The Indian space agency has announced a new launch date for its ambitious second Moon landing mission Chandrayaan-2. The launch date has been rescheduled for July 22. “Chandrayaan-2 launch, which was called off due to a technical snag on July 15, 2019, is now rescheduled at 2:43PM IST on Monday, July 22, 2019,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) tweeted.
Just yesterday, it was reported that the glitch has been rectified in ‘Bahubali’ rocket-Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III). In case you don’t know, the rocket was supposed to lift off at 2:51AM on Monday with India’s second moon mission spacecraft. But, just one hour before the launch, a few officials detected a technical snag and called off the mission.
“A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at 1 hour before the launch. As a measure of abundant precaution, #Chandrayaan2 launch has been called off for today. A revised launch date will be announced later,” ISRO informed on Twitter.
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 ISRO had constituted an expert committee to go into the root cause of the snag. A report suggests that the non-building of sufficient pressure in the helium tanks in the rocket might be the reason for calling off the launch. This information was shared by two retired officials of the Indian space organization. As per ISRO, the committee identified the root cause of the technical snag and all corrective actions are implemented. Thereafter, the system performance is normal.
Furthermore, Chandrayaan-2 is a Rs 978 crore mission, which will make India the fourth country in the world to land and ride on the moon. In case you are not aware, Russia, the US and China are the first three nations that achieved this feat. Moreover, India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprises of three segments. This includes an Orbiter (weighing 2,379kg, eight payloads), a lander-Vikram (1,471 kg, four payloads). The third one is rover Pragyan (27 kg, two payloads).
– With inputs from IANS
