All Eyes Set on ISRO as Chandrayaan-2 to Lift Off at 2:43 PM Today

Chandrayaan-2, was originally scheduled to be launched after the 2008 Chandrayaan-1 mission, which scripted history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.

Updated: July 22, 2019 8:30 AM IST

By India.com News Desk | Edited by Surabhi Shaurya

All Eyes Set on ISRO as Chandrayaan-2 to Lift Off at 2:43 PM Today

New Delhi:  Chandrayaan-2, India’s ambitious moon mission, worth Rs 978-crore is all set to be launched on Monday at 2:43 PM from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 2.43 PM. If the mission succeeds, India would be placed among the top four lunar pioneers, the others being the US, Russia and China.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) rocket with Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was originally scheduled for flight at 2.51 AM on July 15. However, the flight was postponed after a technical snag was detected an hour prior to the rocket lift-off.

The launch countdown for Chandrayaan-2 began Sunday evening at 6.43 PM, tweeted space agency ISRO. “All preparatory work for Chandrayaan-2 launch completed. Technical snags that developed in the first attempt have been rectified. Chandrayaan-2 will perform 15 crucial manoeuvres in days to come,”ISRO chairman K Sivan had informed yesterday.

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second lunar mission, has three modules namely Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) & Rover (Pragyan). The Orbiter and Lander modules will be interfaced mechanically and stacked together as an integrated module and accommodated inside the GSLV MK-III launch vehicle.

Originally, it was scheduled to be launched after the 2008 Chandrayaan-1 mission, which scripted history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009. At that time, it was supposed to be a joint India-Russia mission. The planned mission was halted owing to the design flaws detected in the Russian lander and rover.

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