The second Moon mission of India which is to see a launch in the month of July will be carrying 13 payloads along with a passive experiment from NASA, confirmed ISRO on Wednesday. Out of the thirteen payloads, 8 will be on the orbiter, three on lander as well as two on Rover. However, ISRO did not specify any objectives.
The spacecraft has three modules, which has a mass of 3.8 tonnes including Lander (Vikram), Orbiter, and Rover (Pragyan).
ISRO had earlier mentioned that all the three modules are being ready for the launch of Chandrayaan-2 between July 9 and 16, 2019, with the Moon landing expected on September 6. From the lunar surface, the orbiter is to orbit 100 km. On the other hand, Vikram is likely to soft land close to the moon’s south pole while Pragyan will be conducting in-situ experiments.
The modules of orbiter and lander will be mechanically interfaced and put together, inside the launch vehicle: GSLV MK-III. Rover will be inside the lander.
After launch into the orbit, the integrated module will reach the orbit of the Moon by using orbiter propulsion module. Thereafter, lander will separate and have a soft landing at a site which is predetermined very close to lunar South Pole.
Thereafter, the Rover will be carrying out experiments on the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-2 is an advanced version of Chandrayaan-1 about at least 10 years ago.
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