Chandrayaan-2 lunar probe will have an orbiter and a lander: Physical Research Laboratory

The Ahmedabad-based Physics Research Laboratory (PRL) has developed three payloads for the second Indian lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-2, which, unlike Chandrayaan-1, will include an orbiter, a lander and a rover. While the country's first lunar probe was launched in October 2008, the proposed take-off schedule for Chandrayaan-2 is eagerly awaited.

"The PRL has developed three payloads for Chandrayaan-2 The orbiter will have a solar X-ray monitor developed by PRL will monitor X-rays from the Sun and X-rays generated at the moon's surface, "said the director of the PRL, Anil Bhardwaj. He met with journalists on the sidelines of the 15th International Symposium on Equatorial Aeronomy, held here on PRL's main campus.

PRL, a unit of the Department of Space, was founded in 1947. "On the lander, there will be Chandra's thermophysical surface experiment (CHSTE) is a probe that will measure the temperature under the surface penetrating the surface of the moon.It will do so after landing the landing gear on the moon, "said the director, adding that this equipment also be developed by PRL. (ChaSTE) is one of the scientific experiments proposed on the lunar surface in the Chandrayaan-2 mission.

For the rover, which will come out of the landing gear and is supposed to move on the lunar surface, PRL has developed an instrument called "alpha particle X-ray spectrometer," said Bhardwaj. "This instrument is designed to identify various chemical elements and compounds on the surface of the moon," he said. According to reports, Chandrayaan-2 is expected to be launched between January and March 2019. However, the exact dates are not yet known.

The PRL also develops instruments for the "Aditya-L1 mission", which aims to study the Sun through a satellite placed in the halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, said haradwaj. A charge particle measuring instrument has also been developed, he said. "With this instrument we will be able to study solar winds, charge particles and their energy range," said Bhardwaj.

According to the website of the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), the satellite will be inserted into an orbit around the L1 satellite, 1.5 million km from Earth. The project is approved and the satellite will be launched between 2019 and 2020 by Sriharikota's PSLV-XL.