The CHANDRAYAAN-2, India's second lunar exploration mission after Chandrayaan-1, has been launched successfully. Chandrayan-1 operated for almost a year (b/w October 2008 and August 2009) and this first Moon mission of India is best known for helping to discover evidence of water molecules on the moon.
Note: The author or GEOINFORMERS do not take any credit for the pictures shown in this article. All pictures, text and video credit goes to the ISRO.
ISRO has given details of the launch as-
India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV MkIII-M1, successfully launched the 3840 kg Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into an earth orbit today (July 22, 2019). The spacecraft is now revolving round the earth with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 169.7 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 45,475 km. Today’s flight marks the first operational flight of the GSLV Mk III. See images below.
After a smooth countdown lasting 20 hours, GSLV MkIII-M1 vehicle majestically lifted off from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota at the scheduled launch time of 1443Hrs (2:43 pm) Indian Standard Time (IST) with the ignition of its two S200 solid strap-on motors. All the subsequent flight events occurred as scheduled.
About 16 minutes 14 seconds after lift-off, the vehicle injected Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into an elliptical earth orbit. Immediately after spacecraft separation from the vehicle, the solar array of the spacecraft automatically got deployed and ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru successfully took control of the spacecraft.
3D animated video of Chandrayaan-2 mission released by the Indian Space Research Organisation. It shows the entire sequence of events starting right from launch into earth parking orbit, injection into lunar transfer trajectory, lunar orbital capture, landing procedure initialisation, touchdown, communication link establishment with earth and lunar surface exploration.See Video
Statement of ISRO Chief-
“Today is a historical day for Space Science and Technology in India. I am extremely happy to announce that GSLV MkIII-M1 successfully injected Chandrayaan-2 into an orbit of 6000 Km more than the intended orbit and is better.”
“Today is the beginning of the historical journey of India towards Moon and to land at a place near south pole to carry out scientific experiments to explore the unexplored. On July 15, 2019 ISRO intelligently observed a technical snag, Team ISRO worked out, fixed and corrected the snag within 24 hours. For the next one and a half day, the required tests were conducted to ensure that corrections made were proper and in right direction. Today ISRO bounced back with flying colours.” Dr. K. Sivan said.
Objectives of CHANDRAYAAN-2
The mission objective of Chandrayaan-2 is to develop and demonstrate the key technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability, including soft-landing and roving on the lunar surface. On the science front, this mission aims to further expand our knowledge about the Moon through a detailed study of its topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics and atmosphere leading to a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon.
Payloads:
Chandrayaan-2 has several science payloads to facilitate a more detailed understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon. The Orbiter carries eight payloads, the lander carries three, and the rover carries two. Besides, a passive experiment is included on the lander.The Orbiter payloads will conduct remote-sensing observations from a 100 km orbit while the Lander and Rover payloads will perform in-situ measurements near the landing site.
GSLV MkIII-M1 vehicle at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR)
Magnificent images of Lifting off of GSLV carrying the Chandrayaan-2
Credit: ISRO
