Top 10 Interesting Facts About India's Lunar Mission-Chandrayaan-2:

Top 10 Interesting Facts About India's Lunar Mission-Chandrayaan-2:

Photo: ISRO

1:Total Weight of Chandrayaan-2:

Photo: ISRO

The mission Chandrayaan-2 was launched on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island. The total weight of the Chandrayaan-2 is 3,850 kg (8,490 lb).

2:Total Cost of the Mission:

Photo: ISRO

The total cost of the mission is ₹978 crore (approximately US$141 million) which includes ₹603 crore for space segment and ₹375 crore as launch costs on GSLV Mk III.

3:Main Objective of the Mission:

Photo: ISRO

The main scientific objective of Chandryaan-2 is to map the location and abundance of lunar water. It will be launched to the lunar South Pole because a larger section of this region stays in the shadow. Thus, there is a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it.

4:Schedule to Launch:

                                  GSLV MK-III M1/Photo: ISRO

Originally, Chandryaan-2 was scheduled to launch in 2011 and was supposed to carry Russian-made lander and rover. Since Russia pulled out, ISRO had to develop its own lander and rover and this resulted in delay.

After that, the Chandrayaan-2 launch was scheduled for 14 July 2019, 21:21 UTC (15 July 2019 at 02:51 IST local time), with the landing expected on 6 September 2019. However, the launch was aborted due to a technical glitch and was rescheduled. The launch occurred on 22 July 2019 at 09:13 UTC (14:43 IST) on the first operational flight of a GSLV MK III M1.

5:Other Objectives of the Mission:

Photo: ISRO

The mission will also study of lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, the lunar exosphere.

6:About Orbiter:

Orbiter of Chandrayaan-2/Photo: ISRO

The orbiter is orbiting the Moon on a polar orbit at an altitude of 100 km (62 mi). The orbiter carries eight scientific instruments; two of them are improved versions of those flown on Chandrayaan-1. These eight payloads are:

• Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer(CLASS),

• Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM)

• Dual Frequency L and S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR)

• Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS)

• Chandrayaan-2 Atmospheric Compositional Explorer 2 (ChACE-2)

• Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2)

• Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere – Dual Frequency Radio Science experiment (RAMBHA-DFRS)

• Orbiter High-Resolution Camera

7:About Vikram Lander:

Vikram Lander/Photo: ISRO

The mission's lander is called Vikram named after Vikram Sarabhai, who is widely regarded as the founder of the Indian space program. The payloads on the Vikram lander are:

• Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA)

• Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE)

• RAMBHA-LP Langmuir probe

• A laser retroreflector array (LRA)

8:About Pragyan Rover:

Pragyan Rover/Photo: ISRO

The mission's rover is called Pragyan which means wisdom. Its mass is about 27 kg (60 lb) and will operate on solar power. Pragyan rover carries two instruments to determine the abundance of elements near the landing site:

• Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)

• Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscopy (APXS)

9:Which Countries Did It Earlier:

Photo: ISRO

If the mission Chandryaan-2 is successful, India will become the fourth country to soft-land on the lunar surface after the USA, Russia, and China.

10:About the Success Rate of These Missions:

Photo: ISRO

A total number of 38 soft landing attempts have been made by space agencies in the world to soft-land on the moon, so far. The success rate is 52 percent.

Hello friends, hope you like the article. If you have any query and suggestion then please comment below.   Thank You.