Chandrayaan 2 mission was launched from Sriharikota Space Center on 22 July 2019 to the Moon by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III). It includes a lunar orbiter, lander and rover, all developed domestically. The main scientific objective is to map the location and abundance of lunar water.
Unlike Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2 will attempt to soft-land its Vikram module on the lunar surface and deploy a six-wheeled Rover, Pragyaan on the Moon to carry out several scientific experiments. The lift-off mass of Chandrayaan-1 was 1380 kg while Chandrayaan-2 weighs 3850 kg.
COMPONENTS OF CHANDRAYAAN 2
- Launcher – The GSLV Mk-III is India’s most powerful launcher to date and has been completely designed and fabricated from within the country.
- Orbiter – The Orbiter will observe the lunar surface and relay communication between Earth and Chandrayaan 2’s Lander — Vikram.
- Lander – The lander called ‘Vikram’ is designed to execute India’s first soft landing on the lunar surface. ‘Vikram’ is named after the space luminary, Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, who spearheaded India’s nascent space programme.
- Rover – The rover is a 6-wheeled, AI-powered vehicle named Pragyan, which translates to ‘wisdom’ in Sanskrit. The Rover can travel up to 500 meters (half a kilometre) from the landing spot on the moon.
Chandrayaan 2 landing site
Chandrayaan 2 will be making an attempt at landing a lander and the moon rover in a high plain situated between two craters called as Manzinus C and Simpelius N. The location has a latitude of about 70-degrees south.
The lunar South Pole is especially interesting because of the lunar surface area here that remains in shadow is much larger than that at the North Pole. There is a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it. In addition, the South Pole region has craters that are cold traps and contain a fossil record of the early Solar System.
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