India launches lunar mission this weekend



[ad_1]

Chandrayaan-2

India is preparing to launch its first lunar lander on Sunday. As part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, the lander will climb to the top of the most powerful rocket in the country, the geosynchronous satellite launcher Mark III.

The plan is to launch an orbiter module and a 56-pound mobile mobile from a 1.4-ton landing craft called Vikram.

India successfully completed its first lunar probe mission, Chandrayaan-1, in October 2008. The probe made a controlled impact near the South Pole, ejecting underground soil for later analysis to search for traces of 39; water.

Basin of destination

The planned landing site for Chandryaan 2 is only 220 km from the edge of the South Pole Aitken Basin – the same massive crater located on the other side of the Moon under which scientists have recently discovered the evidence of a "large excess of mass".

The rover carries an X-ray spectrometer that could analyze the composition of the Aitken Basin crust to find clues about its original history.

The planned mission begins seven months after China sent its Chang'e-4 lunar lander to the back of the moon – the first time a man-made object landed on the far less studied side who remains facing the Earth.

READ MORE: The first Indian lunar lander stacked for launch[[[[Space Flight Now]

More about Chandrayaan: Chandrayaan-2 in India has more power than NASA's Apollo missions, but cheaper

[ad_2]

Source link