Moon-bound again | The Indian Express

Moon-bound again | The Indian Express

Written by Ajey Lele |Updated: July 23, 2019 12:46:33 am

Ajay Lele, a research fellow at IDSA, Delhi, is author of 'Mission Mars: India’s Quest for the Red Planet’

Moon-bound again

Humanity has neglected the moon for the last five decades. Now, Chandrayaan 2 takes on the challenge

The launch of the mission on July 22, is a successful first step towards realising a larger aim of the mission.

India’s second mission to the moon was planned for July 15, but got delayed owing to technical problems just one hour before the actual launch. However, ISRO scientists identified the anomaly quickly and now, within a week, the Chandrayaan 2 mission has begun its journey towards the moon. The launch of the mission on July 22, is a successful first step towards realising a larger aim of the mission, which is to ensure that India’s lander successfully makes a soft landing on the surface of the moon. Subsequently, from the belly of the lander, the rover would be released for making an assessment of the elemental composition of the moon’s surface.