Aiming to take a “billion dreams to the moon”, India on Monday successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 on-board its powerful rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 from the spaceport here to explore the uncharted south pole of the celestial body by landing a rover.
The geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle lifted-off fromthe Satish Dhawan Space Centre here into cloudy skies at 2.43 pm andsuccessfully placed the 3,850-kg Chandrayaan-2 into the earth orbit 16 minutesand 14 seconds later.
Immediately after Chandrayaan-2’s separation from therocket, the solar array of the spacecraft automatically got deployed and theISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru successfully tookcontrol of the spacecraft, the Indian Space Research Organisation said in astatement later.
According to the statement, Chandrayaan-2, a three-modulespacecraft comprising orbiter, lander and rover, will be subjected to a seriesof orbit manoeuvres using its onboard propulsion system to take it to thevicinity of Moon over the next weeks with the rover soft landing planned onSeptember 7.
The success of the mission, helmed by two women RituKaridhal (Mission Director) and M Vanitha (Project Director), brought hugerelief for ISRO scientists after the July 15 launch was called off just aboutan hour left following a technical glitch in the rocket.
The Rs 978 crore mission, that will mark a giant leap inIndia’s space programme and make it only the fourth country to land a rover onMoon, was rescheduled to Monday after scientists corrected the technical glitchin the three-stage rocket.
In a textbook launch, the towering GSLV-MkIII-M1, in itsfirst operational flight, lifted off majestically from the second launch pad atthe Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, over 100 km from Chennai, as thescientists broke into jubilation.
“Chandrayaan-2 is unique because it will explore andperform studies on the south pole region of lunar terrain which is not exploredand sampled by any past mission. This mission will offer new knowledge aboutthe moon,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a congratulatory tweet.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Chief Ministers ofKerala and Tamil Nadu K Vijayan and K Palaniswami respectively and KeralaGovernor P Sathasivam were among those who congratulated the ISRO for the feat.
Scientists led by ISRO chief K Sivan watched the launchsequence in rapt attention and broke into applause after every key stage of therockets flight which progressed precisely as programmed.
A visibly relieved Sivan, who announced the success of themission, said, “It is the beginning of a historical journey of Indiatowards the moon”.
Today is a historical day for Space Science and Technologyin India. I am extremely happy to announce that GSLV MkIII-M1 successfullyinjected Chandrayaan-2 into an orbit of 6,000 Km more than the intendedorbit…,” he said.
“We bounced back in flying colours after the earliertechnical snag,” he said about the glitch that made the space agencyreschedule the Chandrayaan-2 launch from 15 July to Monday.
There will be 15 “very crucial manoeuvres” in thenext one and half months before the orbiter is brought around the moon, he saidin his post-launch address from mission control centre.
“After that the D-Day will come and on that day we aregoing to experience 15 minutes of terror, to ensure the landing is safely nearthe South Pole,” he added.
ISRO had last week called off the launch with just 56minutes of the countdown left, a decision that was later hailed by space expertsas a prudent measure not to risk the mission.
After taking remedial action based on an analysis carriedout by a team set up to look into the snag, the space agency announced therescheduled lift-off four days ago, indicating the confidence of the scientistswhich stood vindicated with the successful launch.
“Chandrayaan 2 is ready to take a billion dreams to themoon now stronger than ever before! Join us for the launch on Monday 22 July,2019 at 2:43 PM IST,” ISRO had tweeted on July 18 while announcing therescheduled launch.
Chandrayaan-2 comes 11 years after ISRO’s successful firstlunar mission Chandrayaan-1 which scripted history by making more than 3,400orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.
Billed as the most complex and prestigious missionundertaken by ISRO since its inception, Chandrayaan-2 will make India thefourth country to soft land a rover on the lunar surface after Russia, theUnited States and China.
The 43.43m tall rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 dubbed as Baahubali forits ability to carry heavy payloads successfully placed the Chandrayaan-2 intoan eliptical earth orbit.
The spacecraft is now revolving round the earth with aperigee (nearest point to Earth) of 169.7 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth)of 45,475 km, ISRO said.
From here onwards, the mission will undergo a series ofmanoeuvres to carry out different phases of the mission over the next 48 daysbefore the soft landing in the South Pole region of the moon where no countryhas gone so far.
Subsequent to the rescheduling of the launch, the spaceagency has tweaked the orbital phases, increasing Earth-bound phase to 23 daysas against 17 days planned originally.
Using the onboard propulsion system, scientists willundertake a series of manoeuvres to raise the Chandrayaan-2 orbit in steps andthen place it in the Lunar Transfer Trajectory to enable the spacecraft travelto the vicinity of the Moon, the ISRO statement said.
After leaving earth orbit and on entering Moon’s sphere ofinfluence, the propulsion system of Chandrayaan-2 will be fired to slow downthe spacecraft to capture a preliminary orbit around the Moon.
It would then perform a series of complex braking maneuversand the soft landing of the lander – Vikram carrying rover Pragyan, one of thetoughest phases of the mission and described by the ISRO chief as “15minutes of terror (filled moments), would be made.
The mission, which carries a total of 13 payloads, includingthree from the Europe, two from the US and one Bulgaria, seeks to improveunderstanding of the moon which could lead to discoveries that will benefitIndia and humanity as a whole.
A Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) of US space agency NASAis among the payloads and is aimed at understanding dynamics of Earths moonsystem and deriving clues on Lunar interior.
According to ISRO, the mission objective was to develop anddemonstrate the key technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability,including soft-landing and roving on the lunar surface.
It aims to further expand knowledge about the Moon through adetailed study of its topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition,thermo-physical characteristics and atmosphere leading to a better understandingof the origin and evolution of the Moon.
ISRO said the lunar South Pole is an interesting surfacearea which remains in shadow than North Pole.
There is a possibility of the presence of water inpermanently shadowed areas around it, the agency said, adding craters in theSouth Pole region have cold traps and contain fossil record of the early solarsystem.
The lander Vikram, named after father of Indian spaceresearch programme Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, carrying the rover Pragyan, will belanded in a high plain between two craters at a latitude of about 70 degreesSouth of the moon.
Then the 27-kg Pragyan meaning wisdom in Sanskrit and asix-wheeled robotic vehicle, will set out on its job of collecting informationon lunar surface.
A safe site free of hazards for landing would be decided based on pictures sent back by the camera onboard the lander and after touchdown the rover will carry out experiments for 14 Earth days, equals one Lunar Day. The launch was witnessed by 7,500 people who were accommodated at a viewing gallery, located a few kms from the launchpad, thrown open to the public by the ISRO in May last. PTI