ISRO says 'Chandrayaan-2' to be launched by 2013
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced on Wednesday that 'Chandrayaan-2' is expected to be launched by the year 2013.
ISRO Chief K Radhakrishnan said that the configuration for the mission is being finalized. The project is worked out jointly by India and Russia.
Radhakrishnan said "We are finalising the configuration for Chandrayaan-2. This mission will have an orbiter, which will carry the lander and a rover. The lander will bring the rover to the surface of the moon and during the time it is there, will take some samples to be analysed in the orbiter and back to the earth. In the orbiter we will have certain instruments, we are finalising which are those to be put there. It is about 50 kilograms of mass. There is a scientific team which is looking at the requirements and possibilities and also... from Chandrayaan-1 experiment."
Radhakrishnan was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of a book titled 'Mission Moon - Exploring the Moon with Chandrayaan-1'
The craft will include lander and a rover for a soft land on the moon. The rover which lands on the moon will move on its surface to collect samples of rocks and soil and conduct chemical analysis on the samples. The data from analysis would be sent to the craft which would be circling above.
ISRO has launched its maiden moon mission the Chandrayaan-1 on October 22, 2008 and joined the prevalent Space race in Asia. The launch has made India enter the global launch market in a significant way and reinforcing its claim to be considered a global power.
Chandrayaan-1 had found water on the surface of the moon through an NASA instrument called Moon Mineralogy Mapper. The country has planned to launch missions to Mars in 2030.
