Chandrayaan-2 mission was the second mission of lunar exploration after the Chandrayaan-1, which was launched in 2008. It was the most complex ever undertaken mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).
Initially, it was planned to launch at 2:51 am IST on July 15, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, but was rescheduled for 22 July due to a technical snag.
The spacecraft was launched on its mission to the Moon from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 22 July 2019 at 2.43 PM IST (09:13 UTC) by GSLV Mk III.
Initially, it was planned to launch at 2:51 am IST on July 15, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, but was rescheduled for 22 July due to a technical snag.
It consisted of a lunar orbiter, the Vikram lander, and the Pragyan lunar rover, all of which were developed in India. The main scientific objective is to map and study the variations in lunar surface composition, as well as the location and abundance of lunar water.Chandrayaan-2 launch, which was called off due to a technical snag on July 15, 2019, is now rescheduled at 2:43 pm IST on Monday, July 22, 2019. #Chandrayaan2 #GSLVMkIII #ISRO— ISRO (@isro) July 18, 2019
The spacecraft was launched on its mission to the Moon from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 22 July 2019 at 2.43 PM IST (09:13 UTC) by GSLV Mk III.
#ISRO#GSLVMkIII-M1 lifts-off from Sriharikota carrying #Chandrayaan2— ISRO (@isro) July 22, 2019
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The craft reached the Moon's orbit on 20 August 2019 and began orbital positioning maneuvers for the landing of the Vikram lander. Vikram and the rover were scheduled to land on the near side of the Moon, in the south polar region at a latitude of about 70° south on 6 September 2019 and conduct scientific experiments for one lunar day, which approximates two Earth weeks.
However, the lander deviated from its intended trajectory starting at 2.1 kilometers (1.3 mi) altitude and had lost communication when touchdown confirmation was expected. Initial reports suggested a crash which was confirmed by ISRO chairman K. Sivan, stating that "it must have been a hard landing".The Failure Analysis Committee concluded that the crash was caused by a software glitch.
Later on October 3, 2019, a Chennai Engineer found out the location of the lander debris with the help of the images of the accident spot which was shared on the web by NASA.
Why was Chandryaan-2 important for India?
So far only three countries (USA, USSR, China) have made a successful soft landing on the surface of the Moon that just tells you the level of technological sophistication and expertise required at space agencies, if India would have successfully landed Chandrayaan 2 on the lunar surface, India would have become the fourth one in the list.
Chandrayaan-2 had launched with some scientific goals like the study of lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, the lunar exposure, and signatures of hydroxyl and water ice that would have contributed a lot in the lunar study and research.
Interestingly, ISRO had chosen a less explored region of the moon for the landing of its spacecraft which is lunar's south pole. One reason for choosing the south pole can be because the region is very mysterious, unexplored and of great scientific interest and other reasons. Imagine if the mysteries of unexplored lunar south got solved through Chandrayaan 2, it would have been a great contribution of India to the world.
Though even after a big failure of not having a soft landing on the moon surface, India's ISRO has not stopped working and with the attitude of learning from the failures, ISRO has decided to launch Chandrayaan 3 in November 2020.
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