Nellore: The Indian Space Research Organisation is getting ready to launch Chandrayaan-2 between July 9 and July 16 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The spacecraft is likely to land on the Moon on September 6, after travelling for nearly 50 days.
Chandrayan-1 had contributed to the discovery of water on the moon. Chandrayaan-2, weighing approximately 3,290 kg, would orbit around the Moon and perform remote sensing experiments
Its lander Vikram and rover Pragyan will be interfaced mechanically and stacked together as an integrated module and accommodated inside the GSLV MK-III launch vehicle.
The rover is housed inside the lander. After launch, the integrated module will reach the Moon orbit using the propulsion system in the orbiter module.
Subsequently, the lander will separate from the orbiter and soft-land at the predetermined site close to lunar south pole. The rover will then roll out of the vehicle and perform scientific experiments on the lunar surface.
The payloads will collect scientific information on lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water ice.
