Delhi: India’s space agency has unveiled its spacecraft that it hopes to land on the moon next month.
If successful, India will be the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the moon, following the US, the former Soviet Union and China.
Chandrayaan-2 will be the country’s second lunar mission.
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Its first mission, Chandrayaan-1 which launched in 2008, was an orbiter and did not actually land on the surface of the moon.
This mission will focus on the lunar’s surface and gather data on water, minerals and rock formations.
Chandrayaan-2 has three modules namely Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) & Rover (Pragyan).
The Orbiter and Lander modules will be interfaced mechanically and stacked together as an integrated module and accommodated inside the GSLV MK-III launch vehicle.
The Rover is housed inside the Lander. After launch into earth bound orbit by GSLV MK-III, the integrated module will reach Moon orbit using Orbiter propulsion module.
Subsequently, Lander will separate from the Orbiter and soft land at the predetermined site close to lunar South Pole.
Further, the Rover will roll out for carrying out scientific experiments on the lunar surface. Instruments are also mounted on Lander and Orbiter for carrying out scientific experiments.
All the modules are getting ready for Chandrayaan-2 launch during the window of July 09, to July 16, 2019, with an expected Moon landing on September 06, 2019.
