India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 launched today, after aborting the mission on July 15. The lift-off began at 2:43 pm IST, and was live-streamed for the world to see. Last week the mission was called off an hour before lift-off, because of lack of pressure in the helium tanks of the rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle- Mark III (GSLV-Mk III). The 20-hour countdown for the launch began at 6.43 pm here on Sunday, ISRO said. Chandrayaan-2 is an Indian lunar mission, in which ISRO is looking to go where no country has ever gone before- the Moon’s south polar region. At 1:40 pm on Monday, ISRO revealed that the filling of liquid hydrogen in Cryogenic Stage (C25) of GSLV Mk-III-M1 had been completed.
The Chandrayaan-2 comes 11 years after ISRO’s successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 which scripted history by making more than 3400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009. Chandrayaan-2 launch time was today at 2:43 pm. The mission launched onboard the GSLV MK-III launch vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space (SDSC) in Sriharikota. It consists of the Orbiter that will observe the lunar surface and relay communication between Earth and Chandrayaan-2’s Lander-Vikram. The unmanned mission consists of a Pragyan Rover- a 6 wheeled Al-powered that translates to ‘wisdom’ in Sanskrit. It can travel upto 500m and leverages solar energy for its functioning. It can only communicate with the Lander.
Check Out the Full Video of Chandrayaan-2:
Prime Minister Narender Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Of India Rajnath Singh and Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar also tweeted and congratulated our scientists for this successful launch:
Special moments that will be etched in the annals of our glorious history!
The launch of #Chandrayaan2 illustrates the prowess of our scientists and the determination of 130 crore Indians to scale new frontiers of science.
Every Indian is immensely proud today! pic.twitter.com/v1ETFneij0
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 22, 2019
I congratulate our scientists at @isro for the successful launch of #Chandrayaan2 and setting yet another benchmark in the field of space technology. A grateful nation is proud of them.
I also thank PM Modi ji for encouraging our institutions for setting new standards everytime. pic.twitter.com/k26szPwhIE
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 22, 2019
Congratulations to ISRO scientists on flawless launching of #Chandrayaan2 from Sriharikota
Team ISRO scripted a new chapter in India’s space history with the launch of this ambitious and indigenous Mission to Moon.
The nation is extremely proud of its scientists and Team ISRO.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) July 22, 2019
#ISRO has yet again accomplished a mammoth feat. Salute to the team who have spent countless days ensuring the success of #Chandrayaan2 @isro
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) July 22, 2019
ISRO Chairman K Sivan said all preparations were on and the glitch had rectified. He further said, “Whatever technical sang we observed on July 15 has been rectified. The vehicle is in good health. The rehearsal has successfully completed.”
He also told the reporters, “The 43.43m tall three-stage would inject the spacecraft into orbit 16 minutes later. Chandrayaan-2, comprising an orbiter, lander and rover, will undergo15 crucial manoeuvres before landing on the Moon expected by the September first week.”
