Nellore: The launch of Chandrayaan-2 was put off at the eleventh hour early on Monday morning after a snag was detected which was causing a gradual drop in the high-pressure helium bottles where were to operate the valves of the cryogenic upper stage.
The launch was postponed after detecting a decline in pressure inside a tank containing helium gas, which is used to operate valves to cook the liquid-fuelled rocket engines.
Sources noted that the problem was observed on the GSLV rocket and not the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft. Isro scientists decided to stop the 2.51 am launch when there were still 56 minutes and 24 seconds were left to go. Isro will now need to fix the problem and await a new “launch window” when the optimum path to the moon can be taken.
The postponement caused a ripple of disappointment not only among scientists at the mission control room but also in the visitors room where President Ram Nath Kovind had arrived to watch the launch and in the viewers gallery outside that was packed despite the hour, and those who sat up to watch the historic event.
That quickly gave way to thousands of messages for Isro, which had built the mission of a shoestring budget of `978 crore. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter will orbit the moon for a year, it will launch a lander carrying a rover to the moon. The lander Vikram and the rover Pragyan will work for one lunar day, or 14 earth days. Nearly an hour after halting the countdown, a spokesman of Isro announced that a technical snag was observed in the launch vehicle system at T-56 minutes and as a measure of abundant precaution Chandrayaan-2 launch has been called off.
The revised launch date will be announced later, he added.
It is expected that the process of investigating the technical snag may take around 10 days.
Earlier this year, when the Chandrayaan-2 launch dates were announced, Isro chairman Dr K. Sivan had said that the launch window - the time period within which space missions must be launched - would end on July 16.
The next opportunity may arise on July 29 or 30. If the spacecraft is not ready by then, the next launch window opens only a few months later, sources in the Isro said.
