Sriharikota: Hordes of spectators who had gathered in the gallery at Sriharikota premises to witness the historic Chandrayaan-2 were left disappointed when the moon mission was called off just before the lift off.
The countdown to Chandrayaan-2 launch onboard GSLVMkIII-M1 was set at 2.51 am today, but it was halted 56 minutes and 24 seconds before the lift off at 1.55 am.
According to a media report, several people had registered to witness the launch from the gallery set up by ISRO. President Ram Nath Kovind was one among the spectators and security was tightened at the venue. Huge rocket models were displayed at the entrance of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
According to a PTI report, when Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed that the launch was called off due to a technical snag in one of the launch systems of the GSLVMkIII-M1, people gathered there left the venue with disappointment. Some even hoped that the issue gets rectified soon so that they can come and witness the historic moment again. Some even felt that it was good that the mission was halted when the rocket was still on the ground as huge amount of money would have gone waste otherwise.
If Chandrayaan-2 was launched today, India would have been the fourth country to soft land a rover on moon after other countries like Russia, the United States and China.