Technology

Chandrayaan-2: PM Modi at Isro Bengaluru to watch historic lunar landing

Updated : September 06, 2019 02:40 PM IST

The GSLV Mk-III, India’s most powerful launcher, is used for ISRO Chandrayaan-2.

Chanrayaan-2 is India’s first mission to explore the lunar terrain with homegrown technology.

Chandrayaan-2: PM Modi at Isro Bengaluru to watch historic lunar landing

The Chandrayaan-2 moon mission's lander Vikram is scheduled to land on the lunar surface at 1:55 am on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already reached Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Bengaluru to witness the historic landing live from the space agency's control room, the first-ever mission to explore the lunar South Pole.

Celebrating the moment, PM Modi posted a series of tweets, updating and urging all citizens to watch the soft landing on the unexplored lunar region.

I am extremely excited to be at the ISRO Centre in Bengaluru to witness the extraordinary moment in the history of India’s space programme. Youngsters from different states will also be present to watch those special moments! There would also be youngsters from Bhutan.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 6, 2019

I urge you all to watch the special moments of Chandrayaan - 2 descending on to the Lunar South Pole! Do share your photos on social media. I will re-tweet some of them too.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 6, 2019

The landing is scheduled for midnight, between 1:30 and 2:30 am IST. After this, the Orbiter payloads will conduct remote-sensing observations from a 100 km orbit while the Lander and Rover payloads will perform in-situ measurements near the landing site.

Here are some of the lesser known facts about Chandrayaan-2, India’s second lunar mission.

The GSLV Mk-III, India’s most powerful launcher, is used for ISRO Chandrayaan-2. This three-stage vehicle is capable of launching 4-tonne class of satellites to the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

Chanrayaan-2 is India’s first mission to explore the lunar terrain with homegrown technology.

This mission aims to better understand the origin and evolution of the Moon, by conducting detailed topographical studies, comprehensive mineralogical analyses, and a host of other experiments on the lunar surface.

For understanding the Lunar composition, it is planned to identify the elements and mapping its distribution on the lunar surface both at global and In-situ level.

The mission intends to search for water on the lunar surface, study its composition and typography, and perform in-situ measurements near the landing site.

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