India’s second mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-2 is expected to launch by April. The launch will take India to new heights in space technology.
Dr Jitendra Singh, the union minister of state in charge of atomic energy and space announced this at a press conference. it is expected to be one of the most anticipated events of the year. It will be a challenging mission. For the first time, Chandrayaan-2 will be carrying an orbiter, lander and a rover to the moon. USA, Russia and China are the only ones to have landed a spacecraft on the moon’s surface. If the mission is successful, it will be a huge milestone for ISRO who have a much smaller budget as compared to NASA.
Dr Singh said that the Chandrayaan-2 might also throw up possibilities of future habitation on the moon too. This is the second time India is attempting to launch a mission to the moon. The cost of the mission is estimated around 800 crore rupees. Landing on the moon due to its thin atmosphere and low gravity is incredibly hard. Chandrayaan-2 weighs three tonnes. The launch window will open in April until October 2018. The rover will last on the moon’s surface for at least 14 days. Chandrayaan-2 will be landed near the South pole of the moon, all 12 other moon landings have happened close to the equator. The new region could also give insights into the origin of the universe said, Dr Singh.
While ISRO works incredibly hard in Bengaluru to make the mission happen, we can only hope the mission is successful. The mission will definitely open new avenues for Science and will not only contribute to technological advancement in India but the world over. At the conference, Dr Singh also highlighted the other achievements of ISRO, which accomplished 48 missions, including 21 launch vehicle missions, 24 satellite missions and 3 Technology Demonstrators in the last 4 years.