Spacewatch: India prepares to launch Chandrayaan 2 moon mission.

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If successful, India will become fourth country to soft-land on moon after Russia, US and China.

The Pragyan rover mounted on the Vikram lander’s descent ramp. The pair have been mated to the lunar orbiter, ready for launch on Sunday. Photograph: ISRO/EPA
▼ India is making final preparations for the launch this Sunday of the Chandrayaan 2moon mission. The spacecraft will take two months to cruise to the moon. Following its arrival, it will manoeuvre into a circular orbit just 62 miles (100km) above the lunar surface. It will then deploy the Vikram lander early in September.
This will be India’s first attempt at a soft landing on the moon. If successful, it will make the country the fourth to achieve such a feat, after Russia, the US and China.
The chosen landing site is near the lunar south pole, where water ice has been detected in some permanently shadowed craters. Once safely down, the Vikram lander will release a small, six-wheeled rover named Pragyan.
The three components of the mission carry a full complement of scientific instruments. Among other things, they will study the moon’s mineral and chemical composition and its topology and seismology.
India’s first moon mission, Chandrayaan 1, launched in October 2008 and operated successfully for almost a year. As part of the mission, an impact  probestruck the moon’s south pole in a controlled manner.
Chandrayaan 2 will launchfrom the Satish Dhawan Space Cent reon India’s south-east coast.

► This news was originally published here: Source

asr335704

Good to read that. India is making fine progress in space missions.
With success of this mission, India can add one more milestone to its kitty in space history.
It takes really great efforts for a country to complete any space mission and they deserve the kudos for such initiatives.

chanakyakripa

Due to technical snag, identified at last moment, launch postponed today.

Jbnast

Good to see another country joining the elite club that has landed on the moon