BENGALURU, July 18:
India’s ambitious second mission to the Moon Chandrayaan-2 will now lift off at 2.43 pm on July 22, space agency ISRO said on Thursday, three days after the launch was aborted due to a technical snag in its GSLV-Mk-III rocket.
Chandrayaan-2, which will be launched on board the most powerful GSLV-Mk-III rocket dubbed ‘Baahubali, is ready “to take a billion dreams to the Moon”, the Indian Space Research Organisation said on Twitter.
On July 15, the launch was called off 56 minutes and 24 seconds before the scheduled blast off at 1.55 am from the spaceport in Sriharikota following a technical problem in the rocket.
“Chandrayaan-2 launch, which was called off due to a technical snag on July 15, 2019, is now rescheduled at 2:43 pm IST on Monday, July 22, 2019,” ISRO tweeted on Thursday.
It thanked the public for their support, which it said “propels us (ISRO) forth, yet again”.
“Reaching greater heights is part physics and part faith. Thank you for giving us more than enough of the latter!” ISRO wrote in a tweet.
”Chandrayaan 2 is ready to take a billion dreams to the Moon – now stronger than ever before! Join us for the launch on Monday – 22 July, 2019 – at 2:43 PM IST,” it added.
The glitch had occurred when liquid propellant was being loaded into the rocket’s indigenous cryogenic upper stage engine.
Several space scientists had said the space agency must be appreciated for calling off the launch of rather than hurrying into a major disaster.
Scientists at India’s space agency have been assessing the seriousness of the problem that temporarily halted the ambitious Rs 976 crore lunar mission.
ISRO had earlier scheduled the launch in the first week of January but shifted it to July 15.
The lift-off of the three-component spacecraft weighing 3,850 kg and comprising an orbiter, the lander and the rover is scheduled from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, off the coast of Andhra Pradesh.
The satellite is supposed to explore the uncharted lunar south pole, 11 years after ISRO’s successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1, which made more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.
Chandrayaan-2 will take 54 days to accomplish the task of landing on the Moon through meticulously planned orbital phases, ISRO has said.
Billed as the most complex and prestigious mission ever undertaken by the ISRO since its inception, Chandrayaan-2 will make India the fourth country to soft land a rover on the lunar surface after Russia, the United States and China. (PTI)
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