Chandrayaan 2 HIGHLIGHTS: India's 'Bahubali' lunar mission launched successfully

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the 20-hour countdown for the first moon-landing mission began at 6.43 pm on Sunday.
India s second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2 lifts off onboard GSLV Mk III-M1 launch vehicle. (Photo| PTI)
India s second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2 lifts off onboard GSLV Mk III-M1 launch vehicle. (Photo| PTI)

India's historic space mission - Chandrayaan 2 was successfully launched into space on Monday from Sriharikota at 2.43pm. The spacecraft embarked on a 3.84-lakh-km journey onboard India’s heaviest rocket GSLV-Mk III, nicknamed Bahubali. 

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the 20-hour countdown for the first moon-landing mission began at 6.43 pm on Sunday.

The mission was originally scheduled for 2.51 am on July 15, but was postponed after a snag was detected in the launch vehicle an hour before rocket lift-off. The ISRO was hailed by several scientists for discovering glitches minutes before the takeoff.

The mission, also litmus test for ISRO, is the most complex and technologically challenging space mission undertaken from Indian soil. It will be tracked by the global scientific community as Chandrayaan-1, launched in 2008, created history by discovering signs of water on the moon. 

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  • Efforts such as Chandrayaan 2 will further encourage our bright youngsters towards science, top quality research and innovation.  Thanks to Chandrayaan, India’s Lunar Programme will get a substantial boost. Our existing knowledge of the Moon will be significantly enhanced: PM Narendra Modi

  • I'm extremely happy to announce that the GSLVMkIII-M1 successfully injected Chandrayaan2 spacecraft into Earth Orbit. It is the beginning of a historic journey of India towards moon & to land at a place near South Pole to carry out scientific experiments: K Sivan

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  • GSLVMkIII-M1 successfully injects Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft into Earth Orbit: ISRO

  • L-10 ignites and the S200 rockets separate from the main rocket.
  • Chandrayaan successfully launched into space.

  • The launch process begins.

  • Three minutes to go for Chandrayaan launch.

  • 10 minutes to go for India's space odyssey.

  • With 16 minutes to go the director has authorized the launch of Chandrayaan 2.

  • A total of 7,500 persons have registered online with the ISRO to watch India's heavy-lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) roaring towards the skies carrying Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, sources said.

  • This giant space leap will make India 4th country to soft-land on the lunar surface.

  • The launch will take place at 2.43 pm, almost half an hour from now.

  • India's space odyssey will target a completely unexplored section of the Moon that is, its “South Polar region - Aitken Basin”.

  • The Indian space agency in order to test smooth landing on the moon created a 'moon surface' using soil from Tamil Nadu. Since importing lunar soil-like substance from the US was a costly affair the ISRO used "anorthosite" rocks from Sithampoondi and Kunnamalai villages in Tamil Nadu for moon soil.

  • Launch screening: Government schools across Andhra Pradesh have been instructed to host a special screening of the Chandrayaan launch. Schools with digital classrooms or those with television sets or computers will be able to view the launch of the space shuttle from 2 pm to 2.30 pm. 

  • As of 1.30 pm, filling of Liquid Oxygen in Cryogenic Stage has been completed and filling of Liquid Hydrogen is in progress.

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  • In the spacecraft, 13 payloads are distributed across the three modules where the Orbiter and Vikram Lander are stacked upon each other whereas the Pragyan Rover is housed inside the lander.

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