Chandrayaan-2: Stage set for India's own Moon landing

CHENNAI: Aimed at taking a giant leap in its space programme, India will Monday launch its second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2 onboard its heavy-lift rocket GSLV-MkIII, nicknamed Baahubali, from the spaceport here, to land a rover near the unexplored Lunar Southern Pole.

The lift-off of the three-component spacecraft weighing 3,850 kg and comprising an orbiter, the lander and the rover has been scheduled for 2.51 am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) here.

Eleven years after its successful first Lunar mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the Rs 978 crore Chandrayan-2 onboard Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle GSLV-MkIII on a voyage which will then take 54 days to accomplish the task of landing on the Moon through meticulously planned orbital phases.

After a full dress rehearsal last week, the countdown for the mission commenced Sunday and scientists were involved in the propellant filling, ISRO officials said.

"The launch countdown of GSLV-MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan-2 commenced today (Sunday) at 0651 hrs IST," ISRO said in its latest update Sunday.

Billed as the most complex and prestigious mission ever undertaken by the ISRO since its inception, Chandrayaan-2 will make India the fourth country to soft land on the lunar surface after Russia, the United States and China.

Indicating the challenges involved in a soft landing, which will feature a series of critical manoeuvres by scientists, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said they will undergo about "15 minutes of terror (filled moments)."

"Chandrayaan-2 is the next leap in technology as we attempt to soft-land close to South Pole of Moon. The soft landing is extremely complex and we will experience approximately 15 minutes of terror," he said.With agency inputs