Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday said the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2 was a matter of great pride for the country and would inspire many young minds.
He and Deputy Chief Minister O Paneerselvam congratulated the ISRO team behind the mission. In a textbook launch, the towering GSLV-MkIII-M1, carrying Chandrayaan-2 on-board, in its first operational flight, lifted off majestically from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Monday as the scientists broke into jubilation.
India successfully launched its second lunar mission to explore the uncharted south pole of the celestial body by landing a rover.
The geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle lifted-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre into cloudy skies at 2.43 pm and successfully placed the 3,850 kg Chandrayaan-2 into the earth orbit 16 minutes and 14 seconds later. Immediately after Chandrayaan-2’s separation from the rocket, the solar array of the spacecraft automatically got deployed and the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru successfully took control of the spacecraft, the Indian Space Research Organisation said in a statement later.
According to the statement, Chandrayaan-2, a three-module spacecraft comprising orbiter, lander and rover, will be subjected to a series of orbit manoeuvres using its onboard propulsion system to take it to the vicinity of Moon over the next weeks with the rover soft landing planned on 7 September. The success of the mission, helmed by two women Ritu Karidhal (Mission Director) and M Vanitha (Project Director), brought huge relief for ISRO scientists after the 15 July launch was called off just about an hour left following a technical glitch in the rocket.
The Rs 978 crore mission, that will mark a giant leap in India’s space programme and make it only the fourth country to land a rover on Moon, was rescheduled to Monday after scientists corrected the technical glitch in the three-stage rocket.
| Next missionĀ Aditya-L1 |
| Speaking to mediapersons after the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said next year they are planning to send a satellite Aditya-L1 to observe the Sun’s corona. He also said another interplanetary mission to Venus will be launched in the next 2-3 years. |