The Chandrayaan I mission was a huge success, but the next Chandrayaan mission which slated to launch in 2013 was delayed to 2016 due to technical difficulties.
Recently, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chief, A S Kiran, announced that India is ready to conduct its second Moon mission- Chandrayaan II.
What Led To The Delay Of Chandrayaan-II?
In 2010, it was decided that the Russian Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) would be responsible for the Lunar Lander of Chandrayaan II, and ISRO would take care of Orbiter, Rover, and its launch by GSLV. But the failure of ROSCOSMOS to provide a Lunar Lander led to this delay, and now ISRO has itself developed everything that would be needed for this mission. This makes the Chandrayaan II, a completely Indian mission.
Features of Chandrayaan II
Chandrayaan II, an advanced version of Chandrayaan I mission would consist of an orbiter, Lander, and a rover configuration. The probe is set to be launched as a composite stack into Earth Packing Orbit (EPO) of 170×18,500 km by using GSLV-Mk II.
While attending the conference on startups, incubators, and entrepreneurship, and National Science day at Yenepoya University, A S Kiran Kumar explained that the orbiter carries the combined stack up to the moon till the Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI).
After reaching the LOI, the combined stack is inserted into a lunar orbit of 100km x 100km, where the lander gets detached from the orbiter. Now, the orbiter carrying the scientific payloads (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope, and Alpha Particle Induced X ray Spectroscope) will revolve around the moon. These payloads will perform the mineralogical and elemental studies of the surface of the moon.
Kiran Kumar is credited with the development of many important instruments for the Chandrayaan I and the Mangalyaan spacecrafts. During the conference he also gave insights about the work and the achievements of the ISRO scientists.
Kumar also revealed that the data collected by them during these space missions is already available for research work to the students on their ISRO’s website.
No official date has been declared for the launch of Chandrayaan II, but we will update you as and when more information comes out. Stay tuned!
