The ISRO chief while delivering a speech at the seventh annual convocation of Vels University on Wednesday said that tests were underway for a controlled landing of the spacecraft on the surface of the moon."ISRO will develop an engine that will help in the controlled landing on the moon. The mission is currently planned for the first quarter of 2018," he said, adding that scientists had developed an artificial crater to simulate the surface of lunar conditions for the landing experiments.He further revealed that a series of ground tests is also in progress at the ISRO facility in Mahendragiri, Tirunelveli district, and in Challakere, in Chitradurga district near Bengaluru. "The satellite is also getting ready," he added.
Chandrayaan 2, which consists of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover configuration, is an advanced version of the previous Chandrayaan-1 mission.It is planned to be launched as a composite stack into the Earth Parking Orbit (EPO) of 170 X 18,500 km by GSLV-Mk II, as per the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Main site: 87.2 deg S, 68 deg EBackup site: 88.5 deg S, 297 deg E
Is that Chandrayaan-2http://aviationweek.com/awinspace/india-makes-progress-chandrayaan-2-payloadsPhoto Credits: Aviationweek/ Isro
Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will launch its Chandrayaan-2 mission, an advanced version of its previous 2018 mission with the objective of deeper lunar surface probe, and another mission by Team Indus, a group of space enthusiasts who want to unfurl the tricolour on the moon's surface as part of a global lunar competition.
While Team Indus is using the service of PSLV to take its 600-kg baby spacecraft to the lunar orbit, Isro will use its heavylift rocket GSLV Mk II for the mission. Dr K Sivan, director of Thiruvananthapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, told TOI, "Unlike the 2008 Chandrayaan-1 mission when PSLV rocket was used for carrying the spacecraft, this time Isro is planning to take a heavier payload (combined launch mass: 3,250 kg) comprising orbiter, lander and rover to the moon. Therefore, GSLV Mk II is the preferred choice."
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to launch the Chandrayaan-2 Mission in March next year, director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, P. Kunhi Krishnan told media persons on the sidelines of the Independence Day celebrations at Sriharikota, on Tuesday.
Indian Space Research Organisation’s second unmanned moon mission, Chandrayaan 2, will lift off in March 2018, a decade after Chandrayaan 1 was launched, Isro sources told Hindustan Times on Tuesday.