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Scrubbed Chandrayaan 2 Mission to Moon's South Pole to Launch on Mon July 22 0913 UTC

posted by chromas on Friday July 19 2019, @04:44AM   Printer-friendly
from the Best-of-luck-to-them! dept.

martyb writes:

Scrubbed Chandrayaan 2 Mission to Moon's South Pole now set to Launch on July 22:

Chandrayaan 2, India's exploration mission to the moon's south pole, is set to fly to the moon on July 22. The launch, which has suffered several delays was originally scheduled for July 14, but the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) postponed Chandrayaan 2's departure less than an hour before launch due to a "technical snag."

The landmark mission is now set to depart a few days after the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, humanity's first crewed lunar landing, with the goal of making the first soft landing at the lunar south pole. India's mission isn't slated to feature humans, rather, Chandrayaan 2 is carrying three lunar exploration robots -- a lander, rover and orbiter -- that will be able to survey the moon from both the surface and the sky.

The launch is set to take place at India's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, north of Chennai, at the revised (and slightly unfriendly time) of 2:13 a.m. PT (5:13 a.m. ET), Monday July 22.

The payload of Chandrayaan-2 consists of a lunar orbiter, a lunar lander and a lunar rover and will be launched atop the ISRO-developed GSLV Mk-III rocket. That rocket is about half as powerful as the SpaceX Falcon 9 and will put Chandrayaan-2 into what's known as an "Earth parking orbit" before the module uses its own power to extend its orbit and eventually position itself for a lunar rendezvous.

How to watch the Chandrayaan-2 launch

Want to tune in to the historic mission? During the first run of the mission on July 14, ISRO handled livestreaming duties across its social media pages, which meant you could tune in at the ISRO Twitter or follow along on the agency's Facebook page. India's public broadcaster Doordarshan also carried a livestream on its YouTube channel. There's plenty of options and it's a good bet they will all be on the table for the rescheduled launch -- but until we get official confirmation of the new launch date and time, we can't be certain.

(Emphasis in original retained.)

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday July 19 2019, @10:43AM

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Friday July 19 2019, @10:43AM (#868901) Journal

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-2 [wikipedia.org]

    The primary objectives of Chandrayaan-2 are to demonstrate the ability to soft-land on the lunar surface and operate a robotic rover on the surface. Scientific goals include studies of lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, the lunar exosphere, and signatures of hydroxyl and water ice. The orbiter will map the lunar surface and help to prepare 3D maps of it. The onboard radar will also map the surface while studying the water ice in the south polar region and thickness of the lunar regolith on the surface. Chandrayaan-2 will inform the location and abundance of lunar water for exploitation by the future lunar base proposed by the Artemis program.

    The polar regions seem to be the best possible place to put a lunar base, and missions like this could help make it happen.

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