- ISRO has announced that Chandrayaan-2’s targeted landing date on the lunar South Pole is September 7th. The launch of Chandrayaan-2, which was scheduled to be launched on July 15th, was aborted after a technical snag in the launch vehicle system- GSLV Mk-III rocket.
- The moon landing has been planned during the particular period as the landing site will remain well illuminated by sunlight over the next one month while the Lander and Rover could work and collect data. Also, there is no lunar eclipse during this period.
- The Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second lunar mission. It is a fully indigenous mission. Chandrayaan-2 will comprise of an Orbiter, Lander named ‘Vikram’ and Rover named ‘Pragyan’
- The orbiter will circle the moon and provide information about its surface, while the lander will make a soft landing on the surface and send out the rover. The rover will be used mostly for in situ experiments.
- The lunar mission will carry out extensive three-dimensional mapping of the topography of the lunar South Pole region. It will also determine its elemental composition and seismic activity.
- The mission would also try to assess the abundance and distribution of water on the lunar surface.
