Chandrayaan-2 mission takes off, focus now on soft-landing on Moon  

The GSLV-MkIII rocket carrying the Chandrayaan-2, soon after its launch.

New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organization, on Monday, in a landmark mission, has successfully launched Chandrayan-2, carried by GSLV-Mark III, the most powerful rocket built so far by India, from the second launchpad at the Sriharikota spaceport. The proud moment for India came merely after six days of its actual date of launch that was aborted due to technical snag observed in the launch vehicle system.

The spacecraft, carried by GSLV-MkIII rocket, lifted off from the launchpad at 2.43pm on Monday and 17 minutes later the spacecraft was injected into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) at a perigee of 169.7km and apogee of 45,475km. The spacecraft has achieved an orbit 6000km higher than what was planned thereby saving fuel, time and its life span.

The spacecraft weighing 3.8 tonne, comprising an orbiter, Chandrayaan-2; the lander, Vikram; and the rover, Pragyan, is expected to land on the Moon’s south pole at 2.58am on September 7. India would be the first country to send its spacecraft on the lunar south pole where there is a possibility of discovering primordial water reserves. If the mission is successful, India would be the fourth, after the United States, Russia and China, to soft-land on Moon.

Isro animation video of the Chandrayaan-2 mission:

Isro chairman K Sivan, while announcing the successful launch of GSLV-MkIII, said, “The GSLV-Mark III vehicle has successfully injected Chandrayaan-2 in the defined orbit. In fact, the orbit is 6,000km more than what was intended. The satellite will have more life, more fuel and more time to play with the manoeuvres. It is the beginning of a historical journey of India towards the Moon and to land at a place near its south pole to carry out scientific experiments to explore unexplored [areas].”

Sivan also complimented the entire team of Chandrayan-2 for the success. The technical snag that was observed during the launch on July 15, has been fixed quickly and the vehicle brought back to normal. “Now Isro has bounced back with flying colours,” he said.

‘15 minutes of terror’

Citing the placing of satellite in the orbit as only the first step in an operation, Sivan, while speaking to reporters said Isro was now aiming to safely land the lander and the rover on Moon’s surface on September 7.

He said, “On the landing day, we are going to experience ‘15 minutes of terror’ to ensure a safe landing of the lander-rover duo near the south pole. This is because executing a soft-landing is new to us and everything should go as per plan and be perfect. Today, everything went according to plan during the launch.”

Women power

The Chandrayaan-2 mission has been spearheaded by two women scientists – project director Muthayya Vanitha and mission director Ritu Karidhal. Besides the two, 30 per cent of the Isro workforce is made up of women scientists and engineers. Chandrayaan-2 is the first Indian space mission headed by women.

A jubilant nation took to Twitter to congratulate the scientists, especially the women behind the mission.

If Lunar landing of Apollo 11 was hailed as 'Giant leap for mankind' the launch of #Chandrayaan2 will be remembered as a 'Giant leap for womankind.'

Congratulations to the @isro team led by space scientists M.Vanitha & Ritu Karidhal for India's leap to the lunar south pole. pic.twitter.com/EtFh8baM0G

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) July 22, 2019

Congratulations to the team of @isro headed by our respected Space Scientist M.Vanitha & Ritu Karidhal for successfully launching Mission #Chandrayaan2

— Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@Nawazuddin_S) July 22, 2019

While Muthayya Vanitha is the Project Director of this Rs. 1000 crore mission, Ritu Karidhal is working as a Mission Director on the same project. #Chandrayaan2

— Feminism in India (@FeminismInIndia) July 22, 2019

So inspired by the women behind #Chandrayaan2: #MuthayyaVanitha & #RituKaridhal. This is literally what I wanted to be growing up & these women have shown me it can be a reality. Thank you girls for setting such a great example. So proud of team @isro
Courtesy:@PIB_India pic.twitter.com/9W9MTknJ0B

— PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) July 25, 2019

The Chandrayaan-2 launch video:

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