Explained - Chandrayaan2 Mission - All you need to know

What is Chandrayaan 2?

Chandrayaan 2 is an Indian lunar mission that will boldly go where no country has ever gone before — the Moon's south polar region. Through this effort, the aim is to improve our understanding of the Moon.

With Chandrayaan-2, India will continue its search for water on the lunar surface. Earlier, Chandrayaan-1 made the breakthrough of discovering the presence of water molecules on the moon’s surface. It is the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO's) first mission to land on any celestial body.

Launch on July 15 at 2.51 am :- Chandrayaan-2 satellite will be launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh

September 6 :- The satellite is likely to land on the Moon near the South Pole, an uncharted territory so far thirst for water

What makes it special :-

• 1st space mission to conduct a soft landing on the moon’s south polar region.
• 1st Indian mission to explore the lunar terrain with home-grown technology.
• 4th country ever to soft land on the lunar surface.

The ‘Bahubali’ :-

• India’s heavy lift rocket ‘Bahubali’ or ‘Fat Boy’, GSLV Mk III is a three-stage heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO.
• It weighs nearly 640 tonnes and stands 44 metres tall. The vehicle has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster, and a cryogenic upper stage

Chandrayaan-2 to have 3 components — Orbiter, Lander and Rover:

• The Orbiter and Lander will be mechanically interfaced and stacked together as an integrated module inside the launch vehicle, GSLV MK-III. Rover is housed inside Lander.
• After the launch into an earth-bound orbit by GSLV MK-III, the integrated module would reach the moon orbit using the orbiter propulsion module.

Vikram Lander :-

• The lander of Chandrayaan-2 is named ‘Vikram’ after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, the father of the Indian Space Programme.
• It is designed to function for one lunar day, which is equivalent to about 14 Earth days.

Pragyan Rover :-

• Chandrayaan-2’s rover is a six-wheeled robotic vehicle named ‘Pragyan’, which translates to ‘wisdom’ in Sanskrit.
• It can travel up to 500m and leverages solar energy for its functioning. It can only communicate with the lander.

Objectives of Chandrayaan 2 mission :-

• Push the boundaries of scientific knowledge to unravel the mysteries of this universe.
• Unleash innovation by throwing challenges at the youth of the country, and spurring future research and development.
• Explore economic possibilities by strengthening ISRO’s alliance with the industry.
• Engaging with the general public by motivating the youth to undertake real life applications of science and technology.
• Expanding India’s footprint in space as Moon is the perfect test-bed for proving technologies required for future space explorations.
• Making India a key contributor of exploring and uncovering secrets of the universe, thus fostering shared aspirations of the international community.

Why explore the lunar south pole ?

• Extensive mapping of the lunar surface will aid us in studying variations in its composition — an essential piece of information in tracing the Moon's origin and evolution.
• Evidence of water molecules — discovered by Chandrayaan 1 — and the extent of its distribution on the lunar surface and sub-surface also require further studies.
• The lunar South Pole is especially interesting because a larger section of its surface stays in the shadow than the North Pole. There is a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it.
• In addition, the south polar region has craters that are cold traps, containing a fossilised record of the early Solar System.