Vikram hurt during practice, puts Chandrayaan-2 on bench

  1. Vikram, the lander of Chandrayaan 2, has suffered minor damage in two of its legs during a test conducted in the later half of February 2019. This has postponed atleast until May 2019.
  2. Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second mission to the moon. It is a totally indigenous mission. It comprises of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover. 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 payloads will collect scientific information on lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice.
  3. Chandrayaan-2 will launch aboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III, (GSLV -MK III) rocket.
  4. Chandrayaan-2 is a follow-up mission from the Chandrayaan-1 mission. Chnadrayaan-1 was India’s first lunar mission. It was launched in October 2008 and operated till August 2009. The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor.