On July 22, India launched a 3.8 ton satellite destined for the Moon. Lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh at 2:43 p.m., Monday local time (5:13 am ET).
If the landing succeeds, India will become the fourth country — in addition to United States, the former Soviet Union, and China — to make a soft-landing on the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-2, carries 13 payloads and has three elements — lunar orbiter, lander, and rover, all developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
After lunar orbit insertion, the lander and orbiter will separate. The orbiter evolves into a 100 km or 62 miles altitude circular polar orbit and the lander brakes from orbit and lands on the surface in the high latitude areas near the south pole, planned for 6th or 7th September. The orbiter portion of the mission is planned to last 1 year. The rover will be deployed using a ramp shortly after landing; it will collect mineral and chemical samples from the moon’s surface for remote scientific analysis. The lander and rover portions of the mission are planned for 14-15 days, one period of lunar daylight.
Scientific goals of this study include studies of lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, the lunar exosphere, and signatures of hydroxyl and water ice.
