft landing on the surface of the Moon.
Only the United States, China and the former Soviet Union have been able to do it.
Chandrayaan-2, a $ 150 million mission, aims to collect data on water, minerals and rock formations on the moon.
The lander and rover are expected to land near the lunar south pole in early September, becoming the first spacecraft to land in this region.
The head of the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro), K Sivan, said that it was "the most complex space mission ever undertaken by the agency".
The Indian-made satellite is expected to be launched Monday at 21:21 (local time) from the Sriharikota space station on the east coast of India.
The country's first lunar mission in 2008 – Chandrayaan-1 – did not land on the lunar surface, but it did the first and most detailed search for water on the moon at night. using radars.
What is this mission?
Chandrayaan-2 (lunar vehicle 2) will attempt a soft landing near the little explored South Pole of the Moon.
The mission will focus on the lunar surface, looking for water and minerals and measuring moonquakes, among others.
India uses its most powerful rocket, the geosynchronous satellite satellite launcher Mark III (GSLV Mk-III), for this mission. It weighs 640 tons (nearly 1.5 times the weight of a 747 jumbo jet at full load) and its height of 44 meters (144 feet) is as high as a 14-story building.
The probe weighs 2379 kg (5,244 lb) and has three distinct parts: an orbiter, a lander and a rover.
The orbiter, which has a mission lasting one year, will take images of the lunar surface and "smell" the tenuous atmosphere.
The lander (named Vikram, according to the founder of Isro) weighs about half that weight and carries in his belly a 27 kg Moon rover equipped with instruments to analyze the lunar soil. During its 14 days of life, the rover (called Pragyan – wisdom in Sanskrit) can travel up to half a kilometer from the lander and will return data and images to Earth for analysis.
"India can hope to get the first lunar surface selfies once the rover is in post," said Dr. Sivan.
A new frontier for the Indian space program
By the scientific writer Pallava Bagla
A soft landing on another planetary body – a feat already accomplished by three countries to date – would constitute a huge technological advance for space ambitions of Isro and India.
This would pave the way for future Indian missions to land on Mars and an asteroid. More importantly, it would open the possibility for India to send astronauts to the moon. India hopes to make an inhabited space flight by 2022.
India also wants to assert itself as a space power to be reckoned with – and national pride soars as it aims to hoist its flag on the surface of the moon.
A successful mission to the moon would also be a victory for the ambitious Indian space agency, which has recently had a series of successes.
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In 2014, it successfully put a satellite in orbit around Mars, becoming the fourth country to do so. In 2017, India created history by successfully launching 104 satellites for a single mission, surpassing the previous record of 37 satellites launched by Russia in 2014.
All eyes are on Isro again. According to Simonetta Di Pippo, director of the United States Space Office of the United States, the global interest in India's frugal lunar mission is reaching a peak.
"Mission studies on lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, the lunar exosphere and the signatures of hydroxyl and water ice will contribute to the scientific progress of all the worlds. Humanity, "she said.
The Indian space community is nervous and Dr. Sivan says "he has a belly turning".
"Unknown strangers can kill a mission, [although] nothing has been neglected to understand all the complexities. "
How long is the trip to the moon?
The launch represents only the beginning of a 384,000-kilometer (239,000-mile) journey – the robot is expected to land on the moon a few days later, on September 6 or 7, about 54 days later.
Isro has chosen a hijacked route to take advantage of Earth's gravity, which will help the slingshot to rotate the satellite to the moon. India does not have a rocket powerful enough to propel Chandrayaan-2 on a direct trajectory.
"There will be 15 terrifying minutes for scientists once the LG will be released and launched on the South Pole of the Moon," said Dr. Sivan.
He explains that those who controlled the spacecraft until then will have no role to play in these crucial moments. The actual landing, he adds, is an autonomous operation that assumes all systems are working as they should. Otherwise, the undercarriage could crash onto the lunar surface.
Earlier this year, the first Israeli lunar mission crashed while she was trying to land.
Who is in the team?
Nearly 1,000 engineers and scientists worked on this mission. But for the first time, Isro chose women to lead an interplanetary expedition.
Two women lead the journey from India to the moon. Although program director Muthaya Vanitha has fed Chandrayaan-2 over the years, he will be sailed by Ritu Karidhal.
"Women's power fuels the ambitions of the moon in India," said Dr. Sivan, adding that at Isro, "women and men are equal, only talent matters – not sex."
Report by Pallava Bagla, who has written extensively on the Indian space program.
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