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Chandrayaan-2: India announces new date for Moon mission | Chandrayaan-2: India announces new date for Moon mission |
(about 2 months later) | |
India has announced a new date to launch its second lunar mission after the scheduled blast-off was halted on Monday due to a technical snag. | India has announced a new date to launch its second lunar mission after the scheduled blast-off was halted on Monday due to a technical snag. |
Chandrayaan-2 will now be launched at 14:43 local time (09:13 GMT) on 22 July, India's space agency said. | Chandrayaan-2 will now be launched at 14:43 local time (09:13 GMT) on 22 July, India's space agency said. |
The countdown on Monday was stopped 56 minutes before the launch after a "technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system," it added. | The countdown on Monday was stopped 56 minutes before the launch after a "technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system," it added. |
It hopes the $150m mission will be the first to land on the Moon's south pole. | It hopes the $150m mission will be the first to land on the Moon's south pole. |
India's first Moon mission - Chandrayaan-1, which launched in 2008 - resulted in the probe crash-landing on the lunar surface. But it carried out the first and most detailed search for water on the Moon using radars. | |
The latest mission will focus on the lunar surface, searching for water and minerals and measuring moonquakes, among other things. | The latest mission will focus on the lunar surface, searching for water and minerals and measuring moonquakes, among other things. |
If successful, India will become the fourth country to make a soft landing on the Moon's surface. | If successful, India will become the fourth country to make a soft landing on the Moon's surface. |
Only the US, China and the former Soviet Union have been able to do so. | Only the US, China and the former Soviet Union have been able to do so. |
The spacecraft used in the mission has three distinct parts: an orbiter, a lander and a rover. | The spacecraft used in the mission has three distinct parts: an orbiter, a lander and a rover. |
The orbiter, which weighs 2,379kg (5,244lb) and has a mission life of a year, will take images of the lunar surface. | The orbiter, which weighs 2,379kg (5,244lb) and has a mission life of a year, will take images of the lunar surface. |
The lander (named Vikram, after the founder of Isro) weighs about half as much, and carries within its belly a 27kg Moon rover with instruments to analyse the lunar soil. In its 14-day life, the rover (called Pragyan - wisdom in Sanskrit) can travel up to a half a kilometre from the lander and will send data and images back to Earth for analysis. | The lander (named Vikram, after the founder of Isro) weighs about half as much, and carries within its belly a 27kg Moon rover with instruments to analyse the lunar soil. In its 14-day life, the rover (called Pragyan - wisdom in Sanskrit) can travel up to a half a kilometre from the lander and will send data and images back to Earth for analysis. |