ISRO's ambitious Chandrayaan-2 completes 2 years; Read all about India's Lunar mission

Two years ago this day, July 22, 2019, marks an important date in the history of the country's space science invention when India's second lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-2. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from the Satish Dhawan space center at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Even though the Vikram Moon lander did not arrive on the surface of the Moon, it is not a failed mission as the spacecraft's orbiter operations are still functional. 

Chandrayaan-2 mission

Chandrayaan-2 predecessor, Chandrayaan-1, was launched in 2008 that discovered the presence of water molecules on the parched lunar surface.  While the Chandrayaan-2 mission was designed to expand the lunar scientific knowledge through a detailed study of topography, seismography, mineral identification and distribution, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics of top soil, and composition of the tenuous lunar atmosphere, leading to a new understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon.

The $150 million dollars highly complex mission consisted of an orbiter, lander, and rover to explore the unexplored South Pole of the Moon. 

Details about Chandrayaan-2 mission

Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019, and on September 6, the lander that carried a 27kg rover with instruments to analyze the lunar soil, crashed when it deviated from its intended trajectory due to a software glitch.  

According to ISRO scientists, the mission is not a complete failure because the orbiter has navigated as anticipated and the lander passed through all three phases except the last phase. 

Dr. Madhavan Nair, former chairman of ISRO had said. "Only a small portion of the mission had failed, and although the lander had not made a soft landing, it had lost contact very close to the surface of the moon".

Chandrayaan-3 mission to be launched soon

In February 2021, ISRO Chief K. Sivan had informed that  India's third mission, to Moon, Chandrayaan-3, is likely to be launched in 2022. 

Sivan had said, “We are working on it. It is the same configuration as Chandrayaan-2 but it will not have an orbiter. The orbiter launched during Chandrayaan-2 will be used for Chandrayaan-3. With that, we are working on a system and mostly the launch will be next year in 2022". 

(Image credit: AP)