ISRO s Chandrayaan-2 Mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has kept the launch window open from July 9 to 16 for the Chandrayaan-2 Mission.

About the Mission

• Chandrayaan-2 Mission is India s first moon lander and rover mission.
• ISRO has set September 6 as the date for soft-landing at the lunar craft in the south pole – a region where no agency has got to so far.
• The lander Vikram (which means valour and named after the father of the Indian space programme, Vikram Sarabhai) release a small robotic rover, named Pragyan (wisdom) for moving around to feel and understand the lunar surface.
• The orbiter that carries Vikram and Pragyan will go around the moon at a distance of about 100 km, taking pictures and gathering surface information and sending them back to earth.
• The mission is carrying 14 payloads or instruments to observe and gauge the lunar scene both from a distance and on its surface which include a tiny NASA reflectometer to mark the spot for future missions and assess the distance from the earth.

Chandrayaan-2 Weighing about 3,500 kg will be launched through the GSLV-Mk III rocket.